In every case, the functional whole constituted by the organs of vision and locomotive limbs will increase greatly in activity. In favorable conditions (late in the evening, or against the background of police sirens), one will observe a phenomenon clearly characterized by anguish, with an acceleration of all organic secretions. Now standing amid some contemporary architecture, the same passerby will feel much less like laughing. His attitude will oscillate between ironic amusement and sniggering pure and simple in all cases, he will be sensitive to a certain dimension of derision the very insignificance of what is presented to him will be for him a reassuring guarantee of innocuousness he will certainly have wasted some time, but in a way which is, fundamentally, not so unpleasant. Passing by chance through a place where pieces of contemporary painting or sculpture are on show, the ordinary person will stop in front of the exhibits, if only to mock them. This trivial observation encompasses, in fact, two opposing attitudes. “I’m fighting ideas I’m not sure even exist.”ĬONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE AS VECTOR FOR THE ACCELERATION OF MOVEMENTSĪs we know, the general public does not like contemporary art. Michel Houellebecq exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, “Rester Vivant (To Stay Alive)”, until September 11, 2016, curated by Jean de LoisyĪll photos courtesy of the artist and Air de Paris, Paris
Few are aware that he discreetly yet systematically shot photographs as part of his writing process, and how his photographs have evolved to become significant artistic statements in themselves. I invited Michel Houellebecq to present his first major solo show in a public institution because to me he’s a complete artist, one for whom, as he wrote in The Possibility of an Island: “Art is the presentiment of something new, dangerous, and probably fatal, from a domain where there was - a bit like in love - almost nothing to win and almost everything to lose.” - Jean De Loisy
Lovecraft (1991), as well as his brilliant essay on contemporary society, “Approaches to Disarray” (1993), which we republish here in its entirety along with a few pictures from his exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, “Rester Vivant” (“To Stay Alive”). Many have been amazed at the rigor and irony of Houellebecq’s novels, but he is also a critic, filmmaker, singer, poet, performer, actor, and photographer. What other contemporary author has brought art into his novels to such an extent? In this way, he pursues a generalized aesthetic theory, whose philosophical ambition was displayed in his extraordinary essay on H.
Art is not simply a backdrop for the renowned French author Michel Houellebecq, but rather a constant preoccupation that allows him to precisely define his unique aesthetic.
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