Cinema Beyond Film 2010 PDF

. Cinema Beyond Film : Media Epistemology in the Modern Era.
: Amsterdam University Press, . p 1

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Cinem a Beyond Film
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C i n e m a Beyond F ilm
M e d ia E p i s t e m o l o g y in t h e M o d e r n E ra
Edited by François Albera and Maria Tortajada
Am st er d a m U n i v er si t y Pr ess

This publicat ion is m ade possible b y a gran t from t he Facult é des Let t res de
l'U n i ver si t é de Lausann e, Réseau Ciném a CH .
Translat ed b y Lance H ew son
Front cover illust rat ion: The Zoopr axi scope b y Eadw ear d M uybr idge (1893)
Back cover illust rat ion: Runn er w i t h appar at us for recording speed (M arey).
D esign: Cl ai r e Angelini, M unich
Cover design: Kok Korpershoek, Am st erdam

Lay-out : j a p e s, Am st erdam
I SBN 978 90 8964 083 3 ( p ap er b ack )

I SBN 978 90 8964 084 0 ( h ar d co v er )
e-I SBN 978 90 4850 807 5
NUR 674
© François Alber a and M ar i a Tort ajada / Am st er dam U n i ver si t y Press, Am st er

dam 2010
A l l right s reserved. W it hout lim it ing the right s un der copyri ght reserved above,
no part of this book m ay be reproduced, stored in or int roduced into a ret rieval
syst em , or t ransm it t ed, in an y form or b y an y m eans (electronic, m echanical,
phot ocopying, recording or ot herwise) w it hout the writ t en perm ission of both
the copyr i ght ow n er and the aut h or of t he book.

C o n te n ts
A c k n o w le d g m e n ts 7
In tr o d u c tio n t o an E p is te m o lo g y o f V ie w in g and L is te n in g
D is p o s itiv e s 9
François Albera and Maria Tortajada
1 Epist em o l o g y
T h e 1900 E p is te m e 25
P ro je c te d C in e m a ( A H y p o th e s is on th e C in e m a ’s Im a g in a tio n ) 45
François Albera
T h e Case f o r an E p is te m o g ra p h y o f M o n ta g e 59
The Marey M om ent
François Albera
T h e ‘ C in e m a to g ra p h ic S n a p s h o t’ 79
Rereadi ng Et ienne-Jules M ar ey
Maria Tortajada
T h e C in e m a to g ra p h ve rsus P h o to g ra p h y , o r C y c lis ts and T im e in

th e W o r k o f A lfr e d J a rry 97
Maria Tortajada
2 Exh ib itio n
D y n a m ic P aths o f T h o u g h t 117
Exhibit ion Design, Ph ot ogr aph y an d Circulat ion in the W ork of
H erbert Bayer
Olivier Lagon
T h e L e c tu re 145
Le Cor busi er 's U se of t he W ord, D r aw i n g and Project ion
Olivier Lugon

6 Films that W o rk
3 Bo d y a n d V o i c e
D a n c in g D o lls and M e c h a n ic a l Eyes 17 1

Tracking an O bsessive M ot ive from Ballet to Cinem a
Laurent Guido
F ro m B ro a d c a s t P e rfo rm a n c e to V ir tu a l Show 19 3
Television's Tennis D isposit ive
Laurent Guido
T h e L e c tu re r, th e Im a g e , th e M ach in e and th e A u d io -S p e c ta to r 215

The Voice as a Com ponent Par t of A u d i ovi su al D isposi t ives
Alain Boillat
O n th e S in g u la r S ta tu s o f th e H u m a n V o ic e 233
Tomorrow's Eve and the Cult ur al Series of Talk i ng M achines
Alain Boillat
A b o u t th e A u th o r s 253
B ib lio g ra p h y 255
In d e x o f N a m e s 259
In d e x o f T itle s 265
In d e x o f S u b je cts 269

A c k n o w le d g m e n ts
The edit ors are gr at eful to Thom as Elsaesser for m ak i ng t his publishing project
possible, and t hey w an t to em phasize that the U n iver sit y of Lausan n e (UNIL),
the Facul t y of H um anit ies of U N I L and t he Reseau/ N et w er k Cinem a CH con
t ribut ed to the realizat ion of t his project. They t hank too the edit ors at AU P,
Jeroen Son der van and Jaap W agenaar, for sol vi n g problem s of an y sort.

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I n t r o d u c t i o n t o an E p i s t e m o l o g y o f V i e w i n g
and L is te n in g D is p o s itive s
For som e years now, scholars w or k i n g in the H i st or y and Aest het ics of the Cin
em a D epart m ent of the U n i versi t y of Lausan ne's Facult é des Let t res have been
act ivel y en gaged in research and t eaching t hat st em s from their belief that, at
the present m om ent in t ime, one can no longer restrict one's approach to cinem a
to t he n ar r ow field and specific object t hat w er e est ablished in the ear ly decades
of t he 20t h century, an d t hat culm inat ed in the sem iot ics approach of the 1970s.
Par adoxi call y enough, t his apot heosis occurred just as t he m odel t hat in circa
1906 had reflect ed t he independent and specific nat ure of cinem at ogr aphy and
the cinem at ographic inst it ut ion w as clearly becom ing obsolet e w it h the m ult i
plicat ion bot h of the m odes of capt uring film (first vi deo, t hen the D VD , com
put ers, m obile t elephones, etc.) and of au di ovi sual com m unicat ion support sys
t em s and m edia (in par t icular t elevision, an d m ore recent ly the Internet).
The 'r et u r n ' to hist ory on the one h an d1 and the hist oricizing of aest hetics on
the ot her hand - w i t h the lat t er t hereby bypassi n g an essentialist , ont ological
approach - are based on a n ew appr oach to the archive. Th ey al low the re
searcher t o w i den the field of invest igat ion and exam ine an ew the different
quest ions relat ed t o cinem at ographic 'l an gu age' and the problem at ics of repre
sent at ion —i.e., the pract ices and t heories of vi ew i n g and list ening w hich devel
oped dur i n g the 19t h cent ury and w er e linked to the rapid indust rial and tech
nological developm en t of w est ern societ ies. The cinem a is one of those
inst rum ent s that condenses a w h ol e series of dist inct ive charact erist ics of indus
t rial and t echnological societ y (serialisat ion, the division of w or k , m ult iplica
tion, m echanisat ion, st andardisat ion, speed, globalizat ion, etc.) - w here a whole
series of quest ions converges —from the social t o the political, t he m edical to the
ideological, the art istic t o the ant hropological, etc.
Since the m iddle of last cent ury, it can be said that the field has been broaden
ed by the ar r ival of the 'm ass m edi a' and m ass com m unicat ion in t heir relat ion
to n ew m edium s and m edia - the focus has m oved from t elevision to the Inter
net, digit al t echnologies, and furt her beyond, to the issue of cloning. The key
posit ion t hat cinem a occupied in the 1950s has consequent ly becom e relat i
vi zed, even t hough its 'm odel ' cont inues t o organise m uch of the im aginat ion
in the shape of t he pr ocedures i n volved in t he m eans of com m unicat ion and
m edia represent ation.

10 François Albera and Maria Tortajada
O nce one is aw ar e t hat the par adi gm has shifted, one can, correlat ively, t ake a
fresh look at the 'ci n em a' sequence it self and approach it from ot her angles.
Research into 'ear l y cinem a' has paved the w ay for t his re-exam inat ion by high
light ing its pr im ar i l y het erogeneous aspect s t hat bot h the hist ory and the aes
t het ics of legit im at ion had suppressed. These t rait s had been par t ly en vi saged in
cert ain lines of research - i n cludi ng the n ow ad ays disregarded but im port ant
w or k of t he Institut de Filmologie (1947-1962) —w hich allow ed one in part icular
to m ake a heurist ic dist inct ion bet ween 'cinem at ic fact ' and 'film ic fact ', while
m aint aining a rest rict ive m odel of the 'cinem at ic'.2
In the w ak e of our cont act s w i t h 'ear l y cinem a' specialist s such as Laurent
M annoni, Tom Gunning, A n dr é Gaudr eaul t and Thom as Elsaesser, and as a
result of our interest in n ew t heories st r addl i n g the hist ory of art, phot ography
and t he m eans of com m unicat ion devel oped b y such scholars as Jonat han
Crary, Friedrich A . Kittler, Philippe H am on and St efan An dr i opoul os, w e
decided to focus on an epist em ological reflect ion on t hese quest ions in order to
produce a r evit alised concept ual fr am ew or k for our hist orical an d theoretical
research, cover ing bot h the hist ory of cinem a and the aest hetics of cinem a and
its language.
The fr am ew or k that has been devel oped arises out of a hypot hesis, the '1900
epist em e', w hi ch epit om ises t his b od y of phenom ena, discourses and pract ices,
m an y of w h ose dist inct ive feat ures w er e incorporat ed into 'cinem a' over a per i
od of several decades.
The foun dat ion of our reflect ion is a redefinit ion of the quest ion of t he 'd i spo
sit ives', w hi ch can be used to const ruct a schem a that t hen becom es an inst ru
ment of research.
D is p o s itiv e , e p is te m o lo g y
W e shall n ow clar i fy the t w o k ey t erm s t hat w e use: 'di sposi t i ve' and 'epist em ol-
°gy'-
The t erm 'di sposi t i ve' h as com e into English academ ic discourse t hrough the
t ranslat ion of w or k s b y such scholars as M ichel Foucault . The di sposi t i ve is a
net wor k of relat ions. The French equivalent , 'disposit if, w as ori gi nall y used in
legal cont ext s, and t hen spread to include the idea of disposit ion, whet her of
t roops or in the field of m echanics. The w or d is so great ly exploit ed in French
t oday t hat som e of its original force has been dilut ed. It m ay designat e an y t ype
of t echnical organisat ion or const ruct ion, or any arrangem ent , i ncluding wit h
hum an act ors, as lon g as it correlat es act ant ial posit ions and relat ions. In
French, it w as qui ck l y t aken int o t he realm of scientific or t echnical experim ent s

Introduction to an Epistemology o f Viewing and Listening Dispositives
(where one also speak s of experim ent al 'prot ocols') and is w i d el y used in con
t em por ar y art to speak of an 'inst allat ion'.
The not ion of di sposi t i ve is of part icular interest here as it includes ever yt hi n g
t hat is laid out in front of the spectator, t oget her w it h all the elem ent s that al low
the represent at ion to be vi ew ed and heard. The disposit ive i n volves bot h the
m ak i n g and the show ing. The term is used w h en one or other of these aspect s
is addressed, on condit ion t hat it i s considered as a net work of relat ions be
t ween a spect ator, the represent at ion and t he 'm ach in er y' that allow s the spec
t ator to h ave access to the represent at ion (cf. 'The 1900 Epist em e'). H owever , the
t ask of r en ew i n g the hi st or i ogr aphy of the cinem a and, m ore generally, the
au di ovi sual dom ain vi a the not ion of di sposi t ive im plies const ruct ing a k n ow l
edge (savoir) t hat reduces the concept neit her to a strict hist orical act ualizat ion
nor to a causal genealogy.
It is im port ant to st ress t hat di sposi t i ves have bot h a concrete exist ence —a
cinem a audit orium act ually exists —and a di scursive existence. For exam ple, a
part icular phon ographic pract ice m ay on l y be found in discourse, e.g., in lit
er ar y discourse. M oreover, ou r long-t erm aim is not to describe the di sposit ives
t hem selves, but the net work of not ions, t heories, beliefs and pract ices that are
w oven into the discour ses direct ly relat ed to the elem ent s of the disposit ives,
w h i ch are t hem selves put in relat ion w it h in t hese discourses. By approaching
di sposi t i ves from the an gle of discourses, w e are aim ing to const ruct the condi
t ions of possibilit y of the disposit ives t hem selves as const ituted knowledge.
For M ichel Foucault , the not ion of di sposi t ive cam e to be increasingly asso
ciat ed w i t h a st rat egic perspect ive, and then a perspect ive of pow er; m oreover,
the t echnologies of cont rol (the key exam ple being the panopticon) do not t hem
sel ves define the cat egory of disposit ive, w h i ch is w ider, i.e., the di sci pli n ar y re
gim e or sexualit y. In ot her w or ds, from Foucault 's point of view, neit her 'cin
em a' n or the w h ol e collect ion of audio and vi sual 'm achines' in t hem selves
const itute 'di sposi t i ves' but w ou l d have to be seen as belon gin g to an all-en
com passing whole. W hen Paul Vi rilio int roduced the problem at ic of a 'logist ics
of percept ion', he heralded such a w hole, w hich w ou ld h ave sit uat ed disposi
t ives of vi ew i n g (and, for us, list ening) w it h in a hist orical w hole. But his idea
has been only ver y par t i al ly developed.
O ur definit ion of di sposi t i ve has t herefore not been si m pl y bor r ow ed from
Foucault : it com es not on l y from t he exchanges in the field of the hist or iogr aphy
of cinem a, and par t icular ly 'ear l y' cinema, but also from the broaden i n g of the
discipline, w h i ch has freed it self from sem iot ic or aest hetic discourse on the one
hand and a pur el y t echnical (i.e., hist orical or funct ionalist ) discourse on the
other. This is the back gr oun d of our specific epist em ological approach.

W hen one defines the di sposi t i ve as a n et wor k of relat ions that goes beyond
the di sposi t i ve it self, one is al r eady in a sense i m plyin g a m et hod for defining
the object.
It is also im port ant to clar ify our use of t he t erm 'epist em ology'. Back in 1969,
Foucault preferred to speak of 'ar ch aeol ogy', as a reflection of his decision to
w or k on the m ar gins of the sciences, on w h at Gast on Bachelard him self rejected
as an 'epist em ological obst acle' (i.e., the discourses and i m agi n ar y beliefs that
obst ruct the t heoret ical and st r aight for w ar d const itution of the scientific con
cept), and Loui s Al t h usser reject ed as ideology. The present book covers sim ilar
t errit ory: the 'k n ow l ed ge of di sposi t i ves', t heir condit ions of possibilit y, is a di f
fuse k n ow l edge t hat is not det erm ined b y a t ype of enunciat ion or institution.
D isposit ives intersect wit h m any discourses - m any more t han t hose discourses
that are fi ght in g for the inst it ut ionalizat ion of di sposi t i ves t hem selves - such as
cinem a and phot ography. The discourses t hat appear in the follow i n g chapt ers
are literary, scient ific and t echnical, and m ay i n volve var ious ot her fields (legal
and econom ic), social pract ices (t ourism, sport ing event s) and, of course, cult ur
al pract ices and spect acles (theatre, the circus, etc.). In ot her w or ds, the k n ow l
edge of di sposi t i ves is not on l y const ruct ed w it hin the het erogeneit y of sources
and dat a, but also in the confront at ion bet w een the discursive and the concrete
hist orical object, the social pract ice that it im plies, and so on.
Ar ch aeology is used here to m ean an epi st em ology t hat does not aim at scien
t ific coherence - but it is not the epi st em ology of a tekne. It aim s to const ruct an
episteme - a k n ow l edge t hat is confront ed w i t h pract ices.
I ‘ T h e 1900 E p i s t e m e ’
The opening chapt er of the vol um e, 'The 1900 Epist em e', is a paper that Fran
çois A l ber a an d M ar i a Tort ajada gave at a D om it or Int ernat ional Associat ion
sym posium . It bu i l d s on the h ypot hesis that the new condit ions of vi ew i n g that
arose out of the indust rial societ y of the 18t h an d 19t h cent uries reform ulat ed
the 'spect at or-spect acle' schem a by int roducing the quest ion of the dispositive,
w h ich assign s a n ew place to the vi ew er w it hin a t ripart it e spectator-machine-
representation. This t ripart it e represent at ion m ust be const ruct ed as an epistemic
schema and, as such, int egrat ed w it hin a net work, a w i d er epist em ic configura
tion (that of cinem at ics, M ar ey's p h ysi ol ogy of m ovem ent , or social pract ices
such as the r ai l w ay journ ey and the spect acularisat ion of the l andscape, br i n g
in g t oget her an im m obile spect at or, a m obile spect acle and a fr am ew or k of v i
sion). Furt herm ore, in its capacit y of schem a, it pr ovides a m odel not only w i t h
in the rest rict ed field of vi ew i n g and list ening disposit ives, but going beyon d to

Introduction to an Epistemology o f Viewing and Listening Dispositives 13
encom pass t hat of vi suali t y (paint ing, lit erat ure) and even t hat of t hought ('cin
em a', a m odel of k n ow l edge according to Bergson, a m odel of the psychic appa
rat us for som e psych ologi st s or psych oan alyst s). The epist em ic schem a thus
com bines the specificat ion of the concrete elements of the var ious disposit ives
w i t h t he concepts that are linked to them, for exam ple, the not ions of break ing
d ow n m ovem ent , t em poral im m ediacy or deferred broadcast ing, etc. Finally, in
order for the schem a to be const ruct ed, it is vit al sim ult aneously to devel op a
st u dy of discourses, a st udy of concrete disposit ives, and a st udy of the inst it u
t ional and social pract ices t hat are bot h en gaged b y and en gage t hese di sposi
t ives.
François Al ber a's chapt er ent itled 'Project ed Cinem a (A H ypot hesi s on the
Cinem a's Im aginat ion)' fol low s on from the perspect ive out lined in 'The 1900
Epist em e' by exam inin g a hist orical and t heoretical appr oach to the problem at ic
of t echnical invent ion t hat r evol ves around audio and vi sual disposit ives. H is
vi si on encom passes not on l y l it erary texts (Villiers de l'I sl e A d am , de Ch ousy
and Jules Verne), iconic t ext s (Robida), an d scientific popularisat ion (Cam ille
Flam m arion), but also w r i t er s and philosophers (Rabelais, Cam panella, Sorel
and Cyr an o de Bergerac) w h o w er e act ive long before the em ergence of cinema
and w h o t hus belon ged to a different t opic, and ot hers w r i t i n g in the w ak e of
the adven t of cinem a (Raym ond Roussel, Saint -Pol-Roux, René Bar javel and
Bi oy Casares, as w el l as Gi u seppe Lipparini, M aurice Renard, M aurice Leblanc,
Léon D audet and m an y others). H i s hypot hesis is that the 'ut opi as' of com m u
nicat ion t echnologies are not so m uch im aginat ions of precursors or prospect ive
fant asies as st ages of the invent ion it self t hat t ake the shape of act ualizat ions of
the pot ent ial inherent in the t echnologies of the day. Leavi n g aside the fact that
t hese fict ional w or k s w er e par t and parcel of the invent ion that w as about to
com e into being, t hey offer fert ile gr oun d for experim ent at ion, a space for ext ra
polat ion based on research and exist ing appar at uses or m achines, and thus t hey
bear w i t n ess bot h to t he im agi nar y side of t hese t echnologies and the expect a
t ions to w hich t hey gi ve rise. I n the w ak e of Gilbert Sim ondon's reflect ions on
the 'm od es of exist ence of t echnical object s', one m ay indeed suggest that the
'gen esi s' of the i nvent ion is const ituent of it. These 'fict ions' consequent ly reveal
cert ain dim ensions of exist ing t echnologies from w hich t hey borrow, but which
the cat alogue of hist or y - t hat gi ves precedence to one of the chosen usages -
fails to record. W hat w e h ave here is bot h the pot ent ial relat ed to the m edium or
m achine (once one has m oved from sm all-scale product ion or the prot ot ype to
generalisat ion) and the expect at ions t hat t hey create, whet her social, im aginary
or pragm at ic. The t w o t ypes of discourse (fictional and learned on the one side,
t echnical on the ot her) m ust t hus be pit t ed one against the ot her w it hin a space
t hat is com m on to both. This l eads to the reconfiguring of the au dio-visual field,
w h i ch gr ew out of social, indust rial or ideological 'specialisat ions' that sim pl y

ignored not on l y project s, but also t ransit ory expect at ions or realisat ions. In t his
regard, one can cit e t he exam ple of 'ph ot osculpt ure' or the 't heat rophone'. Fi
nally, these confront at ions reveal the spaces of int elligibilit y of the n ew t echnol
ogies and t he concept ual and sem ant ic field that is associat ed w i t h them, and
t hus define t he m ent al fram e of the invent ion and its recept ion (Apollinaire ex
t rapolat ed vi r t ual i m ager y from the gram ophone, w hi l e Saint -Pol Roux cam e
up w i t h hum an cloning from the cinema-m achine).
In 'The Case for an Epi st em ogr aph y of M ont age: The Marey M om ent ', A l ber a
set s out to redefine t he concept of 'm on t age'. This in volves re-exam ining the
Marey quest ion or Marey 'm om en t ' in t he hist ory, prehist ory or ar ch aeology of
cinem a. Albera dist in guishes bet w een on t he one hand the t echnical-aest het ic
discourse on m ont age (the epistemonomical level), w hich creat es a set of limit s
and cont rol principles and 'r ul es', and on the ot her hand t he pr escr ipt ive di s
course of cinem a crit icism and t heory (the epistemocritical level), w hich defines
the processes of inclusion in or exclusion from t he concept of m ont age. This led
him to const ruct the ' epistemological' l evel of m ont age. On t his level, it is vit al not
only to pinpoint the fields of applicat ion of the concept s and rules of usage, but
also to ident ify t ransform at ions and variat ions, in order to relat e them to their
condit ions of possibilit y. The aim is to underst and h ow the concept ual field of
m ont age has been t ransform ed (via such not ions as end, piece, m om ent , int er
val, intermittence, pause, phase, posit ion, jerk, shock, dissociat ion, cut, break,
interruption, discont inuit y, joining, assem bling, collage, link, continuity, art icu
lation, succession, etc.) by l eavi n g behind the pur el y internal, descript ive or pr e
script ive definit ions and by goi ng beyon d obst acles of the t echnological t ype
w h i ch i m pede or lim it com prehension. This m akes it possible bot h to ident ify
the cont ours of a m ont age funct ion, w h i ch m ay not be gi ven t hat nam e but
w hi ch needs to be linked to var i ous procedures, pract ices and ut t erances, and
to locat e the t hinking relat ed to m ont age in the syst em of concept s and pract ices
w h er e it has it s roots, and subsequent ly en vi sage its ext ension and variabilit y. In
t his perspect ive, t he M ar ey 'm om ent ' is a k ey elem ent of the puzzle: not only
w as he out side cinem at ographic t eleology and yet present in t he sequence of
'ci nem a' invent ions (both concept ually an d t echnically speaking) and gave the
'invent i on' bot h scient ific an d social respect abilit y (Académie des sciences, Collège
de France), but he belon ged to a field - ph ysi ol ogy - that had been w el l explored
in concept ual t erm s and w as t he scene of fundam ent al cont roversies bet ween
opposi n g t endencies, aboun di n g in a bod y of not ions, concept s and pract ices
that w as to pr ovide an 'i nt erface' w i t h the t oys and m achines used for anim at ed
im ages. M ar ey's mechanistic concept ion (the 'an i m al m achine') w ou ld lead to his
di scover y of a machinic di sposi t i ve that is an alogous to his object as an inst ru
ment of observat ion - the 'ci nem a' machine.

M ar i a Tort ajada's t wo cont ribut ions, 'The "Cin em at ogr aphi c Sn apshot ": Re
reading Etienne-Jules M ar ey' and 'The Ci n em at ograph ver sus Phot ography, or
Cycl ist s and Tim e in t he W ork of A l fr ed Jar r y', set out to define the idea of cin
em a and t he idea of phot ography, t wo di sposit ives that w er e sim ilar at around
the t urn of the 20t h cent ury and yet in opposit ion to each other. W hen cinema
em erged, it w as phot ogr aph y that played a part in defining its concept s and the
i m ager y associat ed w i t h it. Phot ography foun ded the 'cinem a', or a cert ain idea
of t he cinem a at this m om ent in time. M eanw hile, phot ogr aph y it self t ook on a
n ew st at us in it s confront at ion w it h cinema. Exam i n in g the relat ions bet ween
the t wo di sposi t i ves m eans expl or i n g the m echanical sources of modernit y,
since the not ion of di sposi t i ve is int rinsically linked to m echanics and cine
m at ics - m ovem ent and speed are associat ed both wit h cinema and phot ogr a
ph y in a var i et y of w ays.
Et ienne-Jules M ar ey's research is a k ey fact or for un derst an din g 'cinem a' at
the chronophot ographic st age and pr ovi des a m eans of obser ving h ow cinema
br ok e aw ay from phot ography. It can be ar gued that one cannot conceive of
cinem a w it h out t ak i ng chr onoph ot ogr aphy into account . By m ast ering the tech
nique of the phot ographic snapshot , M ar ey conceived of a k ind of 'cinem a' t hat
w as det erm ined by the concept ual and m et hodological prem ises of his scientific
approach.
The phot ogram is generally considered a fixed i m age that is opposed to the
reconst it ut ed m ovi n g i m age that defines cinema. H owever, w hen one re-reads
M arey, one begin s to see that w h at fundam ent ally dist inguishes cinem a from
ph ot ogr aph y i s not si m pl y t he illusion of m ovem ent . The ver y st at us of phot o
graphy, of the fi xed im age, i s t ransform ed by the cinem at ographic disposit i ve -
the phot ogram is a snapshot w h ose nat ure i s a par adoxical one. The an alysis
put for w ar d here is based on a redefinit ion of the not ion of instant , associat ed
w i t h the t echnique of the phot ographic snapshot and det erm ined by t he expo
sure t ime. The aim of the chapt er is to sh ow t hat one can conceive of an instant
that lasts. This is w h at t ranspires w h en one begins to const ruct the concept s
link ed w i t h the instant of illum inat ion in M arey's wr it ings. One can see h ow
t hese concept s m ake u p a syst em of relat ions w it hin his var i ous scientific pr o
posal s relat ed t o the phot ographic snapshot and chr onophot ogr aphy on fixed
plat es and film . This is the idea that Ber gson dism issed w hen he radically sepa
rat ed t he inst ant from the fl ow of time.
A l fr ed Jar r y is associat ed w i t h one of the m ajor t hem es of m odernit y: m e
chanizat ion. H i s novel, The Supermale (1901), is an excellent exam ple of a series
of reflect ions on 'bach elor m achines'. There are on ly a lim it ed num ber of explicit
references to t he cinem at ograph, but one can nevert heless sh ow just h ow im
port ant it w as to Jarry. H i s w or k is of int erest because his writ ings, whet her
fict ion or journalism , expl or e the pot ent ial of cinem a that el udes not on ly m ost

aspect s of the cinem at ographic di sposi t i ve of his cont em poraries, but also w h at
w as to develop lat er and becom e dom inant today. Jar r y's w or k s gi ve concret e
form to som e of cinem a's unexplor ed pot ent ial, as t hey use cinem a to conceive
and represent a cert ain experience of t ime and speed linked to m odernit y. They
use cinem a to project t hem selves into a philosophical fiction, Jar r y's 'pat aph y-
sics'. Jar r y's i deas are a clear illust rat ion of the fact that disposit i ves should be
underst ood w i t h i n a syst em of relat ions. Cinem a and phot ography are brough t
t oget her by m eans of the presupposit ions that their represent at ions set in m o
tion. In short , t hey st and in opposit ion to several of t heir defining charact eris
tics, w hich link them t o a net work of not ions or pract ices belonging to the
hi gh l y par adoxi cal m odernit y t hat Jar r y describes.
The references to ph ot ogr aph y and cinem a m ay t hus be put in parallel. Be
t ween a concept ion of the inst ant and a concept ion of m ovem ent and speed,
bet w een Zen o an d Bergson, Jar r y p l ays w i t h the par adoxes of t ime by m ak ing
them m at erialise as represent at ions t hat can only be ful l y underst ood by refer
ence to the di sposi t i ves of vi ew i n g and list ening.
2 T h e e x h ib itio n
The second sect ion of the book exam ines the disposit ive of the 'exhibit ion' and
it s relat ion to the cinem at ographic disposit ive. O livier Lugon 's t wo chapt ers
t ake the reader beyon d cinem a pr oper b y st u dyi n g the w ay in w hich cinem a
w as t aken beyon d its ow n lim it s w h en it crossed pat hs w i t h ot her m edia. H e
develops t w o exam ples: t he exhibit ion and t he lecture, calling on t wo of the key
figur es of m odernism , H erbert Bayer for t he exhibit ion and Le Cor busier for the
lecture. Bot h explicit ly referred t o cinem a as a m odel, and especi ally to the idea
of a cert ain di sposi t i ve w h ose var i ou s elem ent s t hey ut ilised in order to explain
different aspect s of their ow n designs. These i nclude a t em poral and rhyt hm ic
definit ion of vi sual art, the sequent ial nat ure of the film , the event -like charact er
of the present at ion of lum inous im ages, t he pl ay of silence and of the voice, and
the effect s of surprise or shock t hat are at t ribut ed to m ont age. These are all
forces t hat can be used to capt ure the spect at ors' attent ion and can t hus be
hi gh l y efficient for the com m unicat ion of ideas.
These t wo exam ples sh ow us h ow com m unicat ion in the 20t h cent ury relied
not on l y on the form s of represent ation, but also on the control over the d i sposi
t ive of 'sh ow i n g' and the m eet ing bet ween the spect at or and the im age. The
specific nat ure of the spat ial and t em poral fr am ew or k used to present the im
age, i.e., w h at sur r ounds and suppor t s it, m ay be as im port ant for const ruct ing
its m eanin g as w h at it act ually cont ains.

This is the case w i t h phot ography, w hi ch is an alysed t hrough the w ay it is

exploit ed in the st agin g of H erbert Bayer 's exhibit ions. In 'D yn am i c Pat hs of
Thought : Exhibit ion D esign, Phot ogr aphy and Circulat ion in the W ork of H er
bert Bayer ', Lugon describes Bayer 's career as an artist, graphic desi gner and
exhibit ion designer from Ger m an y in t he 1920s to the U S of the 1940s. H e looks
at the t heoretical foundat ion of Bayer 's w or k and the w ay it evol ved over the
year s, w it h part icular at t ent ion pai d to t he om nipresent quest ion of the spect a
t or's m obilit y and circulat ion. H ere i s the ver y cent re of Bayer 's strategies,
w her e he t urns the m ovem ent s of vi si t or s into a tool of com m unicat ion. H e cre
at es scenarios by bu i l d i n g circuit s, d evel opi n g narrat ive and em ot ional se
quences by set t ing out a rout e and channelling spect at ors t hrough it. This can
be seen in the M oM A 's 1942 pr opagan da exhibit ion, The Road to Victory, where
the principle of cinem a is r ever sed by locat ing the developm ent of the m ont age,
narrat ion and em ot ional dr am a in t he spect at ors' ver y m ovem ent s. Thus, ph ysi
cal m obilit y est ablishes a par t icular form of 'ci nem a' w h i ch by claim ing to lead
to great er part icipat ion in fact t ends to increase the psychological hold it exer
cises over the spect at ors.
'The Lect ure: Le Cor busi er 's U se of t he W ord, D r aw i n g and Project ion' looks
at the lecture as a di sposi t i ve and m ult im edia 'spect acle' t hrough Le Corbusier's
ext en sive experience as a lecturer. H e devot ed fort y year s to his 'lect ure t echni
que' b y d evel opi n g m ult iple and changing form s of interact ion of voice, direct
dr aw i n g, and the project ion of fixed and m ovi n g im ages. H e t hus em bellished
his scenic and perform at ive art b y exploit ing m echanical form s of show i n g
im ages, the aim bein g to devel op a force of persuasion t hat w ou l d go beyond
the act ual event it self b y m eans of furt her publicat ions and exhibit ions, which
w er e t hem selves charact erised b y t hese scenic disposit i ves and com plex form s
of project ion accom panied by spoken comment ary.
3 V o ic e /b o d y
The t hird sect ion of t he book looks at quest ions that relat e to h ow m anifest a
t ions of hum an presence m at erialise wit hin t he represent at ions that em erge
from di sposi t i ves i n vol vi n g m achines. A l ai n Boillat an d Laurent Guido exam ine
the m echanical evolut ion of t he hum an elem ent w it hin ant hropocent ric audi o
vi su al di sposi t i ves an d concent rat e on t w o elem ent s - the voice and the bod y -
t hat belon g t o different aspect s of spect acular pract ices. On the one hand, con
siderat ions of t he voice's st at us h ave been com m on w it hin the m ajor par adi gm s
t hat det erm ined the developm en t of t echnological and cult ural series and that
share m uch w it h the 'ci n em a' series - in par t icular the m eans of reproducing

and br oadcast i n g soun ds du r i n g t he second h alf of the 19t h century. These con
siderat ions have det erm ined h ow t he int eract ions bet w een the audit ive and v i
sual dim ensions of the represent at ion w er e en visaged (i.e., the im age of the t alk
in g subject). On the ot her hand, t he issue of the body refers not on ly to cert ain
m odes of an alysi n g and represent ing hum an m ovem ent t hat w er e developed
over t his sam e period, but also to cert ain scenic approaches that w er e adopt ed
w it h in part icular di sposi t i ves and t hat t hese di sposi t ives t hem selves influenced.
There is, of course, a fundam ent al difference bet ween the disem bodied voice of
the phon ogr aph or t elephone and the physical presence of the body show n by
vi ew i n g di sposit ives. N onet heless, bot h voi ce and body are m anifest in the 'pre-
sence-absence' schem a that is inherent to ever y represent ation, t hough in var y
in g degrees and in accordance wit h a vari et y of m odalit ies.
M anifest at ions of the voice and the im age of the bod y are som et im es t rans
posed in t ime and/ or space and m ay also be fi r m ly locat ed in the hie et nunc of
product ion-recept ion. A l ai n Boillat d r aw s a dist inct ion bet ween talking cinem a
and spoken cinem a in order to account for t his dist inct ion bet ween the fixing of
the voi ce by the m achine and the l i ve sit uat ion of orality. These t wo syst em s
cannot be d i vi d ed into strict periods, even i f the lect urer of ear ly cinem a did
becom e a m ajor figur e of the talkie, but can be exam ined from the perspect ive
of 'cinem a' archaeology. Q uot at ion m ar k s should be used here, as the objective
is to dism ant le the 'ci n em a' object in order to exam ine the t echnological series or
par allel t radit ions of the spect acular, such as t he t alking or dancing autom at on,
the phonograph, opera, etc. In 'Th e Lect urer, the Im age, the M achine and the
Audio-Spect at or: The Voice as a Com ponent Part of A u d i ovi su al D isposit ives',
Boillat reflect s on t he use of 'soun ds before the t alkie' b y fol low in g t wo lines of
enquiry. Firstly, he focuses on the oft en over looked voice, w h ose specific char
act erist ics have to be st udied in order to underst and the phenom ena that it in
volves. Secondly, he uses Al ber a's and Tort ajada's concept of the vi sual di sposi
t ive to exam ine t he roles of the l i ve speaker, w h o is a verit able m ediat or
bet ween the audience and the screen. This second prem ise m eans adapt i n g A l
bera's and Tort ajada's param et ers to include interact ions bet w een im ages and
sounds —i.e., m ak i n g the net wor k of relat ions result ing from the sim ult aneous
presence of t he three poles of the di sposi t i ve m ore com plex and broaden i n g the
'm ach i n er y' t o i nclude a w i d er w hole, w i t h hum an act ors and the product ion
space of the au di ovi su al represent at ion. Boillat also looks at w h at oralit y im
plies w hen it is an int egral par t of a product ion space that is par t ly machinic in
charact er. The t heoret ical fr am ew or k is based on the cont em porary account s or
the hypot heses of ear ly cinem a hist orians, and al low s one to en vi sage how the
lect urer's different funct ions var i ed according to the place t hat w as at t ribut ed to
him. The cinem at ographic spect acle i s not en visaged from one vi ew poi n t but
calls on the diver si t y of t he di sposi t i ves used.

The w or l d of fiction —w her e the possible can t ake concrete shape - w as the
preferred m eans of expr ession for the im aginat ion and the im agi nar y w or l ds
t hat em erged from t he spr eadi n g of (audio)visual t echnologies. Thus, to an sw er
the quest ions r egar di n g cert ain specific disposit ives, one needs to t ake into ac
count the l it erary t ext s t hat feat ure m achines t hat perform before an audience in
a fict ional cont ext . W rit ing t hus becom es a m ediat ion that m irrors t he au d i ovi
sual product ion produced b y a disposit ive, w h i le offering an indicat ion of how
the di sposi t i ve m ight be received. In 'O n t he Sin gular St at us of the H um an
Voice: Tomorrow's Eve and the Cult ur al Series of Talk ing M achines', A l ai n Boil-
lat highlight s t he issue of the inscript ion of the voice by exam ining Villiers de
l 'l sl e A d am 's novel, Tomorrow's Eve, w i t h it s w el l-k n ow n exam ple of 'project ed
cinem a'. H e uses the perspect ive of the ar chaeology of t alking 'cinem a' to exam
ine the place and funct ion of the voice vi a ant hropom orphic sim ulacra - a gen
uine audi ovi sual di sposi t i ve —in de Villiers's n ovel and, m ore generally, the spe
cific charact erist ics of the voi ce considered as an affirm at ion of the presence of
the hum an in the m achine. W hen the voice is reproduced vi a the phonograph, it
l eads to a syst em of 'presence-absence' that can be com pared to Christ ian M et z's
w r i t i n gs on the 'i m pr essi on of r ealit y' in the cinema. In Tomorrow's Eve, Edison's
i nvent ions - which, in epist em ological terms, are observed in all t heir diversi t y
(and not just t he oft -quot ed descript ion of st ereoscopic projection) —are asso
ciat ed w i t h t he principle of delinking that is generally hidden in t alk ing cinem a
because of the pr i m ar y posit ion accorded to the unique speak i n g subject. The
an guish brough t about b y the dehum an izing exhibit ion of the machinic dim en
sion seem s bot h to un der pin the novelist 's fetishist ic descript ion of the t echnol
ogy and encourage interest in the occult , w i t h Villiers calling on a spiritist ar gu
m ent t hat w as sym pt om at ic of t he w ay recorded voi ces w er e underst ood at the
end of the 19t h century.
Lauren t Guido's chapt er ent it led 'D an ci n g D olls and M echanical Eyes: Track
i n g an O bsessive M ot ive from Ballet to Cin em a' uses a sim ilar approach. Gui do
hi ghlight s cert ain var iat ions in a disposit ive where the spectacle of the dancing
bod y is m ediat ised vi a a vi ew i n g t echnique t hat set s out t o en large and exam ine
the det ails of a physical perform ance. H e i nvest igat es the represent at ions t hat
refer first and forem ost to lit erary w r i t i n gs that w er e m ark ed by the Rom ant ic
reaction to the m echanist ic m odel (H offm ann, Kleist ), and t hen concent rat es on
the i m agi n ar y w or l d of libret tos and cert ain processes t hat are part icular to
French ballet . H e also exam ines the t heoret ical quest ions that dom inat ed the
art s that w er e inspired b y bod y m ovem ent s w hen the cinem at ograph w as being
developed. There em erges the concept ion of a hum an —u su al l y fem ale - figure
t hat is pr ogr essi vel y r educed to it s m echanical dim ension, and lim it ed in part i
cular to the rhyt hm ic param et ers that em erged from the scientific st udy of
m ovem ent , w h er e the body w as t reat ed as a m ere object. The chronophot o-

graphic and t hen cinem at ographic cam era w er e developed as analyt ical inst ru
ments, before finall y est ablishing t hem selves as the prost het ic tool par excellence,
cover in g funct ions that w er e pr evi ou sl y occupied by such t echnologies as the
opera glass.
H ow ever , one should not confine oneself to t he i m agi n ar y represent at ions of
disposi t i ves but , w h en considering the body, bear in m ind a m ore pragm at ic
considerat ion of t he var i ous w ays in w h i ch the cinem at ographic represent at ion
reform ulat es cert ain fundam ent al charact erist ics of vi ew i n g in the scenic arts.
One of the k ey m odels that influenced the aest hetic and social reflect ions on
the audi ovi sual spect acle w as the opera, especially W agn er 's ut opian Gesamt
kunstwerk and its i deal of a rhyt hm ic int eract ion bet w een the different m odes of
expression. H owever, it is the less recognised form s of t heat re and dance (i.e.,
the m usic hall, acrobat ics and the circus) w hich, from a hist orical perspect ive,
w er e t he k ey fact ors t hat influenced the w ay the bod y w as handled in the cin
em a. This can be seen in the short act s reconfigured for the cam era in ear ly film s
or the count less m usicals and choreographic perform ances show n in cinem as or
on t elevision. Irrespect ive of whet her these perform ances const itute the film 's
m ain t hem e or are si m pl y par t ly aut onom ous m om ent s of attraction, t hey refer
to t w o canonical m odes of represent at ion of the body. On the one hand, there is
the respect for the int egrit y of the original physical perform ance. On the ot her
hand, the perform ance is edit ed and insert ed in a dyn am ic series of shots. Both
of t hese im port ant par adi gm s m ake u p var i ed and secondary act ualisat ions of
primary di sposi t i ves relat ing to the code of body m ovem ent s in scenic spect a-
Laur ent Guido, in his chapt er ent itled 'Fr om Broadcast Perform ance t o V i r
t ual Show : Television's Tennis D i sposi t i ve', concent rat es on one of the relat ion
ships bet ween t w o successive di sposit ives. H e ai m s syst em at i cal l y to i dent ify
som e of t he aest hetic and dram at ic im plicat ions of h ow t ennis is film ed and
edit ed w h en it is broadcast live, in ot her w or d s the m edia disposi t ive t hat t urns
it into a t elevision spectacle. Part icular at tent ion is pai d both to the relat ionship
bet w een the scenic represent at ion that is em ployed in the st adium and to the
sequencing of the different vi ew poi n t s that m ake up the film version, by in
creasing t he num ber of cam eras used. The recurring fi gures t hat st and out du r
in g t his l i ve cutting are organ ised b y sw it ch ing bet ween the all-encom passing
and geom et rical vi si on of the m at ch (over vi ew from above or even from the air)
and a series of shot s t hat concent rat es on t he i n di vi dual gest ur es and emot ions,
w h i ch are m ai n l y film ed at court level. W hile exam ining different br oadcast s of
the W im bledon t ennis t ournam ent over the period 1997-2007, Guido also
adopt s a hist orical perspect ive t hat highlight s h ow som e t radit ional uses and
m odes of represent at ion h ave been m aint ained over a long period, w h ile ot hers
h ave changed. This change is especially evi den t in the not ion of 'plur ifocali t y'

and the quest ion of the an alysi s and anim at ion of 'i n vi si bl e' gest ures t hat arose
w it h the first phot ographic and cinem at ographic im ages of sport s event s, from
Geor ges D em eny to Leni Riefenst ahl.
O v e rtu re
The cont ribut ions in the current vol um e are part of a broader research project
bein g conduct ed at the U n i ver si t y of Lausanne. A series of relat ed devel op
m ent s h ave been un dert aken eit her by t he aut hors of the present book (biblio
graphical det ails of w hom can be found below ) or b y researchers, lect urers and
PhD st udent s w h o are current ly w or k i n g on sim ilar t hemes. Som e exam ples of
current research project s include m edical discourses linked to the appearance of
the cinem a at the end of the 19t h cent ury, the archaeological appr oach to
voyeur i sm , w h i ch evol ved into one of the recurrent concept s of cinem at o
gr aphi c st udies, the int roduct ion of au di ovi sual t echnologies in cont em porary
t heat re an d h ow t hey have affect ed not on l y the act or's body but also the t elevi
sion di sposi t i ve as it spr ead in t he 1950s, and finally Sw i ss nat ional exhibit ions,
w her e bot h cinem at ic and au di ovi su al m eans have been r egularly em ployed.
This bod y of research st art s w i t h cinem a w h ile at t em pt ing to broaden the
field an d perceive it at a cr ossr oads of ot her cult ural, cognit ive or social series.
This is unique w it hin French-speak ing Europe, w h er e scholars are often con
cerned w i t h st ayi n g w i t h i n the boun dar ies of convent ional cinem a st udies as
defined b y cinem a crit ics and the general public. It is clear, however, t hat var
ious t ransform at ions, whet her on the t echnological l evel or t hose i n vol vi n g cus
t om s and social pract ices, h ave shift ed the boundar ies of t his restricted 'm odel'
once and for all. It w ou ld, h ow ever , be foolish to den y that the m odel it self is
goi n g t hrough a crisis. The field of art has absorbed cinem a w it hin a m edley of
disparat e cat egories; the n ew m edia h ave em ployed cinem a for ot her purposes
and connect ed it w i t h ot her sources. Even the param et ers of cinem a's canonical
exploit at ion are changing w it h the new, m iniat urized m eans of reproduct ion.
W hen w e exam ine the 19t h-cent ury novelist s w h o 'project ed' the fut ure cinema
and the aspirat ions and under t ak in gs of avant -garde art ist s and t heorist s such
as Lissit zky, Gan, Vert ov, Klut sis, Arvat ov, etc., w e see that 'ci n em a' pot ent ially
cont ained t oday's diversificat ion, or hint ed at possibilit ies t hat w er e n ever ful ly
developed. A r ch aeology is t hus a m eans of const ruct ing the present.

N o te s
1. The perspective is quite different from that of the pioneers who fought for recogni
tion of the medium.
2. The emergence of film studies, launched by Gilbert Cohen-Seat in 1946, coincided
with the domination of cinema over the audiovisual field and beyond, the 'mass
media'. Its 'end' coincided with television taking over the dominant position, and
the fact that sociologists took other mass media into account (the illustrated press,
photographs, advertising etc.). Roland Barthes, who took part in research work at
the Institut de Filmologie, wrote about this 'move', which he himself made, in his
review of the 'First International Conference on Visual Information, Milan' (9-12
July 1961) (Communications no. 1, 1961) - he calls on people to question 'the imperi
alism of the cinema over the other means of visual information'. 'Cinema’s domina
tion is doubtless justified "historically"', he continues, 'but it cannot be justified
epistemologically'. One year previously, he stated that cinema was 'recognised as
the model of the mass media' ('Les "unites traumatiques" au cinema. Principes de
recherche', Revue intemationale de Filmologie, no. 34, July-September i960).

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T h e 1900 E p i s t e m e 1
In tro d u c tio n
The t echnical societ y that cam e into being in the 17t h cent ury and becam e the
flourishing indust rial societ y of the 19t h cent ury int roduced a series of n ew con
dit ions into t he field of i m age and sound. These condit ions influenced fir st l y the
effects t hat w er e sought and produced. There w as a m ove both to record and
reproduce r eali t y as exact ly as possible and, on the cont rary, t o create the fant as
tic and em body fant asy. There w as the por t r ayal of such phenom ena as m ove
ment, succession and t he fl ow of time. Secondly, and m ore significant ly, the new
condit ions had an im pact on t he means used, in ot her w or ds, the devi ces and
m achines.
The mechanical m odel, w hich began w i t h Descart es and de la M ettrie, over
t urned Arist ot le's physics and opened up a n ew concept ual space that gave rise
to a series of proposit ions concerning the m odes of apprehension of bot h objects
and beings, w i t h in part icular t he di vi si on into discret e unit s, w hich could then
be com bined. This concept ual space al low ed for the body's m obilising pow er
and dyn am i cs to be locat ed out side of it. The im port ance of the par adigm of the
clock in the sevent eent h cent ury is w el l k n ow n —the clock w i t h its w eigh t s and
the spr ing-dr iven wat ch w er e m icro-m echanism s that inaugur at ed a n ew state
t hat com bined t wo t ypes of m ovem ent s and stop m echanism s to achieve r egu
larit y; its effect is to t ransform m ovem ent into inform at ion. One m ight speak of
a 'clock -m ak ing' episteme spreadi n g im plicit or st at ed k n ow l edge in var i ous
w ays, in var i ous sect ors of k n ow l edge, ideas, pract ices and instit ut ions, k n ow l
edge based on dissociat ion, assem bling, art iculat ion, aut om at ism , etc. (the clock
or w at chm ak er w as a cent ral charact er in the 18t h cent ury t oget her w i t h clocks
and also aut om at a, right u p to M éliès's Robert-Houdin t heat re).2
W e speak here of episteme. The term, coined b y M ichel Foucault , i s proble
mat ic, par t ly because of the w ay it 'com pet es' in t his chapt er w it h the not ions
of 'm odel ' and 'par ad i gm ' w i t h w hi ch it is often confused. Foucault 's episteme
h as a charact erist ic w hi ch dist inguishes it from the paradigm (described by Tho
m as S. Kuhn)3 and a fortiori from the model, in t hat it does not define a state of
k n ow l edge - w het her scient ific or philosophical —at a part icular moment , but
t hat w hich m ak es a t heory, pract ice or opinion possible.

Thus, one can say t hat the represent at ion of the 'm echanical er a' w as 'fit t ed
out w i t h t ools', 'engineer ed', and no longer used its own t echniques (those of the
paint er or sculpt or, t heir savoir-faire) but, inst ead, used inst rum ent s and t echni
ques desi gned for ot her ends. This 'equi pm en t ' of the processes of represent a
tion represent s one of the t ransform at ions of t his period, w h i ch w as charac
t erised by the prom ot ion of (existing) appar at uses from the st at us of instrument
to t hat of machine (D iirer em ployed apparat uses, as did the perspecteurs, but t hey
w er e cont rolled by their ow n hands).4 It is t rue t hat Bazin saw t his m ove to
automatism as the dispossession of m an as creator, but he im m ediat ely brough t
back Pr oviden ce into the liberat ed space: the phot ographic im print is the Veil of
Veronica, but there is no longer an i n t erm ediary (it is the art ist's 't em peram ent '
that is int erposed as a prism in Zol a's fam ous expression that is referred to
here). Bazin, cont rary to W alt er Benjam in, beli eved that one should do without
the appar at us because Veronica's Vei l is not the screen, it r eceives it s im print
usin g neit her lens nor exposur e t ime, n or developm ent , print ing, calibration,
etc. (and yet w hen N iepce t ook his first phot ograph, he w as i m m ediat ely sub
ject ed to t he w eigh t of the t echnical di sposi t i ve of his m achine w i t h it s t wo
sh adow s - al r eady the ver y 'fi r st ' landscape is not an im print in Bazin 's use of
the w or d: it records several t im e-periods because of the ver y nat ure of the m a
chine).
W hen Canalet t o int roduced his Cam er a O bscura in Venice's piazze and, as it
w ere, 'fi xed ' the l andscapes, he w as t aking part in t his aut om at ism ; w hen he
com bined different im ages, added a campanile t aken from elsewhere, m oved a
church or a palace, it w as because he w as able to conceive of the process of
dissociat ing and r eassem blin g a vi ew on the basi s of presupposit ions that w ere
not based on t hose of El Greco, w h o 't u r n ed' a bu ildin g around in his paint ing
of the Toledo lan dscape.5 An d a fortiori the phot ographer Gu st ave Le Gray, w h o
'm oun t ed' his i m ages from several n egat ives.
The int roduct ion of t his equipm ent led to a n ew t ype of relat ion bet w een ob
ject, apparat us, represent at ion and spect at or, w hi ch w as t o t ake concrete form
at a certain m om ent in the dispositives o f viewing and listening (i.e., an or gan i sa
tion that assi gn s posit ions to it s prot agonist s) —the cinem at ograph, phot ograph,
t elevision, phonograph, t elephone, etc., each of w hi ch assum ed var i ous st ruc
t ures and shapes. By exam i n i n g the condit ions of possibilit y of t hese d i sposi
t ives, w e shall const ruct w h at w e call t he 1900 episteme. Thanks to t his an alysi s
of the epist em ology of disposit ives, w e shall be in a posit ion to ent irely rest ruc
t ure the field of m odes of represent at ion, in cluding t radit ional m edia such as
paint ing or literat ure.

The 1900 Episteme 27
D i s p o s i t i v e s a n d m a c h in e s : h y p o t h e s e s
Ot her scholars h ave en vi saged t hese di sposi t i ves and m achines. From our point
of view , however, none of t heir appr oaches is sat isfactory. W e are r eferring here
first ly t o t he vi sion of the 1970s, w h en scholars such as Jean -Loui s Baudr y and
Jean-Pierre O udart concent rat ed on the cinem at ograph, w hich w as on l y exam
ined from the point of vi ew of t he per cei vi n g subject w i t h a Lacanian perspec
tive. Secondly, t here is Friedrich Kit t ler's t ransferring of the Lacanian t riad (ima
ginary, sym bolic, real) ont o that of the gram ophone, cinem a an d t ypewrit er, and
t hirdly Jonat han Cr ar y's an alysi s6 which, despit e its Foucauldi an prem ise, not
on ly fails to address the relat ion bet ween concrete ‘machinid di sposi t i ves and the
discourses he analyses, but also changes direct ion by fixing on the st ereoscope
as the place of rupt ure and em ergence of a phenom enological m odel of the sub
ject. Cr ar y sees t he int roduct ion of subject ivit y wit h t ime and durat ion, and fo
cuses on the subject rat her t han an alysi n g the const ruct ion of the subject vi a the
di sposi t i ve (for M ichel Foucault , there is no (phenom enological) subject, but
discur sive di sposi t i ves w hich assi gn a place to the subject and const itute it as
such —'t he disposit ive is above all a m achine w hi ch produces subject ivat ions').7
O ur hypot h esis is t herefore that the n ew condit ions of vi ew i n g and list ening
t hat em erged out of indust rial societ y h ave r edr aw n the spectator-spect acle
schem a b y int roducing the quest ion of the dispositive, w h i ch assi gns a n ew posi
tion to t hose w h o view . This can be seen not on ly in the int roduct ion of m a
chines and t ools t hat increase vi si on (from the t elescope to the m agic lantern),
and recording or capt uring devices (phot ography, the gram ophone), but also in
the prom ot ion-spect acle of the m anufact ured object, it s exhibit ion (as Philippe
H am on has show n w hen w r i t i n g about un i versal exhibit ions),8 t raffic condi
t ions (speed) and urban relat ions (shocks), as w ell as in the com m ent aries t hat
highlight such phenom ena.
There is no short age of exam ples of t his 'r egulat i on' b y t hese appar at uses and
m achines, w h i ch belon g to a w h ol e series of fields to w hich t hey w er e pr e
vi ou sl y not connect ed —the regulat ion or dom inat ion proceeding from the Pr äg
nanz of t heir m odes of funct ioning. Félix Fénéon w rot e about the sh adow t hea
tre in 1887 as follow s:
M. Henry Rivière has civilised the previously rudimentary art of the shadow theatre.
Before him, the shadows filed past like characters on friezes or 'Paronies'. When he
had to engineer M. Caran d'Ache's Epopée, he positioned them with an effect of per
spective at ever-greater distances, and thought up masterly and instantaneous tricks
to have the groups of characters advance and then disappear. Granted, the screen still
only showed black silhouettes, but at least it was no longer a naïve surface, and

achieved depth. And now there is decisive progress with the addition of every colour
- in forty minutes, forty tableaus hold their own.9
Em ile Verhaeren com m ent ed si m i lar ly on Cl au de M onet 's w or k s - the pict orial
realit y - vi a M ar ey's chronophot ographic m achine. A s it w as the represent at ion
of a landscape, he evok ed its 'successi ve aspect s, arrest ed in flight by an eye of
ext r aor di n ar y acu i t y'.10 M onet 's eye becom es the phot ographic gun, it capt ures
objects in m id-air, in cluding objects t hat are not necessarily birds. A s W histler
w r ot e to Fant in-Lat our in 1862: 'Yo u cat ch it [the instant] in flight just as you kill
a bir d in the ai r '.
These are som e exam ples of machinic elem ent s t hat m ake up t he disposit ive
before the advent of the cinema, and that the epist em ic schem a al low s us to for
m ulat e, avoi d i n g the cont ent -based, t eleological approach w hich w ou ld h ave
Fénéon 'ant icipat e' the successive im ages of the cinem at ograph in Rivier e's
sh adow theat re, or Verhaeren and W hist ler be 'un der t he influence' of or in
spir ed b y chronophot ography. The quest ion is of anot her order, and indeed re
fers t o t hat 'im plicit k n ow l ed ge' t hat m ak es such statement s possible.
The quest ion t hus becom es: w h at di d one call 'recreat ed m ovem ent ' in the
ninet eent h cent ury before the appearance of t he kinet oscope and the cinem at o
graph, and afterwards? This m ay seem to be a som ew hat unrefined variable, but
the an sw er is by no m eans a st r ai ght for w ar d one.
The not ion of m ovem ent , or even t hat of br eak in g out of the fr am ew or k of the
represent at ion, w as som et hing t hat could be effect ively realised before the ac
t ual product ion of m ovem ent b y the m achine or the effect of m ovem ent by
m eans of opt ical illusion. The enrapt ured critic, st anding in front of one of Gu s
t ave Le Gr ay's phot ographs, 't he Great W ave' (1858), w rot e t hat the spect at or
st an di ng in front of the i m age w as subjugat ed b y its exact ness and its rendering,
'an d w ou l d be t em pt ed to st ep back w ar d in order not t o be t ouched b y its fu r
ious m om ent um '.11 W hen di scussi n g such a reaction, one can, of course, t ake
into account the l it erary gar r ul ousn ess of the critic. This is, aft er all, w h at he
wr ot e aft er the event , and he w as not act ually caught in the act of backing aw ay
in the m anner of the first spect at ors at the Grand Café react ing in front of the
irrupt ion of t he locom ot ive. But t he fact rem ains t hat the critic cannot describe
such a reaction w it hout a cert ain agreem ent , w it h out it being acceptable to r ead
ers (irrespect ive of whet her t hey h ave seen the phot ograph). It should, m ore
over, be not ed t hat like Le Gray, the Lum ière brot hers set out to 'fi x' the m ove
m ent of w aves which, like that of sm oke, w i n d rust ling leaves, wat er falls, etc.,
produces a great er effect t han that of people par adi n g past , like in the sh adow
theat re. The not ion of effect is a crucial one for cert ain phot ographers and, t o a
large extent , addr esses the relat ion bet ween the represent at ion and the spect a
tor. Le Gr ay ent ers into som e det ail on t he quest ion in his treat ise of 1850.12

M ovem ent can be inferred from effect if the effect fi xes som et hing m ovin g w it h
part icular force (as is the case for a w ave).
This not ion of effect also al low s us to underst and h ow black-and-whit e phot o
gr ap h y in 1850 could belon g to the problem at ic of the colourist paint ers, w h o
br ok e w i t h the supr em acy of d r aw i n g in favou r of w or k on the 'econ om y of
light ', cont ours, nuances of t he sam e colour, or m ass processing w hich alone
suit ed colour, as Baudelaire w r ot e in his Salon of 1846 (TIL O n Colou r ').13
Such agreem ent in t he t ype of react ions aroused by a represent at ion can
doubt less be expl ai n ed b y the change brought about by phot ography when
com pared to a pict orial represent at ion, l eadi n g to a phenom enon of 'absorbment'
(the m eaning bein g a little different from M ichael Fried's 'absor pt ion'), several
exam ples of which w ere gi ven by D iderot in his descript ions (he const ruct ed a
n ar r at ive w h i ch i n vol ved penet rat ing inside the pict ure and n avigat in g w it hin it
—and even losing oneself inside it ).14 The phot ographic par adi gm t hus becom es
the int erprét ant of the different vi sual phenom ena.
In Le Gr ay's w or k , t his effect of br eaki n g out produced the dissociat ion of the
t w o planes (the sea and the sky), even i f the dissociat ion is not lit erally enact ed
but 'fak ed '. Since t he t w o elem ent s are not cont inuous, t hey produce the deh is
cence w hich sees the bot t om t hreat ening t o det ach it self from the top because
the respect ive precision of t heir execut ion m akes them dissociable, in a m anner
of speaking. The ack now ledged influence of the panor am a m odel on Le Gr ay
can be seen here, w her e t w o or t hree horizont al zones w er e superposed - the
sky, the sea and t he shore, w here not hing lim it ed t hem on the sides. H ere w e are
in a 'm achine' (wit h fak i n g by m eans of t w o juxt aposed negat ives) and a di spo
sit ive (the spect at or is i nvit ed to di scover an effect of precision that exceeds the
codes that are in force and is t hus brough t to a 'n ew vi si on ' of a phenom enon
t hat w as nevert heless w el l k n ow n and represent ed).
Thus, w e see t hat ph ot ogr aphy adopt ed som et hing of the di sposit ive of the
panoram a, before pain t ing bor r ow ed it from phot ogr aphy in the w or k s of
W histler, Courbet , M anet and Boudin. A s W alt er Benjam in w r ot e/ 5 Le Gr ay's
w ave spr ead in paint ing, w her e Courbet in part icular w on the reput at ion of
h avi n g fixed an inst ant aneous sn apshot .16
R esearch a im s
W e h ave decided neit her to espouse the approaches of the 1970s, nor to follow
in t he foot st eps of such scholars as Cr ar y — w h ose exam ple, despit e our re
serves, is an int erest ing one - but to exam ine the cinem at ographic disposit ive.
For the pur poses of ou r dem onst rat ion, it h as been reduced here to the 'vi ew -

in g' di sposi t i ve alone, i m plyi n g t hat the 'li st en i ng' disposit i ve still has to be con
struct ed. O ur aim is t hus to describe and apprehend t his disposit ive:
1. as an episternic schema (definit ion);
2. as belon gin g to a n et work, a w i der epist ernic configurat ion (that of cine
m at ics, of M ar ey's ph ysi ol ogy of m ovem ent , w hich breaks dow n bot h anim al
and hum an m ovem ent into different phases; or that of social pract ices, such
as bein g in a t rain w i t h the spect acularisat ion of t he landscape, br i n gi n g t o
get her an im m obile spect at or, a m obile spect acle and a fr am ew or k of vision)
(inclusion);
3. as p r ovi d i n g a m odel - a par adi gm - not on l y w it hin the rest ricted field of
vi ew i n g disposit ives, but goi ng beyon d it to the br oader field of vi suali t y (i.
e., paint ing and literature), and even to that of t hought (the 'cinem a', a model
of k n ow ledge according to Bergson, a m odel of the psychic appar at us for
som e psychologist s or psychoanalyst s) (extension).
To devel op these t hree points:

1. W hat is an epist ernic schem a in the cont ext of our research? A form at ion or
epist ernic schem a defines the form alisat ion of a series of vi ew i n g disposit ives
— to be underst ood as m achines/ discourses/ pract ices - that w e m ust con
st ruct .17
2. Once the schem a is m ade explicit as a net work of relat ions, t hat it has the
st at us of a t heoret ical object, si n gul ar di sposit ives appear as em pirical sin gu
lar act ualisat ions of t his schem a.
3. The schem a t hat br i n gs t oget her all the elem ent s associat ed w i t h the cinem a
t ographic disposi t i ves w i l l be the 'cinema' schem a, it being underst ood that
the t erm does not m at ch cinema seen as an em pirical object.
O ur definit ion of the vi ew i n g di sposi t i ve is sufficient ly broad to enable us to

open up to research beyon d an y part icular si n gul ar hist orical variat ion of the
cinem at ographic disposit ive. W e consider that a vi ew i n g di sposi t i ve form alises
the link s bet ween spect at or, m achinery and represent ation. By m achinery w e
m ean not on l y t he vi ew i n g m achine as a t echnical object (for exam ple, the pr o
ject ion apparat us) but also all t he elem ent s used to sh ow (in the w i d er sense of
the term): for exam ple t he screen, t he m irror of the phenakist oscope, phot o
gram s, the chem ical process of phot ography.
The epist ernic schem a br i n gs t oget her t w o dist inct l evels in its definition: the
specificat ion of t he concrete elem ent s of the var i ous disposit ives, and the concepts
that are linked to t hem — for exam ple, t he not ions of the breaki ng d ow n of
m ovem ent , t em poral im m ediacy or deferred broadcast ing.
W e believe t hat in order to const ruct such a schema, it is vit al to bri n g t o
get her several approaches, w h i ch w e can sum m arise as follow s: a) the st udy of

discourses, b) t he st u dy of concrete disposit ives, even i f t his is too sim plist ic a

form alisat ion, as in bot h cases discourses m ay allow k n ow ledge (savoir) to be
const ruct ed, and c) the st u dy of instit ut ional and social pract ices t hat are bot h
en gaged by, and t hat engage, t hese disposit ives. The first t w o w i l l be developed
furt her.
S t u d i e s o f d is c o u r s e s
A n epist em ological perspect ive w i l l be t aken to st udy the different discourses,

and to dist in guish the var i ous spaces of enunciat ion:
1. the scient ific discourses of invent ors, engineers and popularisers;
2. the t echnical (prescript ive) discourses of t echnicians, salesm en, etc.;
3. the discourses of users (spect at ors, event m anagers) considered w it hin their
inst it ut ional fr am ew or k (i m pl yi ng hierarchies, legit im at ing discourses,
pow er relat ions, etc.);
4. lit erary discour ses that produce var i at i ons of the di sposi t i ve w it hin an i m a
gi n ar y w or l d (Verne, Villiers de l 'l sl e A d am , Jarry, Apollinaire, Roussel);
5. discourses of t he spect acular (m agic and conjuring, i.e. M elies).
W e aim to i dent ify the different vi ew i n g di sposi t ives in these discourses, w h at

ever their nat ure (and not on l y t hose deali n g w i t h cinem at ography in the strict
sense of the term) and t hus pinpoint the const ituents of the epist em ic schem a to
w h i ch cinem a in it s var i ous form s cont ribut es as a sin gular hist orical di sposi
tive.
W e shall, m oreover, not only set out to i dent ify the var ious const it uent s of the
di sposi t i ve such as t hey are evinced in these discourses, but also pinpoint the
different variat ions, ext ensions and links that are est ablished w it hin the di ffer
ent discourses bet ween such elem ent s of the disposit ive and ot her fields of
k n ow l edge or pract ices.
Finally, w e shall det erm ine the place gi ven to each vi sual disposit ive in each
discourse. This w i ll , for exam ple, ent ail defin ing the funct ion gi ven to the par t i
cular disposit ive. Is it a tool, a m odel of t hought or the act ual object of st udy?
V ar i ou s exam ples of t his k ind of i nvest igat ion can be en visaged - t w o aspect s
are present ed in the br ief account t hat follow s: l ) W hat does a part icular dis
course ret ain of the vi ew i n g di sposi t i ve t hat it est ablishes? 2) W hat funct ion
does it gi ve to t his/ these disposit ive(s) in it s discourse?

M a r ey
M ar ey appr oached t he different vi ew i n g di sposit ives t hat he used or developed

(from the graphic not at ion m et hod t o chronophot ography) by st art ing from his
interest in locomotion. H is aim w as t o note, br eak dow n and t ranscribe anim al
and hum an m ovem ent in discret e unit s. H e w as absolut ely unconcerned wit h
perception, which, in fact, he avoi ded because it di d not capt ure the relevant
art iculat ions.
The zoet rope and chronoph ot ograph y p r ovi ded him w i t h a m eans of check
in g an d fine-t uning his not at ions. The increase in phases an d great er fr agm ent a
tion w er e a result of the sought -aft er correspondence bet ween phenom ena and
notat ions.
— For him , the di sposi t i ve w as defined b y the cinem at ic traits of the observed
phenom enon, and it s t ranscript ion w as gr oun ded in t he fr am ew or k of ph y
siology.
- The disposit ive w as the m odel of t he object that he w as an al ysi n g (he h i gh
light ed the relevant characteristics).
H ow ever , research into the correspondence bet ween the phases of the phenom
enon and t he inst ant s t hat w er e chosen w as com plicat ed by the quest for a scale
of t em poral not at ion based on the r egul ar i t y of the int ervals. W hen the chosen
m om ent s correspond t o the i nt ervals of t he clock, w h at is not ed is si m pl y an y -
and not only rem arkable - instant s: 'ph ot ogr am s' br eak d ow n the m ovem ent
w it h out considering the relevance of the cuts.
M oreover, t his cut t ing up is ver i fi ed b y t he reconst it ut ion of the m ovem ent ,
w h i ch is apparen t dur i n g project ion and adjust ed according to the percept ion of
the spectator.
® The logic of t he apparat us - i.e., its funct ioning - supplant s the logic of the
phenom enon un der an alysis, t hus t he vi su al disposit ive is defined in ot her
t erms.
W hen M ar ey adopt ed a vect or of regul ari t y (i.e., equidist ant int ervals) that is
out side t he act ual phenom enon, he w as br ough t back to percept ion, and t hus
to illusion.
- It t hus becam e n ecessary to devel op a t hird phase - m anipulat ing the projec
t ion apparat us, w hich can be slow ed down, speeded up or st opped to come
back to an al ysi n g m ovem ent in scient ific t erm s. These charact erist ics of the
'cinem a' disposit ive, w hi ch M ar ey syst em at ized, w ou l d in part be int egrat ed
into the cinem a as ent ert ainm ent (reversion, slow motion, and accelerated
m ot ion as at t ract ions for t he Lum ière brot hers), and t hen scientific cinem a
(the gr ow t h of flowers, etc.).

Bergson
M ar ey's chronophot ography w as a vi ew i n g disposi t ive t hat pl ayed a k ey role

for Bergson, as the di sposi t i ve determined the vi ew poi n t he w as to develop: he
aim ed t o go beyon d it in the nam e of higher k n ow l edge. In the cont ext of philo
sophical discourse, Bergson referred to a var i et y of vi ew i n g di sposi t i ves - for
exam ple, the phot ograph, 'al r ead y t aken, al r eady devel oped', t hat he used to
m odel 'pu r e percept ion, and the 'discernm ent ' that it im plies; or the process of
phot ographic focusing, w h i ch refers to the act ivit y of the m em ory.3®
H e used t he reference t o cinem a b y considering cert ain of it s aspect s - the
m echanical element , t he phot ogram m at ic, the phenom enon of the breaking
dow n of m ovem ent and its recom posit ion. H e w as t hus part icularly interested
in t he m achinery, rat her t han t he represent at ional side. It w as a disposi t ive t hat
w as par t of the project t hat Bergson developed, his aim bein g to criticise the
analyt ical process of science - and it gave him a m odel of the funct ioning of
scient ific thought . It w as t hus a cent ral pillar of Bergson's discourse, and becam e
not on l y the illust rat ion of a hist orical phenom enon, but also a m odel, in essence
a concrete epist em ic schem a that w as pr oper to the com plex philosophical sys
tem t hat he elaborat ed. That , of course, does not m ean that t his m odel of the
cinem a corresponds to t he epist em ic schem a that w e w i sh to construct, but it is
int erest ing to note t hat in the hist orical cont ext of 1900, the vi ew i n g disposit ive
in quest ion acquired t his status. The epist em ic schem a to be const ruct ed w i l l
h ave to t ake t his aspect into account .
Ja r r y
Al fr ed Jar r y t akes us into t he w or l d of l it erary discourse w hich in no w ay claim s

to const itut e a t ype of k n ow l edge (connnissance), and yet w hi ch invent s a t ype of
k n ow ledge (savoir) vi a the im agi nar y w or l d t hat it develops. Thus, t hrough Jar-
ry's var i ous fictions, w e can const ruct a crit icism of Bergson's t heory on the ex
perience of m ovem ent as cont inuity, t hanks, in part icular, to reference to the
cinem at ographic disposit ive.
The cinem at ographic di sposi t i ve i s form ulat ed in a var i et y of w ays in Jar r y's
w or k , w h i ch dist ance it from the hist orical m odel t hat spect at ors at t he t urn of
the cent ury w er e fam iliar wit h. H e exploit ed the machine, the series of phot o
gram s, the project or's and cine-cam era's rot at ing m ovem ent s, and the im pact of
speed.
A b ove all, Jar r y br eak s up the different fields of k n ow l edge and experience
b y pit t ing them again st each other, m i xi n g them t oget her and pl ayi n g w it h
par adox. H e exploit s the var i ous m achines of the m odern w or l d - t rains, aut o
m obiles and cycles of all t ypes are present, whet her in his plays, n ovels or news-

paper art icles. The i m agi n ar y var i at i ons on the cinem at ographic disposit ive
com e face to face w i t h ot her vi ew i n g disposit ives, such as phot ography, as is
the case in som e of the t ext s in la Chandelle verte. But t here are also ot her scien
t ific fields - in le Surmâle (The Supermale), Jar r y st ages a com bat bet w een t w o
giant s, one em bodyin g kinem at ics vi a t he cinem at ograph, the ot her elect ricity
vi a the dyn am o. Bet ween the lines, one can spot the t races of the concept ual
batt le bein g fought out bet ween the t wo k ey dom ains of physics —m echanics
and elect rom agnet ism - w hich w ent t hrough a serious crisis at the end of the
19t h century, t hat w ou l d ult im at ely be r esolved by Einst ein's discoveries of re
strict ed relat ivit y.
Jar r y t est ed bot h philosophical and scient ific concept s in his lit erar y w rit in gs
and by m eans of invent ing m achines - 'h i s' cinem at ograph being one of the
m ost im port ant ones. H i s pr oposal s concerning vi ew i n g disposit ives ent er into
the ext ended epist em ic schem a t hat w e seek to construct, and al low us to gauge
his capacit y of defining a cert ain 'm oder n i t y'.
Apol l i n ai r e
Apol li n ai r e's int erest in the cinem a is regul ar l y evok ed by scholars w h o m ention
the colum n about film s t hat he st art ed w r i t i n g in the 19 10 s in les Soirées de Paris,
and the rolls of film that are kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale. They also note
that he com posed a script - la Bréhatine —that w as 'not m eant for film in g' - as
Benjam in Fondane lat er point ed out in defining a 'gen r e' that w as popul ar wit h
the D adai st s and Surrealist s. Lik e his cont em porary, the hum orist Cam i, A pol l i
naire par odi ed cinem a's act ion-packed st ories. Scholars also m ention the inter
vi ew he gave to SIC in 19 16 and his lect ure at the Theatre du Vieux Colombier in
19 17, w h er e he ext olled the vi r t ues of 'ar t n ou veau', 'popu l ar art par excellence'.
But n ow her e is m ent ion m ade of the st ory ent itled 'le Roi -Lun e' (the 'M oon
King'), w hi ch w as published at the sam e t ime in the Mercure de France.19 H e
used m achines t hat com bined som e of the charact erist ics of t he cinem at ograph
and the phonograph. These included recording and the abilit y to reproduce a
sound or im age t aken, and t hus furnished the possi bi l it y of re-living a past
event , creat ing the illusion of realit y, etc. H e t hus developed t wo aspect s which
ant icipat ed the fut ure to come: vi r t ual i t y and sim ultaneity. Firstly, t he film ing of
im probable i m ages of people l i vi n g in the past (i.e., great inam orat a) caught in
im probable sit uat ions (sexual pleasure, for exam ple) produces a sim ulat ed ac
t ivi t y that is r eall y experienced (m oving from sim ulacra to sim ulat ion). Sec
ondly, com m unicat ion vi a a m icrophone w i t h the w hole of the planet from a
cent re point (t hanks to t he t elegraphic w ir e, w hi ch t akes the place of the radio
w aves that w i ll com e later) br i n gs about the generalised intercom m unicat ion
w it h in t he 'gl obal vi l l age'. Apol li n ai r e t hus conceived of operat ions t hat one

w ou ld n ow u su al l y relat e to the adven t of 'n ew t echnologies' by usi n g 'ol d n ew

t echnologies'. H is narrat or describes a box, a kind of appar at us that enables one
to int eract w i t h vi r t ual i m ages ('I could look at, touch, in a w or d I could plea
sure ... t he bod y w it hin m y reach, w her eas the body had no idea that I w as
there, as it had no present realit y'). M oreover, the organ belon gin g to the M oon
Ki n g (Louis II of Bavaria), w h i ch is connect ed by 'sophist icat ed m icrophones ...
so as to bring int o t his un der gr oun d place t he noises com ing from the furt hest
out post s of t errestrial life', brings him direct ly up to dat e w it h the m urm urs,
fracas, and w or d s from the rest of the w or l d: 'N o w it w as the m urm urs of a
Japan ese l an dscape ... Then ... w e w er e t ransport ed ... Then ... w e found our
sel ves at Papeet e m arket , ... n ow w e are in Am erica ... It is four o'clock. In Rio
de Janeiro a carnival-like cavalcade goes past ... It is six o'clock on Saint-Pierre-
de-la-M art inique . .. Seven o'clock, Paris', etc. In ot her w or ds, w e are present ed
w i t h an auricular, im m obile t our of the w or l d.
A pol li n ai r e t hus used som e of the charact erist ics of the cinem at ographic and
phonographic di sposi t i ves and t heir vari abl es relat ed to vi ew i n g or list ening
appar at uses t hat preceded or are cont em porary to the cinem a. H e produced
novel com binat ions that con vey h ow the im agi nar y w or l d of the 'cinem a' in
cludes funct ions and facult ies that w ou l d lat er be dist ribut ed different ly (by
speci fyi n g that a part icular m achine w ou l d deal w i t h a par t icular task) accord
ing t o indust rial or com m ercial det erm inat ions.
T h e p ro p o s e d m o d e l f o r s tu d y in g c o n c r e te d is p o s itiv e s
A p ar t from t hese discourses, it is necessary t o st udy not on ly the concrete func

t ioning of t he var i ous vi ew i n g disposit ives, but also the m achines t hem selves as
m at erial objects, t oget her w it h the specific disposit ives in their hist orical and
st ruct ural dim ensions, and fi n all y t he social dim ension of spectators.
In order to ensure opt im um com prehension and descript ion of the different
disposit ives, a m odel has been devel oped t hat al low s fine dist inct ions to be
m ade bet ween t he possible vi su al disposit ives. The m odel is founded on the
three t erm s that t hem selves const itut e the defining const ant s of vi ew i n g and
list ening disposit i ves - the spectator, the machinery and the representation. It is
im port ant to st ress first ly that 'm ach i n er y' does not si m pl y boil dow n to the
m achine, secondly that the problem at ics of t he t heory of represent at ion are in
cluded in 'represent at ion', and t hirdly that 'spect at or' includes the var i ous p sy
chological, sociological and cogn it ive approaches to the notion. M oreover, the
three l evels h ave to be redefined each t ime.

It is a useful m odel in t hat it clearly dist inguishes bet w een the three l evels and
hi ghlight s dat a t hat are used to devel op problem at ics that could not t ake shape
if t hey w er e si m pl y addr essed from the vi ew poi n t of current approaches. M an y
aut hors w h o h ave approached t hese quest ions an ew insert the disposi t ive into
pre-exist ing t heories, which, m ore oft en t han not, ends up si m pl y b y checking
that the t heories funct ion pr oper ly rat her t han act ually explorin g the charact er
istics of the disposi t i ve.20 The m odel should, for exam ple, al l ow one to leave
behind som e of the classic opposit ions such as the alt ernat ive bet ween the spec
t at or's act ivi t y an d passivit y, or bet w een t ransparency and m ediation, i.e., h id
den and di splayed m ediat ion, and t hose endless debat es around the not ion of
realism . These issues arise and begin t o dom inat e because the angle from which
they are approached is a represent at ional one. W it hout den yin g the pertinence
of such an angle, w e beli eve t hat it is not al w ays prim or dial in t he underst and
in g of vi ew i n g and list ening disposit ives. It is t hus possible to en vi sage descr ib
in g som e aspect s of di sposi t i ves b y on l y dealing w i t h t he relat ion bet w een spec
t ator an d m achinery. This is the case, for exam ple, w h en one isolat es a criterion
such as spect at or m ovem ent or im m obilit y in recept ion m ode. H ence the useful
ness of the m odel, w h i ch i deall y evin ces the m axim um num ber of the diverse
aspect s t hat define the di sposit ives.
O ne m ay st udy the di sposi t i ve as a m eans of det erm ining each relevant level.
One exam ple is machinery, w h er e one w i ll exam ine t he specificat ion of the m a
chine (if it exist s, of course), describe h ow it w or k s and funct ions; the t ype of
suppor t used for t he represent at ion m ust be defined - whet her on paper, by
project ion, b y m eans of the act or's bod y in the theat re, for inst ance, or by m eans
of an effi gy such as a w ax or st one st at ue or a m annequin. A t the spect at or level,
the definit ion of the spect at ors' inst it ut ional and social posit ion can be exam
ined —whet her t hey are scientist s, gam e operat ors or technicians; or t heir char
act erist ics, in t erm s of ident ity, gender or cult ural t raits. Ult im at ely, the repre
sent at ion w i l l be defined according to its int rinsic funct ioning and form al traits,
t oget her w i t h t heir possible com binations.
It should, however, be point ed out t hat w h at defines t he disposi t ive is not
only w h at charact erises each of t he t hree l evels as such, but the relations that the
disposi t i ve leads to w it hin the three l evels it is com prised of. Theoret ically, one
can produce the fol low i n g com binat ions:
— The relat ion bet ween the spect at or and the m achinery;
— The relat ion bet ween the spect at or and the represent at ion;
- The relat ion bet ween the represent at ion and the m achinery;
- The relat ion bet w een t he spect at or and the w hole - (the m achinery and the
represent at ion).

The idea here is not to present a sim ple com binat ion of elem ent s of an equi va
lent t ype - spectat or, represent at ion and m achine - but to link t oget her these
three t erm s in t heir di ver se var i at i ons w h i l e bearing in m ind the purpose of the
vi ew i n g and list ening di sposi t i ves and t hus the funct ion that each of the three
term s has in relat ion to the others:
- The spect at ors are the elem ent that m ak es the di sposit ive funct ion or for
w hom the di sposit ive funct ions; t hey are the ones for w hom the represent a
t ion is given.
— The represent at ion i s w h at t he di sposi t i ve produces or shows.
- The m achinery gi ves access to the represent at ion and m akes possible the
sh ow i n g (in the w i d est sense of the term).
O ur m odel an alysi s of the vi ew i n g and list ening disposit ives is based on these
crit eria (highlight ing especially t he vi ew i n g dim ension).
Som e exam ples fol low below.
1 T h e r e la tio n b e tw e e n th e s p e c ta to r s a nd th e m a c h in e r y
1. 1 The relat ion bet ween spect at ors' bodi es and the m achinery —the quest ion of
places.
a. A lone spect at or or gr ou p of spect at ors (m agic lantern spect at or vs. the
st ereoscope).
b. M obile or im m obile spect at ors (zoet rope, w here m ovem ent is possible vs.
the dom inant m odel of cinema).
c. Spect at ors w h o m ove.
1.2 The relat ion bet w een the spect at or's bod y and the m achinery - the quest ion
of size and present at ion of the machinery.
a. Spect at ors included in l arge-scale m achinery (m agic lantern, cinem a, diora
ma, panoram a).
b. Spect at ors handlin g an apparat us, a kind of vi sual prost hesis (kaleidoscope,
som e st ereoscopes).
c. The spect at or faced w i t h an effect of the m echanism - hidden in a 'box' (ki-
net oscope) vs. the spect at or faced w i t h a m achine in the proper sense of the
w or d, w i t h a vi si bl e m echanism (for exam ple, the praxinoscope).
2 T h e r e la tio n b e tw e e n , o n th e o n e h a n d , th e s p e c ta to r s and,
o n th e o th e r , th e m a c h in e r y a nd t h e r e p r e s e n ta tio n
2.1 W hat the spect at ors see of the represent at ion and/ or the machinery,
a. They see bot h l evels at once (zoet rope).

b. Th ey on l y see the represent at ion (the illusion of t ransparency, i f the t echni

ques of the represent at ion tend to efface the techniques).
c. A borderline case is w h en t hey on l y see the m achinery (as in experim ent al
cinema). This also cover s the exhibit ions of appar at uses out side t heir func
t ion as vi ew i n g an d list ening disposit ives. They are t hen int egrat ed into an
ot her t ype of di sposi t i ve - t hat of the exhibit ion it self, w i t h its m ult iple m od
alities. The dem onst rat ion of these appar at uses also belongs here.
2.2 The spect at ors' m ode of access to w h at is seen. The aim here i s to define the
point from w hi ch one considers t hat the spect at ors 't r y out ' the disposit ive.
a. Spect at ors see the t w o l evels successi vely (one bein g subst it ut ed for the
ot her) (st ereoscope, cinema).
b. Spect at ors ar e faced w i t h a pr ogr essi ve process of accom m odat ion: t hey even
t ual ly see w h at is represent ed aft er h avi n g looked for the point from w here it
can indeed be seen (exam ples include anam orphosis, t rom pe l'oeil, and the
st ereoscope).
c. The m achinery and w h at is represent ed are im m ediat ely vi si ble (zoetrope,
phenakist oscope).
2.3 Spect at ors t akin g act ion or rem aining inact ive in relat ion to the m achinery.
a. Act ion t aken on t he m achinery t o produce t he im age.
b. 'A ct i on ' in t he form of a sim ple m ovem ent in, or in relat ion to, the m achinery
and represent at ion.
c. N o act ion is t aken ot her t han percept ion.
3 T h e r e la t io n b e tw e e n th e s p e c ta to r s a nd th e r e p r e s e n ta tio n
This par t includes quest ions of cognit ion — deciphering and decodi n g vi sual
sign s - and the specificat ion of the spect at ors' var i ous syst em s of beliefs in rela
tion to t he aest het ic choices im plied b y the 't echniques' of t he represent ation.
Theories of represent at ion, w hich t urn represent at ion it self into a 'p r oxy' of r eal
it y - or to be m ore precise, a 'repr esent ed' and a referent —are relevant here.
4 T h e r e la tio n b e tw e e n th e m a c h in e r y an d th e r e p r e s e n ta tio n
4.1The m at erialisat ion of the represent at ion.

a. W hat is show n (or represent ed) has no m at erial support in the di sposit ive
(t elescope, m icroscope).
b. The represent at ion i s m at erialised in one w ay or anot her on a support .

c. The represent at ion relies on a m ult iple and com bined support : it is produced
by elem ent s (actors, objects, paint ed or phot ographed elem ents, etc.) that are
t hem selves seen vi a a cert ain di sposi t i ve (t heatre, st ereoscope).
4.2 The t em poral relat ion of the sh ow i n g is im plied by the disposit ive: si m ul t a
neit y differance'.
a. Im m ediat e t ransm ission (im m ediacy: cam era obscura, t elevision, m icro
scope).
b. D eferred broadcast in g (time gap: phot ography, cinema).
5 T h e o v e r a ll q u a lific a tio n o f th e d is p o s itiv e
5.1 The 'n at u r e' of the di sposi t i ve pr oduci ng relat ions bet ween the three levels:
a. m echanical
b. com put er-based
c. t heat re product ion
d. exhibit ion
— hanging (on a wall)
— 'inst allat ion'.
This m odel is m erely a t ool t hat needs to be ret hought , com plet ed or r eorga
nised dur in g t he research st age in accordance w i t h each disposit i ve exam ined.
The aim is not to bui ld up an exhaust i ve descr ipt ive m odel, but to have an ade
quat e tool for each specific set of quest ions. The out line t hat w e are present ing
here underlines the relat ions b y m ai n l y adopt ing the spect at ors as a point of
reference. Th ey m ay be defin ed em pi r i cal ly b y confront ing each di sposit ive
wit h t he dist inct ive crit eria of t he m odel. In parallel t o an y t heoretical or ab
st ract discourse, one can underst and the ver y concrete role of the different ele
m ent s i n volved - for exam ple, spect at ors can be seen as spat ial bodies occupy
in g a specific place in relat ion to the m achine or the w hol e disposit ive. Such
spect at or charact erisat ion should al l ow one to reflect on the subject, the receiver
of the represent at ion. It m ight even uph old Cr ar y's original theory, w h en he saw
in the opt ical inst rum ent s of t he first h alf of the nineteent h cent ury t he si gn of a
new concept ion of the subject, a n ew m ode of view in g, 'a subject ive vision '
gr oun ded in t he 'obser ver 's' ow n bod y - she or he is defined as bein g mobile,
not just h avi n g one vi ew poi n t , experim ent ing w i t h an apprehension of t hings
t hat is opposed to t he m ode of cont em plat ion, as Benjam in put it. This idea goes
hand in hand w i t h t he not ion of the decent ring of the spectator, w hich Cr ar y
also en vi sages in relat ion to these opt ical inst rum ent s (st art ing from the an alysis
of the st ereoscope). A n essent ial aspect m ust be added to t his definition: the
cl assi fyi n g of t hese disposit ives w it hin all of the coercive m odes of vi ew i n g, im-

pl yi n g subm ission to t he m achinery t hat is com parable to the panopticon ana

lysed by M ichel Foucault .
H ow ever , a concret e approach t o di sposi t i ves - w h en one t ries to charact erise
them in finer det ail by com bining several descript ive crit eria — leads t o ques
tions about h ow in tune t hey are w i t h the definit ion that Cr ar y bor r ow s from
Foucault and above all Benjam in. The zoet rope, phenakist oscope, t haum at rope,
dioram a, st ereoscope, and kaleidoscope are exam ined to show h ow t hey cont ri
but e to the changing of the m ode of vi ew i n g. Som e of these appar at uses share
the charact erist ic of m ak ing spect at ors an elem ent of the m achine,21 which sub
mits t heir bodies to a pract ice of vi ew i n g, but also of const ruct ing a n ew m odel
of the spect at or as som eone w h o is mobile, decent red, etc. H owever, if one re
exam ines the crit erion of mobility, it is clear that the spect at or's experience in
relat ion to t hese different di sposi t i ves is not the sam e: w h ile the phenakist o
scope requires the spect at or not to m ove, as Cr ar y point s out - as does the
st ereoscope —the zoet rope al l ow s her or him to m ove around the rot at ing m e
chanism at the ver y m om ent w h en it is pr oducing the anim at ed represent ation.
W hile ret inal persist ence is the m odel that explains the represent ed m ovem ent -
a m odel t hat w as used in the ninet eent h cent ury in connect ion w it h Plat eau's
experim ent s for several of t hese vi ew i n g di sposit i ves - it cannot hide the fun da
m ent al difference that sets them apart .22 The fact t hat som e are based on m obil
it y and ot hers on fixedness is all the m ore significant as the essent ial crit erion of
m odernit y is pr ecisely the m obilit y of the point of view. The spect at or's exper i
ence i s shaped in a significant ly m ore m eaningful w ay by the concret e m ove
ment im posed on the bod y b y one or ot her di sposi t i ve t han by the percept ive
(and not im m ediat ely an alysed) 'm ovem en t ' that is at t ribut ed t o ret inal persi s
tence. W hen one w i sh es to define the subject in relat ion to her or his experience,
the an alysi s of scient ific discourses and t heories is no subst it ut e for the concrete
phenom enon im posed b y the di sposi t i ve in its mat erialit y.
A furt her point should also be added, w h i ch our m odel incorporat es: free
dom of m ovem ent is not t he sam e in t he zoet rope, t haum at rope and dioram a,
and t his is the result of a significant difference. In som e cases, the appar at us is a
tool that rem ains out side t he spect at ors' bodi es —at best it is a prost hesis that is
applied to the eyes (like the kaleidoscope or som e 'st ereoscope-glasses'), which
t hey can t hus handle at w i ll ; in ot her cases, spect at ors are included in a d i sposi
t ive t hat incorporat es t hem —t hat is, w h en one refers to spect at ors as 'elem ent s
of a m achine'. The nat ure of the m ovem ent and the physi cal and phenom enolo
gical relat ion of the spect at or to the di sposi t i ve are ver y different each time, and
one m ay w el l ask i f t his does not com plet ely change the ascendancy of the di s
posit ive, it s supposed coercion. To put it ver y blunt ly: in order to int roduce the
m odel t hat Foucault bases on the panopticon, is it sufficient to ret ain the fact that
the subject s are m anipulat ed by a cert ain polit ics of the body? Is it not necessary

to en vi sage the ver y st ruct ure of the disposit ive in order to post ulat e the effect
of cont rol produced b y m achineries t hat are sim ply not defined inst it ut ionally
as inst rum ent s int ended for such a funct ion?
It is hard syst em at ically to pinpoint the k n ow n and al r eady est ablished cri
t eria of m odernit y in disposit ives, gi ven t hat one m igh t refut e such crit eria aft er
exam ining the di sposi t i ves closely.
A good exam ple is t he stereoscope, an apparat us that im poses fixedness.
H ere the n ew subject of vi ew i n g is const ruct ed t hanks to the decent ring of the
spect at or, w hich can be dem onst rat ed vi a an an alysi s of the represent at ion that
the st ereoscope offers. But as w e are speak i n g of the spect at or's 'experience',
should one not also t ake int o account all the disposit ive, the ver y condit ion of
the spect at or's percept ion, even before one addresses the issue of represent a
t ion? For w h en it com es to percept ion, t he st ereoscope im poses the cent ring of
the spect ator, on the one hand w i t h regard to the fi xedness of her or his place in
front of the lenses, w i t h out m ovi n g, and on the ot her hand in the need to ac
com m odat e her or his vi ew i n g to the on l y point w here it w i l l be possible t o see
the 'dept h ' of the objects present ed. This t ype of experience requires a cert ain
t ype of cent ring, even i f this is not defined according to the codes of perspect ive.
The an alysis of the discourses on w h i ch an epist em ological appr oach is based
m ust proceed by gaugi n g the t heoret ical developm ent against the concrete d i
m ension of the object of t hese discourses, specifically w hen the aim is to devel
op an un der st an din g of the subject t hat has been const ruct ed as a body sub
m it t ed to an experience. One cannot t urn a blind eye t o the act ual condit ions of
t his experience and t heir plur al nat ure, in order to w ei gh t hem against the t heo
ret ical discourses that surround t hem in a part icular context.
The m odel represent s a m eans to avoi d an apprehension of a di sposi t i ve that
w ou l d be t oo rapid, too part ial and not sufficient ly concrete in the desi gn of a
t heoretical, epist em ological and t hus a fort iori concept ual discourse. It is t hus a
kind of safeguar d. But, m ore posi t i vely speaking, it should pr ovi de a m eans of
di splaci ng an d ren ew in g the problem at ics that quest ion the vi ew i n g and list en
i ng disposit ives, w h i l e expl oi t i ng the largest num ber of term s t hat can be used
to set u p the epist em ic schem a of the 'cinem a' in c. 1900.
N o te s
1. This article is a rewritten, developed and modified version of the paper presented at
the Domitor Symposium (Montreal), with a number of corrections and additions.
Some of the publications that present these ideas can be found in the bibliography.
2. The French etymology of 'montage' comes from the clock whose weights must be
wound up (monter), is said to be wound up (tnontee), and metaphorically speaking

in French one uses the verb remonter when one speaks of winding (up) the clock's
successor - the watch. François Dagognet has addressed the place of the 'clock mod
el' in the history of techniques, in his l ’Essor technologique et l ’idée de progrès, Paris:
Armand Colin, 1997, pp. 46-50. Regarding the extension of automata, see Jean
Claude Beaune, /'Automate et ses mobiles, Paris: Flammarion, 1981.
3. Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: University of Chica
go Press, 1962.
4. Pierre Francastel has underlined Brunelleschi's use of an optical instrument several
times as 'a kind of little box' with a hole for the eye and a mirror reflecting a view of
Florence, or Poussin's manipulation of a scenographic box which he used to study
the effects of light on the people he painted (see 'Destruction d'un espace plastique',
in Etudes de sociologie de l'art, Paris: Denoël/ Gonthier, 'Médiations', 1970).
5. Regarding the multiplication of viewpoints and their montage in El Greco's work,
see S. Eisenstein, 'El Greco y el cine', in Cinématisme, Dijon: Les Presses du Réel, 2009
[1980]), passim. On Canaletto and his 'montaged' Venice, see André Corboz, Venezia
immaginaria, Milan: Electa, 1985, 2 volumes.
6. See Friedrich A. Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter, Palo Alto: Stanford University
Press, 1999 [1986] and Jonathan Crary, I’Art de l'observateur, Nîmes: Jacqueline
Chambon, 1994 [1990].
7. Giorgio Agamben, Qu'est-ce qu'un dispositif?, Paris: Rivages-Poche, 2007, p. 42. One
could add that, more recently, we have not been convinced by the 'philosophy' of
the apparatus as espoused by Jean-Louis Déotte, where perspective with a unique
vanishing point is considered to be 'apparatus' that forms 'the base of modernity'.
He also speculates on the move from the technical apparatus to the aesthetic and
then the cultural apparatus (see in particular: J.-L. Déotte, l'Epoque des appareils,
Paris: Lignes & Manifestes, 2004).
8. Philippe Hamon, Expositions, littérature et architecture au XIXe siècle, Paris: José Corti,
1989.
9. F. Fénéon, "'Calendrier de décembre 1887", Cirques, Théâtres, Politiques', Œuvres
plus que complètes, Geneva: Droz, Tome II, p. 720-1.
10. P. Verhaeren, Mercure de France, October 1902, reprinted in Sensations d'art, Paris:
Séguier, 1989, p. 208. The relation between impressionist painting and photography
is thus very different from what Bazin describes in his 'Ontologie de l'image photo
graphique', where photography 'delivers' painting and allows it to gain its ‘aes
thetic autonomy' (Qu'est-ce que le cinéma ?, Paris: Cerf, 1985, pp. 16-17) - a position
that was popularised by Malraux in his writings on art in the 1940s.
11. Henry d'Audigier, la Patrie, 25 July 1858 (quoted in Sylvie Aubenas (ed.), Gustave Le
Gray (1820-1884), Paris: BNF-Gallimard, 2002, pp. 366-7). Cézanne's comments, as
noted by Joachim Gasquet in front of one of Courbet's 'W aves', are similar in their
intention.
12. Gustave Le Gray, Traité pratique de photographie sur papier et sur verre, Paris: Baillère,
1850 (at: gallica.bnf.fr)).
13. Regarding several of the points briefly raised here about Le Gray, see Sylvie Aube
nas (éd.), op. cit. This 'colourism' of the photograph stands in opposition to the
photography criticism of such scholars as Rodolphe Topffer, who contrasts it with
the greater efficiency of drawing.

14. See his Salons, which were compared to paintings in the exhibition entitled 'Diderot
et l'Art, de Boucher à David. Les Salons 1759-1781' (Hôtel de la Monnaie (Paris), Oc
tober 1984-January 1985).
15. This is an important question and should stimulate anew the question of the effect
'breaking out' has on the spectators of the La Ciotat train in the Lumière brothers'
film. Yuri Tsivian, when distinguishing between reception and perception, thought
that the reception of The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat in Russia was, as it were, 'over
determined' for cultivated spectators by the description of Anna Karenina's suicide
in Tolstoy's novel. (See the fourth chapter of his Istoriceskaja recepcia kino. Kinemato-
gr afv Rossii 1896-1930 [Riga, 1991], and the sixth chapter of the English translation,
Early Cinema and its Cultural Reception, translated by Alan Bodger, London and New
York: Routledge, 1994, 'The Reception of the Moving Image'). It could also be said
that the Parisian or French spectators received the same film via a passage from
Maupassant's novel Une Vie (A Woman's Life), or, in any case, patterns of comprehen
sion that are common to the text and the film. One can clearly see that Maupassant's
description recounts all the phases of the film, and one can thus conjecture that the
effect of surprise, or even of panic, that often allegedly took place when the train left
the foreground of the screen encountered conceptual frameworks in the spectators'
brains that were perfectly well established, and was thus received and understood
without surprise: 'Nothing was visible on the track. Suddenly she saw a cloud of
white smoke, then under it a black spot, which grew larger as it approached at full
speed. At last the huge engine, slowing up, roared past Jeanne; she kept her eyes on
the carriage doors. Several of them opened and passengers got out, peasants in their
blouses, farmers' wives with baskets, small shopkeepers in soft felt hats.' (Guy de
Maupassant, Une Vie, Paris, Le Livre de Poche no. 478, 1962; A Woman's Life, trans
lated, with an introduction by H.N.P. Sloman, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books,
1965, p. 201).
However, the 'same' movement from the rear to the front against a black back
ground - as Méliès port rays in his Man with a Rubber Head - takes on a different
meaning: if the train gets larger as it approaches, the spatial distance represented
(set up by expectation, afortiori, if one begins by projecting the stationary image of
the perspective of the rails disappearing into the distance) allows one to assume a
permanence in the size of the moving object and to be assured of its movement right
up to the moment when it leaves the frame. On the contrary, Méliès's movement on
a bench facing a camera loses its characteristics of movement, since there are no
points of spatial reference, and simply appears to change size. In this case, the mag
nifying effect borders on the monstrous or on anomaly, and may give rise to fear
(fear of the head bursting, which then actually happens). The bursting takes place
inside the frame, whereas the arrival 'in the hall' that the train is supposed to accom
plish has to happen off-camera. Tsivian, following Arnheim on this point, notes that
as the figure approaches, it spreads across the surface of the screen. And this is what
happens to Méliès in excess. Similarly, the wave - if indeed one can compare it to
the train - clearly gets its force and the effect of reality from the dual presence of the
two aspects of the landscape. And it is the fact of its breaking away that produces the
effect of breaking out.
16. One of his 'W aves' is special, in that there is an extremely sharp horizon line,
against which three elements are juxtaposed: 1) the sky unfolding with very de-

tailed clouds; 2) a rough sea with high, foamy waves; and 3) a strip of land with two
moored boats, creating an effect of verticalization of two-thirds of the painting (the
sky and the sea), which the perception of the land redistributes in depth because of
its initiating place in the foreground and its brownish tonality, which stands out
against the whiteness of the foam.
17. Our starting point is Michel Foucault's definition in l ’Archéologie du savoir (Paris:
Gallimard, 1976; Archeology of Knowledge, English translation by Alan M. Sheridan
Smith, London and New York: Routledge, 2002, p. 211): 'By episteme, we mean, in
fact, the total set of relations that unite, at a given period, the discursive practices
that give rise to epistemological figures, sciences, and possibly formalized sys
tems ... The episteme is not a form of knowledge (connaissance) or type of rationality
which, crossing the boundaries of the most varied sciences, manifest the sovereign
unity of a subject, a spirit, or a period; it is the totality of relations that can be dis
covered, for a given period, between the sciences when one analyses them at the
level of discursive regularities.'
18. Henri Bergson, Matière et mémoire, 1896, p. 35, p. 148; Matter and Memory, translated
by Nancy Margaret Paul and W. Scott Palmer, London: George Allen and Unwin,
19 11, p. 31, p. 78.
19. Guillaume Apollinaire, 'le Roi-Lune', Mercure de France, no. 440, 16 October 1916,
pp. 609-624.
20. We are thinking here of scholars such as Crary (who, without warning, presents
representational criteria while giving them a meaning that needs to be debated -
his use of the notion of 'referent' in particular) or Kittler, who assumes the Lacanian
approach - but one could also mention Deleuze's Bergsonism (only Alain Badiou
has espoused the idea that Cinema 1 and 2 were in no way books 'on' the cinema -
or, as Deleuze said, 'of' the cinema - but a reading of Bergson that was intended to
bring him up to date and find a way round the prodigious phenomenologist obsta
cle - See his Deleuze, Paris: Hachette, 1997).
21. The diorama, phenakistoscope and zoetrope are specifically cited (op. cit., p.163).
22. Leaving aside the fact that, for several decades, its importance has been relativised
on the basis of the experimental research of psychologists (including those working
at the Institut de Fihnologie [1947-1961]).

P ro je c te d C in e m a ( A H yp o th e s is on th e
C i n e m a ’s I m a g i n a t i o n )
François Albera
W hen one exam in es ver y different kinds of stat em ent s (énoncés) (scient ific and
t echnical docum ent s, w or k s of popularisat ion, legal, m oral or polit ical texts)
writ t en dur i n g t he 19t h and 20t h cent uries and not belonging to m ainst ream
inst it ut ions or pract ices deali n g w it h the t echnology i n volved in recording, re
pr oduci n g and t ransm it t ing sounds and im ages, one finds a considerable lit era
t ure devot ed t o the field - w het her novels, tales, am usi ng or illust rat ed stories,
sket ches, and so on. They are peripheral in relat ion t o the instit ut ional field
(covering invent ion, exploit at ion and spectacle) but 'exploi t ' the technical ob
ject s of com m unicat ion w it hin t heir ow n space - and t heir st ories - and im agine
n ew objects to suit t heir ant icipat ory nat ure and purpose.
D espit e t heir appar en t ly secon dar y or even fut ile place - one m ight think that
t hey are reduced si m pl y to quot ing or usi n g w h at science and t echnology have
im plem ent ed - t hey nonet heless have their ow n wort h, which, in the perspec
t ive I shall develop here, is com parable to that of the ot hers.
In bot h n ew spaper art icles an d academ ic papers on the cinem a an d lat er on
t elevision, reference w as quickly, an d i n creasingly often, m ade t o the m ost fa
m ous of t hem - V i ll i er s de L'l sl e A d am 's Tomorrow's Eve - joined m ore recent ly
b y Jules Verne's Carpathian Castle and A d ol fo Bi oy Casares's The Invention of
Morel —for their present im ent about 't h e' or 'a' cinem a t o come.
But t here are ot her w or k s that have been cat alogued w it hin the genres of
science fiction, or fut urist ic (ant icipat ory) and ut opian w or k s.1
W hen one looks an ew at t his sun dr y and m ult ifarious set of w or k s, one finds
- w hen t aki n g the w i dest possible perspect ive —at least t w o gr oun ds for pur su
in g research: a) the t ext s do build u p a dieget ic un iverse —there is t hus ver isim i
lit ude, capable of m ak ing the reader beli eve in the w or l d put for w ar d —which
t hey fill w i t h t echnological object s that are seen as ever yd ay and ordinary, to be
used by one and all and t hus even com m onplace; b) the ant icipat ory gap -
som et im es of only a few years, som et im es a cent ury - or the geographical di s
t ance (a m yst er ious island, anot her planet ) underline cert ain charact erist ics of
t hese objects w h ose funct ions and propert ies are 'pr olon ged' as t hey are devel
oped and perfect ed in relat ion to the present m om ent (of the writ ing).
These t w o point s m erit furt her attent ion as t hey pr ovi de clues to the place
occupied by these technical objects in ever yd ay life of the period under consid-

46 François Albera
erat ion, w h at i s expect ed of them, and the w ay in w hich one m ay apprehend

them - i.e., t heir int elligibilit y fram ew ork . On the one hand, b y st ripping them
of t heir experim ent al and except ional nat ure, t hey are inscribed in a technical
im aginat ion, link in g t hem w i t h general (i.e., int ellectual, scientific or para-scien
tific, m oral, etc.) cat egories t hat define t heir social dim ension. On the ot her
hand, it can be said that t his lit erat ure pr ovi des t echnologies t hat are st ill m at ur
in g or on t he d r aw i n g boar d w i t h a space for experim ent at ion, allow in g un
pr oved hypot heses or scient ific fact s to be linked t oget her (ast ronom y and
phot ography, for exam ple).2
O ne m ay conject ure t hat t hanks t o t hese t w o aspect s, 'fut urist i c' literature not
only t akes par t in t he genesis of t he t echnical invent ion, but also det erm ines
som e of the total num ber of direct ions and w ays in which it m ay develop.
H enri Fescourt and Jean-Louis Bouquet not ed in their pam phlet ent itled
'l 'I d ée et l 'Écr an ' that:
at a time when the idea of the submarine had already been floated, Jules Verne drew
up the plan of his Nautilus. It remains the work of a novelist, however ingenious we
may find the description. It did not contribute so much as an iota to solving the prob
lem, and in the end Gustave Zédé had the merit of realising it.
You say that it is a period of precursors? It is above all a period of novelists.3
The aut hors are correct in t heir judgem en t t hat Verne did not hing to furt her the
act ual t echnology of the subm arine, but t hey are w r on g to underest im at e the
cont ribut ion of the novel and the invent ion 'on p ap er '.4 Fict ions and im ages
gi ve body to a h ypot hesis and ful l y devel op it s logic. Today's pract ices of 'pr o
ject ing' dat a backed u p by fi gur es to const ruct 'm odels' (on climate evolut ion or
the spr ead of cars in China), w hich, m oreover, correspond to 'scenarios', belong
to such a rat ionale.
In the m ost m arked project s put for w ar d in these work s, the technical in ven
tion is a key elem ent of the fiction. In less m ark ed cases it is part of the dieget ic
universe, one of the series of paradoxi cal clues em bodyin g t he im pression of
realit y of t he fut ure. The t w o can be foun d in the sam e w or k - in the first part
of Tomorrow's Eve (1878- 1886), w e see Edison in his ever yd ay life w it h the com
m onplace usage to w h i ch he put s the voi ce t ransm ission devices or w r it in g ap
parat uses that he has invent ed.5 Then one reaches his sensat ional invent ion -
the android - w hi ch out st rips t hese 'gad get s' from ever y point of view.
It is inst ruct ive to exam ine a less w el l-k n ow n n ovel by Jules Verne —l ’Ile à
hélice (Propeller Island, published in 1895) - t hat has at tracted less crit ical interest
t han his m ost fam ous books. U nlike his Paris au XXe siècle (Paris in the 20 th
Century, published post h um ously but writ t en before 1863), the fiction is only
project ed for w ar d in a near fut ure a few year s hence. M oreover, the k ey issues
h ave not hing to w i t h com m unicat ion or sound and i m age reproduct ion, which

Projected Cinema (A Hypothesis on the C inem as Imagination) 47
are om nipresent in the w or l d of t his island of the fut ure and its capit al, M illiard
Cit y, w her e ever yt hi n g w or k s b y electricity. There are t hree com m unicat ion de
vices: the teleautograph, w hich carries w r i t i n g in the w ay that the t elephone car
ries speech;6 the kinetograph, w h i ch records m ovem ent s; an d t he telephote, which
repr oduces im ages. In addit ion, t hanks to the theatrophone, one can com m uni
cat e w it h the t heat res of Am erica and Europe, and m usic — a 't herapeut ic
agent ... exercising a reflex act ion on the n er vous cent res' and the effect of
w h ose 'harm oni ous vi br at i ons dilat es the art erial vessels, influence the circula
tion, increasing or dim inishing it' —is t ransmit t ed to people's hom es b y telephone
from 'm usi cal en er gy st at ions'. Libraries cont ain 'book -ph on ograph s' that one
does not need to read: 'on e presses a but t on and hears the voice of an excellent
st oryt eller w h o reads'. Newspapers are print ed on an edible m ixt ure wit h choco
late ink - 'once read, one eat s t hem for br eak fast ' —and the 'n ew s' is 'd i spl ayed '
telautographicalhj on facades.7 A m on g ot her objects, one fi nds 'a t alking wat ch, a
phonographic w at ch', and all the inhabit ant s are equipped w i t h a device en
abli n g them to keep t rack of
[their] constitution, [their] muscular strength measured with a dynamometer, [their]

lung capacity measured with a spirometer, the force of contraction of [their] hearts
measured with a sphygmometer ... [their] degree of vital strength measured by a
magnetometer ...
M ost of the t echnical objects m ent ioned above can be relat ed eit her to exist ing
devi ces (the t heat rophone i nvent ed b y Clém ent A d er in 1881, Edison's kinet o
gr aph dat in g from 1890) or planned (the t eleaut ograph) or im agined appar a
t uses (the t elephote, an im agi nar y m achine int roduced by du M ont el in his Mi
crophone, radiophone et phonographe of 1882) - and, of course, the inst rum ent s for
m easur i n g the body, all of w hich w ere bor r ow ed from M ar ey - and it can be
not ed that t hey all funct ion on the basis of transfers and montage bet ween t echni
cal objects. Thus, adapt i n g the w or d s of Edison ('do for the eye w h at t he phono
gr aph does for the ear '), the kinet ograph is described as doi n g for the im age
w h at the phon ogr aph does for sound; sim ilarly, the t ransm ission of i m ages and
w r i t i n g uses t elephone t echnology w h i ch here —w i t h t he exam ple of m usic at
hom e —t akes the place of radio. The ot her process int roduced is the hybridization
of t echnical objects. Verne w as quick to int roduce the t echnology of the 't heat ro
phone', but his friend Al bert Robida, in Le Vingtième Siècle (Paris in the 20 th cen
tury, 1882), developed a 'n ew ' t ransm ission t echnology w i t h the telephonoscope,
capable of direct ly t ransm it t ing a spect acle, t he im age of a correspondent , or an
event b y com bining t he t heat rophone, phot ograph an d the project ion lant ern.8
A n d D i di er de Ch ousy w en t one bet t er in the fol low i n g year (1883) by dream ing
u p the telechromophotophonotetroscope, w hi ch 'elect r ically' reproduces 't he face,
speech and gest ures of an absent person '.9

François Albera
A l l t hese exist ing, project ed or i m agined devices h ave in com m on technical

and t echnological m eans that people w i sh ed to see realised or generalised.
Fift een year s aft er Verne, O ct ave Béliard evok ed 'L a Journée d 'u n Parisien au
XXIe siècle' - 1 D ecem ber 2010 - in Lectures pour Tous,10 w her e Edison's devices
w er e m ult iplied and generalised: a 'ph on ogr aph-alarm ', a m icrophone in a bed
side t able for ordering breakfast , the m orning paper s that one 'list ens t o'. A ll
houses are connect ed to an inform at ion centre pr ovi di n g new s from the w or l d
over at all hours (night dispat ches, general n ew s items, polit ical and com m ercial
inform at ion, scient ific art icles, lit erat ure in serial form , crit ical pieces). A t w ork,
everyt hin g funct ions by t elephone, and w or k er s' m ovem ent s are reproduced by
a 'dyn am om et er -r ecor der' that calculat es t he hours w or k ed. The port rait of a
suspect is project ed on screens in the streets and t ransmit t ed to all point s of the
globe by w i r eless t elegraphy. The screens are refreshed. One charact er says: 'I
am st unned to t hink t hat at this ver y m om ent , the sam e infinit ely m ult iplied
trait s ar e being im print ed on m illions of sensit ive plat es ... N o m an is too sm all
not to be connect ed to the un i ver se by the t elephone, the t elegraph and even the
telephote - w hich is w i r eless of course'.
Béliar d's cont em porary, Gui ll aum e Apollinaire, speak s of Loui s II of Bavari a
in his Roi-lune (The Moon King, 1916) —of w h i ch m ore w i l l be said lat er —w h o
uses 'gi an t copper pinnae [st icking out] of the w al l' to list en to not hing less than
the m urm uring of the w or l d t hanks to m icrophones connect ed to it. W it h the
help of a devi ce equipped w i t h a k eyboar d, the m onarch can press on w h at ever
k ey he chooses and hear the sounds t ransm it t ed from the w h ole w or l d (Papeete,
Ri o de Janeiro, N ew Zealan d, Am erica, China, Chicago, N ew Yor k , Bonn ...): in
Tripolit aine, 'ar oun d a bi vou ac fire, M arinet t i pract ised speakin g pidgin while
the t roops of the H ouse of Savoy sur r oun ded him in soldier ly manner, r eady to
defend him in the im probable even t of an aggression, firing a few onom at opoeic
salvos, and clarion calls echoed aroun d the cam p' ... One can go on 'a t our of
the aur icular w or l d - w h i l e rem aining im m obi l e'.11
In a p ar od y of Villiers's novel, Josuah Electricmann, writ t en in 1883 by Ernest
d'H er vi l ly, a generalised syst em of connect ions of w or l d w i d e inform at ion w as
ext rapolat ed from the t elephone and t elegraph, w it h a 'n et w or k of conduct ing
w i r es corresponding to all the t elegraphic st at ions of the globe com bined w it h a
"scr i bogr aph ", "m echanical secr et ar y"', etc.12
René Barjavel, in his 19 41 n ovel Ravage (t ranslat ed as Ashes, ashes), pr ovi des
us w i t h a t hird exam ple, as does science fict ion writ t en in the 1950s (Philip K.
Dick, Pierre Boulle, Ray Bradbury, etc.) up to the present t im e —the observat ions
one can m ak e w ou l d be sim ilar, even if the t echnical references h ave evol ved
along w i t h t echnological developm ent s.
W hat ever t he fut urist ic fr am ew or k of such novels, there are a cert ain num ber
of 'convict ions', beliefs, val ues or fear s t hat are consist ent ly present. The voice

t akin g over from the writ t en w ord, for exam ple, is one of the m ost w i despr ead
ideas, goi ng back at least as far as Cyr an o de Bergerac in his journ eys to the
m oon.13 To w h i ch one can add the general dist ribut ion of music, inst ant n ew s
from t he w or l d over, services avai lable at hom e, etc., all 'val u es' that the Internet
h as bor r ow ed from the end of the 19t h cent ury and m ult iplied. Finally, one m ay
not e the idea of gener alised surveillan ce - t hanks to the preservat ion of i m ages
b y light (Flam m arion), b y m eans of observat ion by opt ical devices and fi nally
b y dint of var ious m eans of diffusion.
These exam ples clearly sh ow t hat the di vi si on bet ween different m edia and
t echnologies - such as has been est ablished and developed (to the point w here
scholars have t heorised on the processes of remediation or t oday en vi sage new
dist ribut ions w it h regard to the new digit al t echnology and w hat it allow s) -
h as not been 'r espect ed' b y t he aut h ors of t hese writ ings, as t hey syst em at ically
w i d en the funct ions gi ven to these technical objects, just as t hey do not 'respect '
t heir 'speci fi ci t y' but cross t heir charact erist ics, t urning them into hybrid t echni
cal objects. This pr ovi des us w i t h precious clues about the w or l d of technical
im aginat ion, the concept ual and social fr am ew or k s (categories and ideologies)
t hat w er e pr eval en t w h en such t echniques w ere 'i m agi n ed' - which, on the b a
sis of specialisat ion devel oped later, w e t end to believe w ere created w it hin the
rest ricted, aut onom ous and specialised fr am ew or k t hat has becom e, or is to be
come, t heir own.
W e shall com e back to t his 't urn aroun d' in the t heory an d hi st or i ogr aphy of
the cinem a and ot her com m unicat ion m edi a (t elevision, Internet ...), for the h y
pot hesis of en vi sagi n g a '1900 epist em e' proceeds from the convict ion that, con
t r ary to the ever n arrow er focusing on the 'specifi cit y' of a m edium , it is useful
to w i den the dom ain it belon gs to, to consider it w it h in a br oader fram ework , in
a w ay to 'd i ssol ve' it in accordance w i t h the cat egories t hat pass t hrough it and
t hat link it to ot her cat egories.
Tur n ing n ow to fict ional t ext s t hat 'i n vent ' n ew t echnologies m ore vi vi d l y
t han the pr evi ous ones, one can cl assi fy t hem according to several t rends - the
visuali sat i on of the past , direct t ransm ission (ubiquit y), the virt ual im age, and
'au d i ovi su al ' cloning.
The audio-vi suali sat i on of the past is cl ear l y the dom inant fan t asy produced
first by ph ot ogr aph y an d t hen phonography. Since t oday w e can fix, i.e., m ake
fast, the appearan ce of the present - w hich t om orrow w i l l belong to the past -
could one not fi x a past t hat happen ed before the ar r i val of phot ogr aph y and
phon ogr aphy? Villiers's Edison deplores t he fact that he has 'ar r i ved too lat e'.
The fixin g of im ages and sounds and their free repet it ion t ransform the rela
tion to time, m ak ing possible a claim , w h i ch is m ade possible by the cont em po
r ar y discoveries in ast ronom y and their effect s on the under st anding of the n a
t ure of light .14 Cam i ll e Flam m arion w as t he dom inant figure in the field of

50 François Albera
scient ific popularisat ion, but also its ext ensions t ow ar ds science fiction and even
parapsychology.
In the 1860s, Flam m arion becam e int erest ed in the quest ion of the 'del ay
caused in our observat ions of aspect s of st ars by the t ime that lum inous r ays
t ake to com e to u s' and, consequent ly, in t he fact that t hese r ays 't ell u s the
ancient hist ory of t hese st ar s' —as A r ago put it.15
O ne of the conclusions that Flam m arion dr ew from the observat ion of this
'd el ay' and the 'jour n ey' of lum inous i m ages w as the persist ence of t hese im ages
of phenom ena 'i n t he cosm os': 'not h ing is dest r oyed,' 'at the m om ent w hen [an]
act has been accom plished, light seizes it an d carries it into space at light ening
speed. It is incorporat ed w i t h a r ay of light ; becom ing et ernal, it et ernally be
t ransm it t ed in t he infinit e'.16 But Flam m arion w as above all fascinat ed by his
hypot heses on 't he plur al i t y of inhabit ed w or l d s' - he w ant ed to t ake off from
eart h and favour ed the int ersidereal voyage. In Lumen (1884), his speculat ions
about ret rospect ive vi si on incorporat ed the m ovem ent of the observer, w h o
goes back in t ime fast er t han t he speed of light, w hereas synchronising the
speed w i t h the speed of light al l ow s him to isolat e a pict ure. Flam m arion t hus
does not speculat e on the m eans of capt uring and recording the i m ages that
surroun d us. This, however, is the case of the m any st ories dealing w it h the
quest ion of the capt uring device or devel oper screen allow in g one to visuali se
and t hen record t hese it inerant im ages.
In the m ajorit y of t hese stories, the narrat or is the scientist w h o provides
scient ific explanat ion s of t he phenom ena that happen (theory) and of the appa
rat us he h as designed to obser ve and fix t hem (t echnology). These charact ers
and t heir discourses are const ruct ed by adapt in g w h at w as being said at the
t ime in scient ific circles —as can be seen b y t he appearance of Edison 'in person'
in som e of t hese stories, or the repeat ed references to him ('the French Edison').
There again, as in the case of the 'N au t i l u s', rat her t han l ook i ng at t he expl an a
tions, invent ions and discoveries of t hese scientists, it w as m ore im port ant to
link them to the concept s m ak ing them possible - t hus w it h less em phasis on
the solutions an d m ore on the questions from w h i ch t hey stem.
In the exam ples exam in ed here, t hese scientist s belong r espect ively —or si
m ult an eously - to the fields of chemistry, ast ronom y and physics.
W hen reasoning is devel oped on the basi s of the t heory t hat analyses im ages
as a reflection of t he li ght of a body, w e h ave not ed t hat it is ast ronom y that
pr ovi d es the hypot hesis of capt ur in g i m ages of the past b y m eans of the time
gap bet w een the em ission an d recept ion of the light em it t ed by far-off st ars.17
Then ph ysics is required to design devi ces to observe and capt ure im ages, and
chem ist ry necessary to find sensit ive suppor t s on w h i ch t hese em issions of light
m ay be devel oped and recorded.

The reasoning behind t hese st ories w as sum m arised in exem plary fashion by
M aurice Renard, w h o had un doubt edl y read Flam m arion:
The past exists always in the order of light and the optical; but up to now, our past,
that of the inhabitants of the Earth, has not been available to our own eyes. That does
not prevent it from going on and on visually, like all pasts where light reigns. Thus
when we observe the stars, it is their past that we see. For, despite its speed of 3,000
kilometres per second, it takes light years to come to us from the nearest star, in other
words to send us the image of that star. Consequently, in the firmament we only see
the stars such as they shone ten, twenty, fifty or one hundred years ago, according to
the distance separating us from them, and not such as they shine at the moment when
we contemplate them.1*
Clearly, the problem at ic of the instantaneous image that arises in phot ography,
causing t he ver y definit ion of ph ot ography to be r edefi n ed19 (part icularly in
relat ion to N iepce's first experim ent s w h er e the exposur e t ime records the pas
sing of t ime —or lat er t hose of N ègre), is correlat ive to t hat of the gap, the delay
m ade possible in t he i m agi n ar y w or l d of i m age capt uring of w h at is no longer
present at the sam e t ime as the cam era, w h er eas on the contrary, the inst ant a
neous i m age exacerbat es t his sim ult aneit y of exist ence in the gui se of i m m edi
acy.
For furt her exam ples of the problem at ic of the audi o-vi suali sat i on of the past,
aside from M aurice Renard's le Maître de la lumière (The Light Master, 1933),
w h i ch put s for w ar d a precise and original di sposi t i ve to reach im ages from the
past : the 'sum m ar i es of the past ', r ear -vi ew m irrors or developers, h eavy and
ver y t hick opaque plat es m ade u p of an infinit e num ber of ver y thin black or
lum in ous lines and ot hers t hat are light or dar k .20 Three n ovels h ave been cho
sen: Gu iseppe Lippar i n i 's le Maître du temps (The Master o f Time, 1909), M aurice
Leblanc's les Trois Yeux (The Three Eyes, 1920), and Léon D audet 's Bacchantes
(1931),
U sin g the charact er of Professor An t onio Schwarz, Gu i seppe Li ppar i n i 21
evok es the quest ion of the 'ph ot ogr aph y of t im e'. Follow in g a handling error
dur i n g ast ronom ical observat ion, i m ages of the past appear. H owever, the ex
planat ion of the phenom enon int roduces a n ew param et er of the energy devel
oped by each bod y in m ovem ent . The hypot hesis is that the en ergy m ust 'su b
sist '. In ot her w or ds, each of m an's act s corresponds to a projection of t hat act in
space, which, as Flam m arion wrot e, is preserved in time. The cinem at ograph
confirm s t his l aw of project ion (in space) / preservat ion (in time) for: 't he sur
roun di ng air is a verit able cinem at ograph w here t housands of successive projec
t ions intersect and m er ge'.22
Schw ar z t hus set s out to find a receiver, w hich w i ll enable him to reconstitute
the act t hat has produced these project ions. The instrum ent, close to t he hum an

52 François Albera
eye, is a dar k room . The t ask t hen becom es to 'coordinat e the dispersed and
blur red im ages, and gi ve back and rest ore t heir initial cont inuit y'.
In M aur ice Leblanc's n ovel ,23 the scientist , N oël D orgeroux, is a chemist, and
he sim ply cont ribut es to the visuali sat i on of i m ages from the past that the Ve-
nusians, w h o h ave received them b y reflection, project ont o the earth. This t hus
in volves finding a screen and a devel oper for 'ph ot ogr am s' that once again are
present in the sur r oun din g air.
In bot h cases, the exist ence of m illions of invisible im ages and sounds circu
lat ing in the at m osphere i s the result of assim ilat ing t hese t wo phenom ena wit h
the H ert zian w aves of w i r eless com m unicat ions. W hile bot h the t elephone and
the t elegraph fost er an im agi nary w or l d of t ransm ission by m eans of elect ric
im pulses, a current m ovi n g t hrough som e carrier (how ever thin this m ay be,
such as a cable or a wire), r adioph on y im plies m ovi n g to a different physical
element , t hat of flux b y em ission in the air w i t h neit her carrier nor energy, aside
from the initial en er gy of t he w aves.
This aspect of the w aves of t ime car r yi n g the past is exact ly w h at Léon D au
det highlight s w h en creat ing his physicist and 'French Edison', Rom ain Ségétan.
The w aves can be com pared t o 'soun d vibr at ions' - t hey interpenet rat e w it hout
m erging, appear and disappear. The aim here is t o capt ure them, and to do so
Ségét an desi gn s a devi ce called D yon i sos —t here is scant det ail about t his de
vice, but w e do k n ow that it w or k s in 'zon es of predilect ion' for i on g-du r at i on
w aves, sit es t hat are posi t i vely haunt ed'; t hey are placed close to 'cert ain areas
of the skin t hat are especi al l y accessible to sen sor y hyper aest hesi a'. The em pha
sis that is put on the 'vi br at i on s' and 'w aves' - rat her t han on the preservat ion of
the i m ages as such (and t hus project ed eit her from the past or from elsewhere
[Venus]) —causes him to adopt a m ent al m odel of vi si on rat her t han an opt ical
one. The t heories about the skin's hyperaest hesia and vision vi a the skin w ere
devel oped b y Loui s Far i goule [ Jules Rom ains] in 1919, in a w or k t hat w as sin
gular com pared to w h at he w as lat er to w r i t e and w hich found little favour.24
Clearly, Léon D audet - w h o had t rained as a doct or - w as fam iliar w i t h it.
Gui ll aum e Apol li n ai r e t ook an ear l y int erest in the cinem a - his scenario, la
Bréhatine, and his short story, 'U n beau fi lm ' ('A beaut iful fi lm ', published in
l'Hérésiaque), par od y act ion film s w i t h sudden changes of fort une in the w ay
that his cont em porary, t he hum orist Cam i, did. H e also wrot e t wo m uch m ore
int erest ing t ext s ent it led 'L e Toucher à dist ance' ('D ist ance Touch') and 'le Roi-
lune' ('The M oon King').
The first st ory evok es a 'm essi ah ' capable of sim ult aneously being in a series
of different places. H e has designed a m achine t hat combines the cinem at ograph,
the phonograph, the t elephone and the t elegraph and t hanks to w hich he can be
duplicated in as m an y places as he likes, on condit ion that he has placed a recei
ver t here shaped like an d the size of a nail. N ot on ly do im age and sound ap-

pear in t hese var i ous places, but also a t hree-dim ensional figure that can be
t ouched (thus he r egul ar l y m eet s his m ist ress for their w eek l y r endezvous w i t h
out her suspect ing that he could be at the ot her end of the w or l d - and he even
m an ages to gi ve her three children). W hen the narrat or fires six shot s from a
revol ver at w h at he beli eves to be the charact er's 'double', the lat t er dies sim ul
t aneously in 800 different places w or l dw i d e. D uplicat ion and ubiquit y are t hus
the param et ers of t his story.
In The Moon King, Apol li n ai r e speak s of devi ces t hat do not project im ages,
but t hat plun ge t heir user s into a vi r t ual w or l d. The im ages are of fam ous w o
m en from h ist or y (Cleopat ra, H eloise or Lola M ont ez, etc.) are called up ('a
nak ed body sm i li n g vol upt uou sl y at him t akes shape before his delight ed
eyes') and offered for the users' sexual pleasure ('The hands of the you n g people
st retched out in front of t hem and w an der ed, as i f t hey w ere fondling lithe,
t reasured bodies, t heir m out hs gave enam oured k isses to the air. Soon t hey be
cam e m ore lascivi ous and spi r i t edl y unit ed w it h the void').
The m achine is an ext rapolat ion of the phonograph (wit h w hich it shares the
t urning 'cyl i n der s'): there is a recording of the past , w h ich is reit erat ed for indi
vi d u al use - i m pl yi n g a cert ain int eract ion w it h the m achine. But , above all, it
br eak s w it h the belief in the 'com m un icat ion' w i t h the im ages of the past by
int roducing the fact t hat 'I could look at, t ouch, in a w or d I could pleasure the
bod y wit hin m y reach, w h er eas the body had no idea that I w as there, as it had
no present r ealit y'. The capt uring of i m ages of people from the past (great ina
m orat as) in im probable sit uat ions (sexual pleasure) produces a present, sim u
lat ed act ivit y t hat is r eall y felt (m ovi n g from sim ulacra to sim ulat ion).
Finally, the sym bolist Saint -Pol Roux, w i t h his 'l i vi n g cinem a', announced a
screenless cinem a, r em oved from the plat it ude of bein g shown, going all over
the w or ld as anyon e may, si m ult aneously paint ing and sculpt ure - and opening
u p to 'I m m or t ali t y'. This is the cinem a of t om orrow. U p till now, the i m age w as
reflect ed, but in t om orrow's cinem a it w i l l be cryst allised, t aking the place of
and supplant in g biological reproduct ion, it is the vect or of a super-hum anit y
t hat is r eproduced by the sound and i m age t echnology. Saint -Pol Roux t hus
ad ds the product ion of 'd ou bl es' - cloning —to the sim ult aneous presence of
the l i vi n g and t he dead.
C o n c lu s io n
Gilbert Sim ondon's reflect ions on the 'm odes of existence of t echnical objects'
and, m ore precisely, on the li nk in g of 'i m agi nat ion and invent ion' help one to

54 François Albera
underst an d t he 'gen esi s' of the invent ion const it ut ive of it, or even t hat 't he gen
esis of the t echnical object is part of its bein g'.25
H is reflect ions on the definit ion of the t echnical object m eet t hose developed
b y Geor ges Cangui l hem on t he hist ory of sciences, st ressing the origin of the
concept rat her t han it s beginning, t he origin al w ays bein g indebt ed to causal
ities t hat are out side w h at w ou l d be considered a 'logi c of science'. Thus, the
concept of reflex di d not arise w it h in scient ific discourse as i f b y int ernal engen-
derm ent (of the H egelian t ype), but in t he cont ext of pat h ology and the clinic.
In w h at condit ion, ask s Sim ondon, can the t echnical object be called such? It
is not w h en I cont em plat e it, not w h en it is si m pl y used, not even w h en it is
considered object ively from the point of it s use and funct ions, or considered
according to its physical st ruct ures: it is the k n ow ledge of the concret ization of
the t echnical object that const it ut es it as such.
In t his genesis, t here is t he im aginat ion, the project and the concept ion —Si
m ondon calls it an 'i m age-pr oduci n g genesis' - w hich has a vi r t ual dim ension.
When it does not 'go wrong', the invention can be distinguished from the images that
precede it by the fact that it brings about a change of scale - it joins the middle, which
it organises. An invention is an image that has succeeded, that has become concrete.26
The int erest of fict ion is not so m uch t hat it 'an nounces' or 'pr efi gur es' w h at is to
com e (its prophet ic qualit y) but that it t akes part in t his genesis, doubt less m ore
on t he si de of 'cr eat i vi t y', w hi ch i s syncret ic, di sor der ly and abundant —while
the 'invent ion ' is discont inuous, spr ead out over time and t hrough history.
M oreover, to the extent t hat such fiction bor r ow s or experim ent s - pur el y in
w r i t i n g - on the basis of the state of k n ow l edge or current projects, it has the
facult y of sheddi n g light on som e dim ensions of exist ing t echnologies that are a
source of inspirat ion, but t hat history, in it s cat alogued form , has not ret ained, in
that it has favour ed use alone, t hereby crushing ot her possibilit ies.
There are at least t w o aspect s t o t hese dim ensions: the pot ent ial proper to a
m edium or m achine (once the m ove from hand-building or prot ot ype to gener
alisat ion has been m ade), and the social, im aginary or pragm at ic expect at ions
that bot h receive and solicit it.
In an art icle published in Paris-Soir on 8 M ay 1925, M aurice Renard com m ent
ed on the not ion of anticipation in lit erat ure and cam e u p w i t h the ad hoc expr es
sion of anticipation as a fictitious solution:
By using new data, by prolonging into the future the presumed continuation of re
search underway, writers with methodical imaginations delighted ... in giving ficti
tious solutions to certain problems that people had been facing for centuries, and other
problems that had only just arisen through progress. They skilfully busied themselves
with imagining the advent of possibilities, some of which were desirable and others
appalling; in short, they absorbed themselves in anticipations, a word used first by

Wells in this way (but he had predecessors: Poe, Villiers, Verne, Flammarion, the el
der Rosny).2'
In these 'ant icipat ions', the n ar r at i ve fr am ew or k is a fram e that allows the ext ra
polat ions aut horised b y the object un der considerat ion to unfold.
By un der st an din g the 'cinem a' at the t ime of its advent t hrough the represen
t ations of it t hat are pr ovi ded in fict ional w orks, to en visage it as a field of pos
sible developm ent s, in it s ext ension, one m ay define its ver y concept beyon d the
em pirical definit ions t hat h ave held sway.
This approach leads to a reordering of h ow t hings are di vi ded up bet ween
different m edia and the bor der s bet w een them, an d hence their respect ive
chronologies. Thus, the ext rem ely rigid part it ion bet ween 'cinem a' and 't el evi
sion', w hich go t hrough their respect ive val ues and pur poses of recording, stor
ing and deferred repetition on the one hand, an d transmission, simultaneity and
cont iguit y on the ot her hand, si m pl y retro-projects later (and current) dist inct ions
t hat h ave been est ablished b y societ y, an d w h ich depend on choices, w it hin the
m edium s and m edia un der considerat ion for the purposes of specialisat ions,
profitabilit y, and so forth.
By exam in ing 'ut opi an ' novel s or w or k s of ext rapolat ion, one can m easure
just h ow far t hese l at er specialisat ions —w h at ever t heir im port ance m ay have
been - h ave consequent ly ret ro-project ed bor der s and chronologies b y consider
i n g the m edia separately.
The out line of developm en t s post ulat ed b y the first hist orians has cont ribut ed
to t his over sh adow i n g by m ak ing the ver y over sh adow i n g seem like a nat ural
process - but cert ain t heories of sem i ol ogy or t heories of int erm edialit y do li k e
w i se w h en t hey set out the 'ph ases' and successive m odalit ies t hat these m edia
have passed t hrough, t hus slot t ing t hem into per iods but w it hout inscribing
them into a br oader space of intelligibility.
N o te s
1. See, for example, Pierre Versins in his Encyclopédie de l'utopie et de la science-fiction,

Lausanne, l'Age d'Homme, 1972 (2nd edition 1984).
2. One of Edison's inventions mentioned in passing in Tomorrow's Eve is an instrument
used to 'measure the heat of starlight' (p. 156). Measuring the light emitted by extin
guished stars: 'the man who looks up and admires the stars is often looking at suns
that no longer exist, which he nonetheless perceives as a result of that phantom ray,
darting endlessly through the illusion of the universe' (p. 156).
3. Henri Fescourt and Jean-Louis Bouquet, 'L'idée et l'écran. Opinions sur le cinéma',
préface de Francis Lacassin, Archives 99, November 2006. Jules Verne knew both of
the American Fulton's submarine project (1798) and of that of Delonney who, in

56 François Albera
1859, registered patents that had no practical applications. Seventeen years after the
novel was published, the French naval engineer Gustave Zede (1825-1891) perfected
an operational submarine propelled by electricity and armed with two torpedoes,
called the 'Gymnote' (1887).
4. One may ask where a project develops if not on paper - and how does one 'demon
strate' it if not on paper by means of the description of an experiment - its narration,
its description?
5. For example, the telephonographic link with his secretary (he does not reply di
rectly but by means of a recorded message, and calls the secretary by identical
means) following the transmission of a written dispatch ('fax').
6. In this novel, which was only published in 1994, there is talk of the 'photographic
telegraph, invented last century by Professor Giovanni Caselli of Florence, [which]
allowed one to send over distances the facsimile of any writing or drawing and thus
sign bills of exchange or contracts at five thousand leagues' distance' (p. 70).
7. In Les 500 millions de In Begum (The Begum Millions, 1879) where the ideal city,
France-Ville, built from scratch in the desert in the south of Oregon - again a kind
of island - not far from its evil twin city, Stahlstadt, the City of Steel, built by a Ger
man despot and scientist with the sole aim of destroying everything that is not Ger
manic on earth, with the hygienic, peace-loving and Eden-like France-Ville first on
the list.
The organisation of the 'futuristic' city includes ultramodern architectural, urban,
industrial and agricultural dispositives (with the primary concern of excluding all
morbid germs from the city) and thus a number of advanced technical objects in the
field of communication - a very developed telephone system enabling the Civic
Council to meet at a moment's notice in an 'audio-conference', with an almost im
mediate transcription of discussions noted in shorthand in newspapers, a system of
calling up its citizens by means of sound and visual columns (loudspeaker, alarm
and luminous dial) situated on 85 of the city's crossroads.
8. The telephonoscope also appears in Camille Flammarion's la Fin du monde, set in the
25th century (The End of the World, 1894).
9. Ignis, 2nd part, chapter 3.
10. ('The Day of a Parisian in the 21st Century') Lectures pour Tous (13th year - 3rd
instalment [December 1910]).
11. Guillaume Apollinaire, 'Le Roi-lune', Mercure de France, Tome CXVII, No. 440, 16
October 1916.
12. Marie-Ernest d'Hervilly, 'Josuah Electricmann', in Timbale d'histoires a la parisienne
(Paris: Marpon-Flammarion, 1883).
13. The idea of freeing oneself from writing by reading texts aloud goes back at least as
far as Cyrano de Bergerac, who encounters very convenient portable machines on
the moon, which allow him to 'listen' to books. The move from the dispositive of the
book (produced by the printing press) to that of a diffuser of sound is meant to go
beyond the obstacle of the materiality of writing (letters, pages, printing) and its
lack of clarity in relation to the meaning, located where there is transparency of the
voice. This brings us close to Rousseau's Essay on the Origin of Language, which was
stigmatised by Derrida in Writing and Difference (I'Ecriture et la difference). There is
also the fantasy of being able to store the sound of a voice. Cyrano, follows on from
Rabelais and Sorel, but introduces a mechanism that is clearly modelled on watch

making, while his predecessors banked on natural phenomena (frozen words,

words absorbed by sponges): (Voyage dans la lune, 1657).
14. One can measure the gap between the technological conceptual framework of this
fantasy and what prevailed some centuries earlier in Rabelais's or Sorel's works.
Rabelais exploits the 'natural' phenomenon of the freezing of words and noises that
are reduced to steam by the expending of body energy, and Sorel, by assimilating
the spoken word to a liquid, transfers the sponge's absorption and reversion capa
city via pressure. (Rabelais, Quart livre', Sorel, le Courrier véritable)
15. See Danielle Chaperon in her Camille Flammarion. Entre astronomie et littérature, Paris:
Imago, 1998, pp. 48-49.
16. C. Flammarion, 'La lumière ressuscitant le passé', Magasin pittoresque, 1873 (quoted
by D. Chaperon, op. cit., p.65).
17. This issue of dead stars was one of the major topoi of the time (cf Baudelaire); in
Charles Cros's 'drame interastral' (la Renaissance littéraire et artistique of 14 August
1872) one moves from the observation of planets to the transmission of sound by
telephonic mode, and of images by 'series that are sufficient for the reproduction of
the relief and the movements' - one of the rare cases of the application of the astron
omy problematic to the field of sound.
18. Maurice Renard, le Maître de la lumière [1933], Paris: Tallandier, 1948 (published in
Romans et Contesfantastiques, Paris, Laffont 'Bouquins', 1990, pp. 1020-1021).
19. See André Gunthert, 'La Conquête de l'instantané. Archéologie de l'imaginaire
photographique en France (1841-1895)', Doctoral Thesis, Paris: EHESS, 1999.
20. The past here is not 'photographed' after the event (as in Lipparini), nor repeated
using a support that has 'reproduced' it (the cinematograph) - it is seen live, with
out projection, via a kind of 'memory' of the plates. Compared to the partition be
tween immediacy and différance, it is a third proposal - an immediacy of the past,
based on the model of starlight - one sees it now, but it comes from the past.
21. Guiseppe Lipparini (1877-1951?) - the lack of concrete details about this author may
have something to do with the modern Italian movement, which wrote about M ar
inetti in 1943 (?). His novel was published in France, with the approval of Riciotto
Canudo, who incorporated it into the serials published by the periodical les Annales
in 1909. The passages here are from instalments 1 and 2 in numbers 1340 & 1341 of
28 February 1909 and 7 March 1909.
22. The similarity of this expression to the one that Deleuze infers from Bergson is strik
ing (see the fourth chapter of his Cinema 1. The Movement-Inmge, translated by Bar
bara Habberjam and H. Tomlinson, London: Athlone, 1986).
23. Maurice Leblanc, les Trois Yeux, Paris: Pierre Lafitte, 1920
24. Louis Farigoule [Jules Romains], la Vision extra-rétinienne et le sens paroptique: Re
cherches de psychophysiologie expérimentale et de physiologie histologique, Paris, Galli
mard, 1964 [1919]. (English edition: Eyeless Sight, London, 1924. Reprint, New York:
Citadel Press, 1978). In 1917, Farigoule, a medical student, studied the phenomena
of 'extra-retinal vision'. He was laughed at by scientists, abandoned his research
and adopted the pen name of Jules Romains. In the 1960s, Rosa Kuleshova (1955
1978), writing in the USSR, returned to this subject.
25. Gilbert Simondon, Du mode d'existence des objets techniques, Paris: Aubier, 2001
[1958].

58 François Albera
26. Gilbert Simondon, l'Invention dans les techniques. Cours et conférences, Paris: Seuil,
2005 ('Imagination et invention', cours de 1965, p. 297).
27. Published in Maurice Renard, le Maître de la lumière, op. cit.

T h e C a s e f o r an E p i s t e m o g r a p h y o f
M ontag e
T h e M a r ey M o m e n t
François Albera
M y long-t erm am bit ion is t o redefine the concept of m ont age in the cinem a.1
But t his am bit ion is part and parcel of a w i d er field of enquiry of an epist em olo-
gical nature, which ent ails adopt i n g a certain view poin t on the M arey quest ion
or M arey 'm om ent ' in the history, prehist ory and ar ch aeology of cinem a.2
It st art ed to becom e clear t hat t he concept of m ont age needed to be redefined
when , in the 1980s and 1990s, scholars specialising in ear ly cinem a saw —first in
the film s of M éliès, then of Lum ière and Edison - that there w er e processes of
m ont age that st ood in st ark opposit ion to the doxa associat ed w it h the term.
Researchers like Jean Gir aud, the lexicologist - w h o ident ified the first use of
the t erm in 19093 - an d hist orians like Jean M itry, or the t heorist s and philoso
phers of the cinem a w h o cam e in his w ak e, agree that m ont age on ly exist s when
there is a cert ain n arrat ive, di scursi ve and st ylist ic developm ent of the cinema,
whet her it is a process of n arrat ive (sequence) or exhibit ion (parallelism ), or a
t rope ('m et aphor ', analogy, or series).
But t his appr oach is clearly lim it ed b y a prejudgem ent of an aest hetic nat ure,
and, hence, obfuscat es the ver y core of the m at t er and prevent s one from appr e
hending the t rue nat ure of cinema.
In 1984, w hen An dr é Gaudr eaul t ident ified M éliès as the pioneer of the link
shot, Pierre Jenn suggest ed that M éliès's operat ions of special effects, assem
bl age and subst it ut ion be exam in ed in t erm s of m ont age or prot o-m ont age.4
There is the w el l-k n ow n st ory - w h i ch M éliès him self referred to in 19075 -
about the cam era accident ally st opping for one m inut e w h i l e film ing on Place
de l'O péra. The result w as t hat an om nibus becam e a hearse and m en changed
into w om en. This w as seen as the begi n n i n g of the special effect 'b y subst it u
t ion' and w as lat er used for different effect s of 'conjuri ng aw ay' or t ransform ing
a charact er or object before the spect at ors' eyes. But w h at is not kn ow n is t hat
M éliès w r ot e t hat he only m ent ioned t his effect aft er h avi n g 'st uck t oget her' the
film 'w h er e it broke' - i.e., aft er h avi n g cut and m ount ed the film. Lat er it w as
learnt that, in an y case, the inert ia of t he handle pow er i n g the cam era w ould
h ave m ade it im possible to have a 'm agi c' subst it ut ion operat ion b y si m pl y
st oppi n g t he film and st art ing it u p again, and that a cert ain num ber of phot o
gr am s that pr ogr essi vel y becam e dar k er and t hen light er had to be rem oved

60 François Albera
and the film 'st uck t oget her' in all event s. The subst it ut ion trick w as t hus in
separable from a m ont age operat ion, even t hough the w or d had not yet m ade
its appearance.6
It is m oreover sym pt om at ic t hat w h en Eisenst ein referred to this episode, he
saw an effect of superposition, a t erm that he considered as the ver y 'basi s' of
m ont age.7
Then Gaudr eaul t w en t back in t ime and closely st udied the original Lum ière
film s. H e discovered t hat t hey also had discont inuit ies and breaks, so he w ent
on to exam ine Edison's w or k and t ake a look at opt ical t oys8 - t hus corroborat
in g the poet ics of t he film direct or W erner N ekes, w h ich w as predicat ed on his
k n ow l edge as an enlight ened am at eur and collector, and on his w or k in exper i
mental cinem a.9
This t ransform at ion in the approach to t hese film s m eans not on l y m ovi n g
back the dat e w hen m ont age first appeared, it also m eans redefining the not ions
used.
In order to r ew or k the concept of m ont age and the associat ed not ions, one
needs to d r aw up w h at M ichel Foucault in 1969 called an 'epi st em ogr aph y'.
D ur ing t he Journées or gan ised at the Institute d'histoire des sciences under t he au s
pices of Geor ges Canguilhem , w h er e Foucault w as speaki n g about 't he Si t ua
tion of Cu vi er in the hist ory of bi ology', a di scussion t ook place about the ana
l ysi s of the 'Cuvier-t ran sform at i on ' in Tlie Order o f Things. In his r elat ively sharp
reply to an exposé b y François D agognet , Foucault proposed to dist inguish
three l evels of epist em ography: the epist em ocrit ical (épistémocritique), epist em o-
nom ical (épistémonomique) an d epist em ological (épistérnologique) l evel s.10
W e shall m ake the fol low i n g dist inct ions: a) the technico-aest hetic discourse
on m ont age (the epistemonomical level), w hich consist s of a set of lim it s and con
trol principles and 'r u l es'; b) the pr escript ive discourse of crit icism and cinem a
t heory (the epistemocritical level) defining the processes of belon gin g to or being
out side the concept of m ont age; in order to const ruct : c) an ' epistemological' level,
w h i ch ident ifies t he fields of applicat ion of t he concept s an d rules of usage re
gar di n g m ont age, and t heir t ransform at ions and variat ions in order to link them
to t heir condit ions of possibilit y.
The i ssue here is to fost er com prehension of the concept ual field of m ont age
(via such not ions as end, piece, m om ent , int erval, intermit tence, pause, phase,
posit ion, jerk, shock, dissociat ion, cut, break, int errupt ion, discont inuity, join
ing, assem bling, collage, link, continuity, art iculat ion, succession, etc.) by l eav
in g behind the pur el y internal, descript ive or pr escript ive definit ions and going
beyon d the obst acles of the t echnological t ype, w hich i m pede or lim it com pre
hension.
It w i ll t hen be possible to: a) ident ify the cont ours of a m ont age function,
w h i ch m ay not be gi ven t hat n am e but w hich needs to be linked to various

The Case fo r an Epistemography o f Montage 61
procedures, pract ices and ut t erances (as w e have just seen w i t h M éliès and L u
mière); b) locat e the t hinking relat ed to m ont age in the syst em of concept s and
pract ices w her e it has its root s, and subsequent ly en vi sage its ext ension and
var i abili t y; c) and finally addr ess the quest ion of 'w h at governs st at ement s, and
the w ay in w hich t hey govern each ot her so as to const itute a set of proposit ions
t hat are scient ifically accept able', i.e., the regim e an d polit ics of these ut t er
ances.11
T h e M a re y ‘ m o m e n t ’
In t he per spect ive described above, t he M ar ey 'm om ent ' is crucial for several
reasons:
a. he is out side cinem at ographic t eleology (he did not 'at t em pt ' to 'ar r i ve at ' the
spect acle of an anim at ed i m age t hat w ou l d be ident ified under the nam es of
kinet oscope, phonoscope, ciném at ographe, et c.);12
b. he w as nonet heless present in the sequence of 'cinem a' invent ions (both con
cept ually and t echnically speaking) and gave the 'invent ion' bot h a scientific
and a social guarant ee (Académie des sciences, Collège de France);
c. he belonged to a field - p h ysi ol ogy13 - t hat had been w el l explored in con
cept ual t erm s and that w as t he t heat re of fundam ent al cont roversies bet ween
opposi n g t endencies, aboun di n g in a bod y of notions, concept s and pract ices
which, in his par t i cul ar case, w as to pr ovi de an 'int erface' w i t h the t oys and
m achines used for anim at ed i m ages.14
The result is a fai r l y st rik ing one w h en one realises t hat M ar ey's m echanistic
concept ion (the 'an i m al m achine') led him to encount er a machinic disposit ive
t hat is analogous to his object, as an inst rum ent of observat ion - t he 'cinem a'
m achine:15 the 'an i m al m achine' w h ose locom ot ion is 'dist inct an d successive'
(Canguilhem ), and the m achine w i t h '[ dist inct and] successive im ages'.
M ar ey t hus successfully devel oped t his di sposit ive b y com bining t wo ele
m ents: on t he one hand, research aim ed at break in g t hings d ow n in order to
un derst and 'h ow t hey w or k ' and, on the other, a series of illusion-producing
m achines, w h i ch had been devel oped on ot her foundat ions. In ot her w ords,
there w as the com binat ion of a concept ion of the l i vi n g bein g and a m odel to
capt ure reproducible m ovem ent s.
A l l of the ear ly cinem a prot agonist s br ok e dow n anim al and hum an m ove
m ents, but w i t h the intent ion to reproduce them as a continuity, especially vi a
the zoet rope. Th ey considered br eak i ng dow n m ovem ent as a trick or an opt ical
experience.16 W hen the research and experim ent s associat ed w i t h t his process

62 François Albera
had a scient ific dim ension, t hey i n volved percept ion and not locom ot ion. First
cam e observat ion and then the speculat ion r egardi n g the inabilit y of the eye to
discrim inat e bet w een t he m om ent s in r api d succession to force it to 'di gest ' the
illu sor y synt hesis or cont inuit y of the t haum at rope, zoet rope, phenakist oscope,
praxinoscope, etc.
W hile Plat eau and ot hers devel oped t he scientific k n ow ledge of hum an v i
sion, i.e., it s physiology, M ar ey's interest as a scientist w as neit her in vi si on nor
in ast ronom y. H e focused on m ovem en t .17
For him, 'un der st an di n g the m ovem ent of a bod y' m eant 'un derst an din g the
series of posit ions it occupies in space du r i n g a successive series of i n st ant s'.18
These inst ant s are discret e an d pert inent elements, w hi ch define the process of
locom ot ion, jum ping, etc. W hen Pierre Jules Janssen i m proved the 'cinem a' d i s
posi t ive in order to i m pr ove observat ion of Venus, he broke d ow n its pat h as it
passed in front of the sun into successive m ovem ent s, but w i t h out considering
the fact t hat t hey w er e 'r em ar k abl e' m om ent s of the planet 's progress around
the sun. 'Celest ial m echanics' are not foun d on that level. These m om ent s result
from observat ion, and it is subsequent an alysi s that w i l l select the 'par t i cu lar ' or
'rem ar k abl e' m om ent or m om ent s.19 M arey, however, w as convinced t hat h u
m an m ovem ent is not m ade u p of a random series of m om ent s but of successive
posit ions, w hich he could det erm ine once t hey w er e capt ured.20
H is experim ent al prot ocol (capture, t ransmit , analyse, restore) t hus included
operat ions t hat broke d ow n ('démontage') the obser ved phenom enon int o its
phases, m om ent s or posit ions, then det erm ined its 'm echanics', t hen pieced
everyt hin g t oget her agai n (‘ re-montage') for the pur poses of dem onst rat ion,
aided and abet t ed by chronophot ography and the zoet rope or, subsequently,
usi n g a project or.
There can be no doubt that M ar ey's appr oach (only par t ly shared by M u y
bridge, am ong ot hers) played a par t in h ow 'cinem a' w as conceived in it s ear ly
years. A ft er all, he pr ovi ded the n ew invent ion w it h its scientific concept ualisa
tion. N ot on l y w as he seen as one of the invent ors in learned circles and in pub
lic opinion (possibly opposed to anot her, com pet ing scientist such as Edison),21
but the Lum ière brot hers, w h o w er e bot h ent repreneurs and invent ors, claim ed
t hey w er e his follow ers. A t the begin nin g of t heir 't r i um ph ', t hey bor r ow ed his
t erm of 'chr on oph ot ogr aph y in m ovem ent ', w hich t hey cont inued to const ruct
and perfect unt il t heir deat hs. M oreover, t hey want ed to share the title of 'sch o
lars' w i t h him , a m ove t hat he did not oppose.22 A s w e n ow know, it w as only
aft er his deat h t hat M ar ey w as m arginalized, for reasons t hat w er e on the one
hand circum st ant ial (and per haps 'sor di d'), and on the ot her hand m ore pr o
found, i.e., linked to t he evolut ion of t he cinem at ographic spect acle. D uring his
lifet im e, he w as t he person ask ed to organise the phot ogr aphy and cinem a p a
vilion at the Paris Exhibit ion of 1900, and he clearly m aint ained ascendancy

over the discourse on 'cinem a', even i f he w as sidelined bot h in t echnical and
com m ercial t erm s.23
O ne can t hus hypot hesise t hat M ar ey's concept ion of m ovem ent (locomotion,
etc.) w as based on discont inuit y an d art iculat ion, and est ablished the m ain
guidelines not only for the n ew m edium , but also for the t echnological ap
proach to the apparat us w h ose developm ent and m echanical processes (the
dr i ve, etc.) w er e frequent ly discussed. 'Ci n em a' discourse w as dom inat ed by
t opics such as the freeze, intermit tence, im m obility, int erval, jerk or pause, w hile
adm irat ion w as si m ult aneously bein g expr essed for the reconst it ut ion of live
m ovem ent and creat ing the im pression of real life. It t hus does not seem out of
place to point out t hat t he idea of 'm on t age', in the vari ous m eanings and m od
alit ies list ed above,24 w as im m ediat ely em ployed. 'M on t age' preceded 'cinem a'
in t he processes used by M ar ey t o an alyse m ovem ent , an d he im m ediat ely be
gan exploit ing t his idea.
H ow ever , M ar ey's m odel w as confront ed w i t h an obst acle just as the 'm i r acu
l ous' synt hesis of his t heory of m echanics and the cinem at ographic m echanism
w as t aking place. It w as over w h elm ed by t he mathesis to w hi ch it belonged.25
Project ion int roduced an inst ance m issi ng from M ar ey's scientific approach: that
of t he spect at or, t he subject w h o perceives, the 'obser ver ', w i t h the t wo asso
ciat ed aspect s of percept ion and durat ion.
I ndeed, the w ay a spect at or per ceives pr ovides the m eans of ver i fyi n g how
m ovem ent s can be broken dow n . The isom orphism bet w een the m echanism s of
the object and the analyt ical appar at us is not cont inued in percept ion. Locom o
tion finds it self, as it were, supplant ed by perception, and t ranscending per cep
tion, w h i ch w as reint roduced b y the project ion appar at us, w as a prerequisit e of
M ar ey's scient ific approach (seeing beyon d com m on perception, 'seein g the in
visible').
T w o out com es w er e en vi saged to addr ess the first aspect of t his 'cr i sis', but
neit her of t hem addr essed the act ual issue of the 'const it ut ive' subject ivit y t hat
w as n ow an obst acle. The first solut ion led M ar ey to discover the t echniques
t hat rat ionalised hum an behavi our (gym nast ics, w or k m ovem ent s, the general
'econ om y' of m ovem ent s).26 The ot her solut ion led to an ever great er interest in
phenom ena t hat challenged geom et ry, in cluding the m echanics of fluids, the
form less, sm oke, w h i r l w i n d s and w ave-l ik e anim al m ovem ent s (the skat e or
jellyfish).
The second aspect w as t he ar r ival of durat ion, the spect at or's subject ive ex
perience of time. U nt il then, M ar ey had concent rat ed on kinem at ics (including
its dyn am ic dim ension) and, in the w or d s of A l fr ed Jarry, '[ k jinem at ics is a geo
m et ry in w h ich event s have neit her past nor fut ur e'.27 Tim e for M ar ey w as a
scale of m easurem ent . Scient ific dem onst rat ion pr esupposes sit uat ing oneself
out side the 'l i ved ' experience of t ime (t hat Bergson w as to reint roduce).28

64 François Albera
Th is epist em ological crisis b y no m eans prevent ed cinem a from bein g 'con

ceived of' in the 'ph ysi ologi cal ' t erm s used in the m echanist ic an alysis of loco
mot ion, that coexist ed w i t h w onderm ent in front of 'li fe it self'. Lat er, cinem at o
graphic epiph an y and t he feeling of durat ion cam e out on top, but the
com bining of t he m achine w i t h life cont inued to gi ve rise to t heories of m on
t age: Kuleshov, Eisenst ein, t hen W alt er Benjam in in part icular, cont inued to
link the ph ysi ol ogy of m ovem ent and locom ot ion an d the m echanics of succes
sive im ages. Aft er M ar ey w ou l d com e ot hers, such as Pavlov, Bekht erev or T ay
l or .^
A n son Rabinbach, in his Human Motor, t ries to 'snat ch' M ar ey from the nine
t eenth cent ury l an guage of science and sit uat e his im ages am ong the foun da
tions of the canons of t went iet h-cent ury art, and to link them wit h the t echnol
ogy of w or k (Taylor).30 W it hout den yi n g this outright , it is im port ant not to
st ray too qui ck l y from t his scient ific and t echnical di scursive field. A relat ed —
and accessory - exam ple, that of the French scient ist and philosopher Ch arles
H enry, w h o inspired bot h im pressionist s and neo-im pressionist s, sh ow s w h y it
is int erest ing to devot e a little m ore space to t his issue.
I shall n ow devel op the var i ous point s m ent ioned above.
M e c h a n is m
W hen it w as st at ed above t hat M ar ey saw the cinem a as a machinic disposit ive

that is an alogous to the subject he w as st udying, w as it not si m pl y st at ing the
obvious? I s it not t rue to say that the m echanism that en vi sages the bod y as a
m achine r ediscovers in the m achine w h at it had it self put into the body? The
circular nat ure of the argum ent , w h en the result is foreseen in the initial data,
should not fool us. Jean -Claude Beaune h as writ t en that the advocat es of the
m an-m achine 'm ar vel led const ant ly to find one of those "m ach in es" sim ilar to
the one m ade by m an h i m sel f in the hum an bod y ... There are only pist ons,
val ves and l ever s'.31 A ccor di n g to M ichel Serres, the Cart esian m achine i s a
't opogr aph y (a descript ion of the shapes of organs) t o w hich one applies a se
quence of m echanical t ransm issions'. It is, of course, t rue to say that M ar ey the
physi ologi st w as a successor of Descart es, H arvey, or Borelli, w h ose quest ions
he m ade his own. H e appr ehended t he l i vi n g bein g as a m achine an d all m ove
m ent s as mechanical, al w ays an alysi n g the anim al machine, the m echanism of a
jum p, of t he organs, or of w ork , the m echanics of locomot ion, etc.32 But t wo
point s are w or t h r ai si n g here. First ly, it w ou l d be w r on g to exagger at e Cart esian
n aivet y — D escart es's m et hod w as a com par at ive one, and for him m echanics
had as m uch a rhet orical funct ion as a heurist ic one.33 It w as a quest ion of tak-

in g the aut om at on, the clock - but also t he anim al —as a st art ing point for rea
soning, in order to dist inguish, cl assi fy and t hus clear a space for reflection and
research t hat w as free from the ideological const raint s of t he time. M ar ey did
lik ew ise w h en he stated t his adm irable and sim ple t ruth at the beginning of his
scient ific career:
When studying the movement of blood, we start from the principle that any move
ment is subject to physical laws, whatever the nature of the force that brought it into
being: thus a stone thrown by the arm of man follows the same trajectory as a projec
tile fired by a canon-powder; and yet in the one case it is the will of a man, the con
traction of a muscle that has given the impulsion, whereas in the other it is physical
force that has acted.34
Bot h m en describe a space of objective i nvest igat ion in the face of adver saries
who, w h en all is said and done, evok ed the unknowable in the nam e of God,
the soul or the life force. From the m om ent w hen it is est ablished t hat it is possi
ble to an alyse m ovem ent and t he l i vi n g being and experim ent w i t h them, what
ever force has brought them into being, one leaves behind t he cont roversies of be
lievers, and the scient ist 's w or k can begin.
Secondly, t he above quot at ion est ablishes that there is a com m unit y of ph ysi
cal l aw s t hat gover n bot h 'n at u r al ' and 'm echanical' phenom ena. It is not suffi
cient to say t hat one appli es the latter to the form er.35
M a c h in e s
W hen M ar ey speak s of m achines w it h levers, pist ons and valves, he is referring

to them as inst rum ent s for not ing m ovem ent s and for carr yin g out i n vest iga
tions. H e neit her 'r edi scover s' the m achine in the bod y nor assim ilat es the body
to a m achine - on the cont rary, he exteriorises. The m anufact ured m achine is not
used as a m odel for t he anim al m achine, but the latt er l ays d ow n the w ay in
w h i ch t he form er - w hich w i l l be used to an alyse it — i s m ade. The series of
appar at uses t hat he desi gned or perfect ed bears w it n ess to t his (the sphygm o-
graph, pol ygr aph , k ym ogr aph , recording cylinder, etc.) and chronophot ogra-
phy, w hich w as m eant to break dow n the m ovem ent of the w i n g or the fall of a
cat, recorded t his m echanism because it w as based on it, and did not 'creat e' it
b y analogy.
It w ould be absur d t o t ake t he com parison bet ween D escart es and M ar ey any
furt her, as bot h bi ol ogy and ph ysi ol ogy w er e pr ofoun dly t ransform ed during
the t w o cent uries separat ing them —and, m oreover, there w as little in com m on
in t heir aim s. But the m echanist ic doct rine is convenient ly brough t back to its

66 François Albera
foun din g fat her, and t he dist inct ion bet w een M arey's m echanism and that of
D escart es m ust be underlined. D escart es wrot e: 't he m ot ion w hich I have n ow
explained fol low s as necessarily from the ver y arrangem ent of the part s ... as
does the m ot ion of a clock from the power, t he situat ion, an d shape of its coun
t erw eight s and w h eels'.36
This is t ant am ount to sayi n g that his descript ions proceed from anatom y, the
observat ion of organs, m uscles, nerves, etc. w h ose funct ioning he deduces or
under st an ds on the basis of t heir arrangem ent . The concern w it h finding a force
or en er gy m ovi n g t hese di sposi t i ves (heat, anim al spirit s)37 does indeed exist,
but the const ruct ion rem ains a l ar gel y deduct i ve one.
M arey, for his part , i m m ediat ely places cinem at ics w it hin dynam ics, which is
not en visaged from the rat her m yst erious aspect of 'forces' alone. M arey's d y
nam ics w as the im plem ent at ion and w or k i n g of the m echanism .3® That pre
cluded cut t ing up the bod y (anatomy, vivisect ion). H is interest in the funct ion
in g of t he anim al m achine t hus put him at odds w i t h anat om ist s - w h o w ere
only int erest ed in the cadaver, and claim ed that t hey could deduce the funct ion
of or gan s and t heir st ruct ures b y exam ining t hem 39 - and br i n gs him closer to
the vit alist s. But , unlike the latter, he di d not gi ve up on the idea of d i vi d i n g up
the body, but w it h out cut t ing it t o pieces, as t hat breaks up bot h m ovem ent and
funct ion.
H is appr oach di d not infringe upon the m echanism, but m ade it more com
plex, t he organ ism is still si m pl y m ade u p of a series of part s, of pieces as
sem bled according t o a syst em of links creat ing a series of geom et rical an d m ea
surable displacem ent s.
The effect is doubled, as François D agognet has not ed: respect of the w h ol e
ness of the body and the m ovi n g object; the convict ion that the observed phe
nom enon m ust it self m ak e note of its rhyt hm s, scansions, and pauses by the
t race it leaves40 - t races that are first indicial (curves, traces, notes), and then
icono-indicial (the phot ograph).
If, to be as precise as possible, t he syst em of not at ion m ust proceed from the
m ovin g object it self (the phenom enon inscribes itself), it produces recording m a
chines t hat ext eriorise and im it at e t he observed traits of the phenom enon. M a
r ey 'ch an ged and al i gn ed t he inst rum ent w i t h w h at he w as to evaluat e, not the
ot her w ay r oun d'.41 This can be seen in the fol low i n g sim ple exam ple:
To imitate the jerks of horses' traction, it may be necessary to make facets and salient
angles on the drum round which the rope is wound42 [my italics].
These t w o charact erist ics are im port ant as t hey set M ar ey apart , an d it is t hus
im port ant to st udy h ow his m echanicism i s different from that of his colleagues,
as research into the m echanics of m ovem ent and the anim al m achine w ere ver y
popul ar at the t ime. To quot e just a few n am es - t hey appear in his lett ers - one

m ay ask w h at m ak es him an y different from Louis-Félix Giraud-Toulon (the

aut hor of Principes de la mécanique animale ou Etudes sur la locomotion chez l'homme
et les animaux vertébrés)43 w h o at t acked him and w hom he at t acked, or from
Sam uel H aught on (aut hor of Principles o f Animal Mechanics),44 or from the 'm e-
chanot herapist ' Dr. F. Lagr an ge, not to m ent ion Gui ll aum e Duchenne de Bou
logne and his Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine 45 There is no doubt that M ar-
ey's t heories t ook shape w i t h i n a w h ol e series of texts, on ly a sm all num ber of
w h i ch bore his signat ure, even t hough there w er e m an y of them. But w it hin this
collection, leavin g asi de that sim ilar t erm s or ident ical t heories m ay belong to
different syst em s and t hus h ave sign ifican t ly different effects, it m ust be un der
lined t hat M ar ey alone linked his ph ysi ol ogy to the m achine t hat produced suc
cessive im ages, to the ext ent that this m achine guarant eed that the phenom enon
un der evaluat ion could be bet t er imit at ed.
P h o to g ra p h y , c h ro n o p h o to g r a p h y
The int erest t hat M ar ey devel oped for ph ot ogr aph y and the phot ographic series
(M uybridge) clearly illust rat es his concept ion of m ovem ent as som et hing t hat
can be broken dow n into specific m om ent s or posit ions, and hence, his vi ew
t hat it w as discont inuous in nat ure and fun dam ent al ly im it at ive.
Phot ogr aph y —which, according to Lauren t M annoni, w as a m eans of liberat
in g the graphic m et hod 'fr om its lim it s and even from it s t echnological im
p asse'46 - an d lat er chronophot ography pr ovi ded M ar ey w it h a m achine which
h as charact erist ics t hat are sim ilar to the bod y or physiological phenom ena: di s
continuity, jerks and int ervals.
H is act ivit y w as t hus different from that of Janssen, from w hom he dr ew in
spirat ion and w h o hi m sel f point ed to 't he ph ysi ologi cal pat h'. H is phot ographic
revol ver dist inguished phases in the t raject ory of Venus, but t hey w er e those
dict at ed by the inst rum ent t hat t ook them from a cont inuum (the t rajectory) in
order to capt ure t he 'deci si ve' m om ent w h en the t w o planet s w er e superposed.
This w as fol low ed b y a scale of m easurem ent t hat al low ed the even t un der in
vest igat ion to be ident ified. Sim ilarly, A l ber t Londe's chronophot ographs at the
Salpêt rière clinic aim ed, in the phot ogr apher's ow n w ords, to meet the chal
lenge of m anifest at ions of par alysi s, hyst eria, epilepsy, chorea, etc. t hat w ere
h ar d to dist inguish w i t h the n ak ed eye. 'H ence the need for a special appar at us
al l ow i n g a num ber of pr oofs to be t aken at int ervals, as close t oget her or far
apart as n ecessar y'.47
The body-m achine as en vi saged by M ar ey already com prised the discont inu
it y m at ched in and r eproduced (and an alysed) b y the m achine.48 I som orphism

68 François Albera
bet w een the inst rum ent and object an alysed w as sought : 't he time the slott ed
disc t akes to r evol ve is com ing closer t o t hat of the w i n g,' he not ed;49 't he phot o
gr aph m ust gi ve me the vibrat ion s of an insect's w i n g'.50 In 1879, M uybr idge
spoke of m odifyin g his 'aut om at ic disposit ions' to m eet M ar ey's dem ands,
w hile, in 1882, he not ed that he w as 'fi n di n g anot her m et hod that w ou l d bett er
correspond to the horse's r egul ar m ovem en t s'.51
Research w as obvi ousl y not cent red on the inst ant as a pr ivileged m om ent
(the problem at ic of the 'm ean i n gful ' inst ant belon gin g to the field of art is m ar
gin al here),52 but on the phot ographic instant t hat coincides w it h a phase of the
m ovem ent - the posit ion or the vibrat ion. It is not a quest ion of t ime or of the
speed of a phenom enon t hat m ust be gr asped, but it s r hyt hm (speed is m ea
sured t hanks to an appropr iat e background, a scale).
This is t he com m ent ary he m ade about M uybr i dge's inst ant aneous pict ures:
'These posit ions, as r evealed b y M uybr i dge, at first appear ed unnat ural . .. t hey
h ave t aught us to find at t it udes in N at ur e w e ar e unable to see for our selves'.53
The 'pose' (represent at ion) int erests t he art ist w h il e t he scholar observes the
'inst ant s' of t he phenom enon,54 just as 'at t i t udes' (represent at ion) account for
the 'successive ph ases' of the m ovem ent of the bird's w i n gs.55
Reflect ion on the inst ant aneous phot ograph as any-inst ant -w hat ever of the
m ovem ent , w hich 'r em oves a non-significant m om ent of t he succession',56 cor
respon ds to the isolat ed im age, w h i ch is opposed to Lessi n g's 'pr egn an t ' m o
ment. But is t his t rue in the chronophot ographic series and, in part icular, in
M ar ey's w or k ? H e w as seeking to est ablish precisely w h at happens in the m e
chanics of m ovem ent , and not si m pl y select a single m oment . The revealed poses
reveal w h at w e w er e not able to see about nature: t hey reproduce the vari ous
aspect s of a m ovem ent .
M ar ey's aim w as neit her to capt ure the decisive 'inst ant ' nor to confer the
digni t y of art on som e inst ant or other. Lon de m akes a clear dist inct ion here
bet w een his appr oach and t hat of M arey:
... as is well known, [the instantaneous photograph] consists in capturing the image
of any object in movement from only one viewpoint - that is what differentiates it
from the work of M. Marey. It is not only documentary, but the very purpose of the
operation.'57
For M arey, not on l y w as t he object not just an y random object and the aspect
not unique, but the phot o w as not an end in itself.

T e m p o r a litie s
The quest ion rem ains of w het her t his di vi si on of t ime est ablishes a different
t ype of t em poralit y from that of the anim al machine, from the m om ent when
the relevant phases, point s and inst ant s d i vi di n g or shapin g the phenom enon
are subject ed to t he r egul ar i t y and m echanical repet it ion o f the instrument itself
W hen M uybr i d ge spoke of m ak ing his 'successi ve exposures at r egul ar inter
val s b y m eans of a clock' to obt ain m ore precision, he adjust ed his cam era in
relat ion to an ext erior m achine - t he clock —and no longer to the anim al m a
chine to w hich he w i shed it to 'corr espon d'. The inst ant aneous phot ographs
t hus becam e any-inst ant s-what ever. N ow, 'any-in st an t -w h at ever' is required
b y the project or, w h i ch needs to use r i gor ously equal int ervals and equidist ant
im ages in order to reconst it ut e m ovem ent and cause the caesura to di sappear -
t his is t he phot ogram . H ow ever , the phot ogram operat es at a different level
from the chronophot ographic shot s t hat M ar ey w as int erest ed in: its pot ential
for recreat ing apparent m ovem ent does not com e from its correspondence to a
relevant art iculat ion of the gall op or t he w al k , a discret e unit of locom ot ion - it
cut s up at a l ow er level, even i f it cont ains the unit as well. To be m ore precise,
M ar ey's project (the t heory) differed from t he idea of r egular ly capt uring any
inst ant s w hat ever, but his pract ice, i.e., the act ual recordings, did just that, since
he used series of t w el ve and t hen t w ent y im ages per second and const ant ly
w or k ed on the speed and regul ar i t y of the int ervals. The int ervals allow ed im
provem ent s in the recording of the phenom enon as t hey becam e m ore and m ore
dissociat ed from the caesura t hat charact erised it. The t heory w as based on med
iation, an d chaining: it is clear t hat 't he series of successive im ages represent ing
the different posit ions ... occupied b y a bod y duri ng a series of successive in
st ant s' (definit ions front both 1878 and 1882 [ m y em phasis]) corresponded bett er
to M ar ey's aim w hen it w as set out 'on t he sam e plat e' (a 'figure-m ovem ent ')
t han in an immediate m ovi n g i m age w h i ch m oves for w ar d w i t h out an int er
m ediar y (an 'im age-m ovem en t '). In t his case, it w as t hen necessary to add an
operat ion to the rest it ut ion in order to m ak e the phenom enon com prehensible:
'm an ipulat in g' the series by slow-m ot ion or freeze-fram es.
This 'r et ur n' of the spectator, im plied by the m achine t aking successive shots,
cast s doubt not on l y on the object ivit y of the observat ion and the m echanical
m odel guarant eein g it, but also on the place of the observi ng subject. I f the spec
t ator does not perceive the break in g d ow n of the flight into static instant s, but
capt ures 't he exhilarat ing pow er of flyi n g ... the m aelst rom of feat hers', it
m eans t hat subject ivit y m ust becom e at t uned to the project ion m echanism , to
avoid, as M erleau-Pont y put s it, 't he di sper si on of t he sel f'58 and m aint ain an
im agi n ar y un it y in the i m agi n ar y w or l d of the spectacle.

70 François Albera
O ne m ay ask w het her the evolut ion of t he cinem a w ou ld sim ply invalidat e
t his quest ion, t hanks t o a 'nat ur al i sat i on ' of the represent at ion of m ovem ent .
This is clearly not the case, however. Specialist s w h o an alyse gest ure and ges
t iculat ion have encount ered t he sam e problem in t heir st udies of kinet ics, i.e.,
whet her a dancer's gest ur e is 't he m ovem ent from one posit ion to anot her', and
w h at is the 'un i t of the st ep'. It t hus becom es necessary to m ake a dist inct ion
bet w een st ruct ural art iculat ions and percept ual art iculat ions. In the 1970s, semi-
ot icians used the com m unicat ion m odel to set up an opposit ion bet ween the
sender (the dancer), defined b y kinesthesic patterns, and the receiver (the spect a
tor) of the visual patterns.59
M ar ey's t heory w as t hus at a crossroads. One ent ire aspect of his research
could be considered to be limit ed to t echniques, a t echnology of the body. De-
m eny, the advocat e of gym nast ics, bore w i t n ess to this, as did the st udies on
h ow the foot soldier m arches or the w ay in which M ar ey approached the bi-
cycle.6<> But in parallel, M ar ey w as pur sui ng 'pu r e' research that, w i t h r egard to
his concept ual t ools, w as ever riskier. H e t ook a great er interest in fluids than
solids, in un dulat i n g phenom ena w h ose m ovem ent , one could say, 'defines'
them m ore t han t hey m ove on the basis of the pot ential of their st ruct ures. A c
cording to Jak ob von U exkiill, 'an am oeba is less of a m achine t han a horse', and
it w as indeed form less or gan ism s such as the skat e, the jellyfish, the vei l and
breat h that M ar ey w ould exam ine.
Should one consider t his an int rusion of non-Cart esian physi cs or even undu-
lat ory m echanics?61 This clash bet w een the M ar ey m echanism and 'cinem a'
should lead t o a reform ulat ion of the concept of m ovem ent at the ver y m om ent
it occurs. M ar ey's reflect ion and w h at he has bequeat hed to the cinem a as a
rat ional syst em of com prehension does not becom e less im port ant because 'I t is
w hen a concept changes it s m eaning t hat it is m ost m eaningful' (Bachelard).62
Its t rue im port ance can be seen in t he fact t hat this dissociat ive and successive
- in ot her w or ds, discont inuous - considerat ion of the 'cinem a', t his reflection
on the par adoxes of im m obilit y and m ovem ent , quickly becam e a m odel, in
cluding for the cont em porary arts of the time. W hat Eisenst ein called 'cinem a-
t ism ' m ak es the cinem at ographic m echanism a general operat or.63 A l fr ed Jarry,
w h ose Docteur Faustroll cont ains evocat ions t hat are suggest ive of a 'm achinic'
art ,64 im poses a dist inct ion bet ween literat ure, w hi ch 'i s obliged to m ake the
objects it describes file past in succession, one by one' and 't he paint ing or st at ue'
w h ich 'captures and fixes a moment of the durat ion'. 'Li t er at ur e' and 'paint ing-
sculpt ing' here are m odalit ies of t he cinem a and phot ography, w hich im ple
m ent t he quest ion of time an d m ovem ent in an un usual m anner.65

N o te s
1. See also 'Pour une épistémographie du montage: préalables', Cinémas, Journal of

Film Studies, vol. 13, No. 1-2, Autumn 2002, pp. 11-32.
2. I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the authors of the studies on Ma-
rey I have consulted: Michel Frizot, E-J. Marey, la photographie en mouvement, Paris:
Centre Georges Pompidou, 1977 and Etienne-Jules Marey, chronophotographe, Paris:
Nathan-Delpire, 2001; François Dagognet, Etienne Jules-Marey: La Passion de la trace,
Paris: Hazan, 1987; Marta Braun, Picturing Time: the Work of Etienne-Jules Marey, Chi
cago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1992; Laurent Mannoni, Etienne-Jules
Marey: La Mémoire de l'œil, Paris and Milan: Cinémathèque française-Mazzotta, 1999.
3. The French verb 'monter' generally is thought to mean 'assemble' or 'compose' (see
Jean Giraud, Le Lexique du cinéma des origines à 1930, Paris: CNRS, 1958).
4. At the symposium in Cerisy, August 1981: 'Méliès et la naissance du spectacle ciné
matographique' (published under same title by Klincksieck, Paris, 1984).
5. G. Méliès, 'Les vues cinématographiques' in Annuaire général et international de la
Photographie, Paris: Pion, 1907, pp. 390-1.
6. According to Méliès, the Gaumont-Demenÿ camera was not suitable for creating
effects by stopping the camera as it was not sufficiently precise, and its lack of 'free
dom' let the cat out of the bag (see Jacques Malthête, Laurent Mannoni [eds.] Méliès,
magie et cinéma, Paris: Espace Electra EDF, 2002, p. 154). André Gaudreault and
more recently Laurent Le Forestier state that blurry or fogged images were always
cut and reassembled when there was a so-called 'stop-camera' substitution (Ibid.,
p. 220). It thus does not seem possible that the effect was discovered by projecting a
film shot by accident!
7. 'George Méliès's Mistake' ([Oshibka Georga Mel'e], Sovietskoïe kino no. 3-4, 1933,
published in Selected Works, vol. 1 of Writings, 1922-1934, ed. and trans. Richard
Taylor (London: BFI, 1988), pp. 258-60. Eisenstein, together with the experimental
filmmaker Werner Nekes at a later date, objected to the terminology of linking or
even substitution, and spoke of 'superposition' - 'each successive element is not
positioned next to the last, but above' - superposition creates a certain tension, con
tradiction, non-congruence, etc. of the elements brought into play (see 'Dramaturgie
der film-form' in F. Albera, Eisenstein et le constructivisme, Lausanne: L'Age
d'Homme, 1989, p. 68). A series of inferences could be drawn from the inscription
of 'montage' in a conceptual framework such as that of 'superposition', starting
with the fact that this type of articulation belongs to other 'series' of images in
movement - in particular the magic lantern and optical toys. Cf. the 'lantern' or
'cinematographic' metaphor used by Marcel Proust, who makes a clear distinction
between super(im)position (in perception) and succession (on the material medium,
as it were): ' . .. the superimposition ... of the successive images which Albertine had
been for m e,... in a germination, a carnal efflorescence' (La Prisonnière, Paris: Galli-
mard-Pléiade, 1965, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff, The Captive, <http:/ / ebooks.
adelaide.edu.au/ p/ proust/ marcel/ p96c/ chapteri.html>, accessed 21 September
2008).
8. See, in particular, 'Les traces de montage dans la production Lumière' [1995] in
P. Dujardin, A. Gardies, J. Gerstenkorn, J.-C. Seguin (eds.), l'Aventure Lumière Actes

72 François Albera
du Congrès mondial Lumière, Lyon: Aléas, 1999, pp. 299-306 (the article contains a
bibliography of previous papers) and 'Fragmentation et segmentation dans les
"vues animées'" in F. Albera, M. Braun, A. Gaudreault (eds.), Stop Motion, Fragmen
tation of Time, Lausanne: Payot, 2002, pp. 225-245.
9. In the beginning of the 1970s, Werner Nekes began defining montage as an articula
tion between two photograms (the kineme). He gave weight to this idea by inscrib
ing it in a large collection of toys and machines, going from the simplest - the thau-
matrope - to the most complex - the cinema. See W. Nekes, 'Whatever happens
between the pictures', Afterimage (New York), vol. 5, no. 5, November 1977, pp. 7
13. Nekes was the first person to extrapolate Eisenstein's ideas, as set out in 'Drama
turgie der film-form' (1929).
10. François Dagognet's paper, followed by Michel Foucault's contribution, can be
found in: F. Dagognet, Les Outils de la réflexion [Epistémologie], Le Plessis-Robinson,
les Empêcheurs de penser en rond, 1999 (pp. 214-231) and Foucault's contribution
together with the whole of the discussion - including the other participants - in: M.
Foucault, Dits et écrits 1934-1988, Paris: Gallimard, 1994, vol. II (pp. 27-66).
11. A. Fontana, P. Pasquino, "Intervista a Michel Foucault" in Microfisica del potere: in
tervene politici, Torino, Einaudi, 1977 (also published in M. Foucault, Dits et écrits,
op. cit., vol. III, p. 143). English version: The Essential Works of Michel Foucault, 1954
1984. vol. 4 Power, edited by James D. Faubion, Translated by Robert Hurley and
others, London: Allen Lane-Penguin, 2001. The quotation is on p. 114.
12. Even though he is sometimes criticised on these grounds, or this teleology is forced
upon him: 'H e lost interest in the cinematograph that was both called for and neces
sitated by his work ... The Lumière brothers stole his victory from him’ (F. Dagog
net); 'E.-J. M arey ... was unable to go to the end of the path that led to the cinemato
graph' (M. Sicard).
13. M arey was one of the 'third generation' of successors of Cuvier at the Collège de
France (chair of natural history of organised bodies).
14. These three points merit further development - which cannot be undertaken here as
they lead to a history and an epistemology of the 'cinema'. One may simply point
out that once one has sidelined the conception of history as a chronological series
producing its results following the logic of what engenders what, or how things fit
together - and it has been severely criticised during the last twenty years - there
remains the question of the 'logical' construction with which epistemology pro
ceeds, starting from the present. On this subject, see: Michel Fichant, 'l'Idée d'une
histoire des sciences' in: M. Fichant, M. Pêcheux, Sur l'histoire des sciences, Paris:
Maspéro (coll. Théorie), 1969, pp. 49-139.
15. I use this all-encompassing expression for convenience, but without a finalised
meaning. 'Cinema' (in quotes) is neither cinematograph nor cinema. It includes
both the zoetrope and chronophotography.
16. See the most recent large-scale synthesis on the subject undertaken by Laurent Man-
noni, in the English translation by Richard Crangle: Great Art Of Light And Shadow:
Archæology of the cinema, Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2000.
17. This formulation is obviously not intended to overlook the close links that indeed
exist between the physiology of perception, astronomy and the study of movement.
Pierre-Jules César Janssen, an astronomer with a doctorate in physical sciences had,
moreover, defended his PhD on vision.

18. La Méthode graphique dans les sciences expérimentales et principalement en physiologie et

en médecine, Paris: Masson, 1885 [1878], p. XI.
19. 'Particular moment' is an expression used by M arey in Le Mouvement, Paris: Jacque
line Chambon, 1994 [1894]; Movement, translated by Eric Pritchard, London: Wil
liam Heinemann, 1895, P- 54
20. At first sight, the movement of an 'inanimate' - so to speak - moving body, such as
a 'bright ball' thrown within the apparatus's field of vision (this is Marey's example
in his definition of chronophotography) can be distinguished from the movement of
an 'animate' moving body, and its trajectory should come close to that of celestial
mechanics, but in the case of the ball, M arey examined the phases of immobility that
mark the end of the movement in one direction, and the imminence of its starting
up again in the other direction - which he calls 'dead points' (Movement, op. cit. p.
177)-
21. Alphonse Allais's sarcastic remarks about Edison speak chapters about the impor
tance of national competition between inventors (see 'Chez Edison' in Le Parapluie de
l'escouade (1893), Œuvres anthumes, Paris: Robert Laffont "Bouquins", 1989, pp. 330
331, which find an echo in Perrigot's indignation when the Swiss National Exhibi
tion of 1896 contemplated featuring the Cinematograph in the Edison pavilion. 'If
there were a Marey pavilion, we would be able to house ourselves under the French
flag' (Jacques Rittaud-Huttinet, Yvelize Dentzer (eds.), Auguste et Louis Lumière Cor
respondances 1890-1953, Paris: Cahiers du Cinema, 1994, pp. 139-140).
22. See his letter to the Minister of Commerce of 22 M ay 1900 (Auguste et Louis Lumière
Correspondances 1890-1953, op. cit., p. 173).
23. Leaving aside Demenÿ's attempt to market his system of driving the film and his
own projection apparatus, M arey tried in vain to sell the patented processes of the
chronophotograph to the Lumière brothers (Letter of 18 August 1899 in: Auguste et
Louis Lumière Correspondances 1890-1953, op. cit., p. 171).
24. The (greater) majority of the terms listed are part of Marey's vocabulary, picked out
during the reading of his main works: Du Mouvement dans les fonctions de la vie,
Animal Mechanism and Movement.
25. In the sense put forward by Michel Foucault in The Order of Things: An Archeology of
the Human Sciences. London and New York: Routledge 2002, p. 79 ff.
26. This is the domination of the machine over the body by rationalisation of the animal
mechanism, pointed out by Siegfried Giedeon in La Mécanisation au pouvoir, Paris:
Centre Pompidou, 1980 [Mechanization Takes Command, New York: Oxford Univer
sity Press Inc., 1948] and developed by Anson Rabinbach, The Human Motor: Energy,
Fatigue, and the Origins of Modernity, New York: Basic Books, 1990.
27. Alfred Jarry, 'H ow to Construct a Time Machine' ('Commentaire pour servir à la
construction pratique de la machine à explorer le temps', Mercure de France, no. n o,
February 1899, pp. 387-396), translated by Roger Shattuck, <http:/ / dev.null.org/ psy-
choceramics/ archives/ i995,i2/ msgooo65.html>, accessed 21 September 2008.
28. 'In kinematics, duration plays the part of an independent variable, of which the co
ordinates of the points considered are a function' (A. Jarry, Ibid.) The 'time machine'
that Jarry mentions in this text is meant to foster 'absolute' knowledge based on
immobility and transparency. Several allusions to optical machines can be found in
this text (including cinema in the form of 'reversibility of phenomena' and 'the visual
aspect of succession' - 'One sees the apple bounce back up into the tree, the dead

74 François Albera
man comes to life, and the cannon ball re-enters the cannon.' [op. cit.] - which will
later be the source of such inspiration for Jean Epstein) with special emphasis put on
panorama (op. cit.).
29. Reflections linking the question of body movement, walking and dancing to their
filming by Kuleshov (see: L'Art du cinéma et autres écrits (1917-1934), Lausanne:
L'Age d'Homme, 1990), Renoir (regarding Nana) and Benjamin (on Chaplin), and
more widely addressing the problems of 'expressive movement' (Eisenstein-Tretia-
kov).
30. A. Rabinbach, op. cit., p. 115.
31. J.-C. Beaune, L'Automate et ses modèles, Paris: Flammarion, 1980, p. 223.
32. In 1886, in a letter to Demenÿ, he mentioned the plan of a lecture entitled the 'appli
cation of mechanics to biology'. Elsewhere he speaks of the 'mechanics of organs'
and the 'mechanics of the jump' (see G. Demenÿ, Les Origines du cinématographe,
Paris: Henry Paulin, 1909, p. 47. The lecture was called: 'Biologie. Collège de France
- Histoire naturelle des corps organisés, leçon d'ouverture. Des lois de la mécanique
en biologie.' Revue scientifique 3. VII. 1886 no. x, quoted in T. Lefebvre, J. Malthête,
L. Mannoni (eds.), Lettres d'Etienne-Juks Marey à Georges Demenÿ, 1880-1894, Paris:
AFRHC-BIFI, 1990, p. 189 note x).
33. 'And one can well compare the nerves of the machine that I am describing to the
tubes of the mechanisms of these fountains, its muscles and tendons to divers (sic)
other engines and springs which serve to move these mechanisms ...' (L'Homme,
Œuvres philosophiques I, Paris: Gamier, 1997, p. 390; Treatise of Man, French text with
translation and commentary by Thomas Steele Hall, Cambridge, M A, Harvard Uni
versity Press, X972, p. 22).
34. J.-E. Marey, Recherches sur la circulation du sang à l’état physiologique et dans les mala
dies, doctoral thesis in medicine of 1859, quoted by L. Mannoni, Etienne-Jules Marey:
La Mémoire de l ’œil, op. cit., p. 25. Cf. Descartes (speaking of the functions in the
'machine' such as the digestion, the beating of the heart, food and the growth of its
members): ' ... it is not necessary to conceive in it any other vegetative or sensitive
soul ... than its blood and its spirits, agitated by the heat of the fire that burns con
tinually in its h eart ...' (Quoted by F. Dagognet, Philosophie biologique, Paris: Presses
Universitaires de France, 1955, p. 7, English translation <http:/ / alepho.clarku.edu/
huxley/ CEi/ DesDis.html#note7>, accessed 2x September 2008). The same argumen
tation can be found in Les Passions de l'âme (xst part, article 5, Œuvres philosophiques
III, Paris: Gamier, 1989, p. 954).
35. François Jacob in La Logique du vivant (Paris: Gallimard, 1970) evinces this condition
of possibility of knowledge in the classical period linked to the mechanism and that
is curtailed by vitalism, notwithstanding the fact that G. Canguilhem has analysed
the paradoxical 'liberating' function that vitalism was able to have, in particular for
Claude Bernard. Canguilhem, however, agreed after reading Jacob that vitalism
was henceforth 'out of the running' (see 'Logique du vivant et histoire de la biolo
gie', Sciences, no. 71, March-April 1971, p. 23).
36. Discours de la méthode in: Œuvres philosophiques I, Paris: Gamier, X997, p. 623; A Dis
course on Method, Translated by John Veitch, LL.D., Introduction by A.D. Lindsay,
London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1953 (19x2). But
it is also necessary to wind up the watch, the automaton or the machine, i.e., it con
tains 'the corporeal principle of those movements for which it is designed along

with all that is requisite for its action' and not 'broken' (dead, inert). (The Philosophi
cal Works of Descartes I, rendered into English by Elizabeth S. Haldane, CH, LLD,
and G.R.T. Ross, MA, D Phil, London: Cambridge University Press, 1931 (1911),
P- 333 )-
37. See the Discourse on Method 5th part - the description of the functioning of the heart
- for example.
38. 'To say that the successive photographs - leaving aside the cinematic solution that
they contain - would encompass the dynamic solution if one were able to photo
graph the successive positions of the centre of gravity' (quoted in: T. Lefebvre,
J. Malthête, L. Mannoni, op. cit., p. 140). M y italics.
39. Claude Bernard 'denounces the study of organic functions by anatomic deduction,
the subordination of physiology to anatomy,' wrote G. Canguilhem ('Claude Ber
nard et Bichat' in Etudes d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences, Paris: Vrin, 1970,
p. 161), but his physiological functionalism still remains 'narrowly analytical be
cause too faithful to morphological decomposition' (Ibid). In fact, he recommends
vivisection.
40. Paul Valéry congratulated him on replacing the 'discreet signs that are arbitrarily
established' by the 'traces of the things themselves or even by transpositions or in
scriptions deriving from them directly' ('Notes et digressions', 1919, Œuvres, vol. I,
Paris: Gallimard "La Pléiade", p. 1266).
41. F. Dagognet, Etienne-Jules M arey... op. cit., p. 137.
42. Letter to G. Demenÿ of 21 November 1884, in T. Lefebvre, J. Malthête, L. Mannoni,
op. cit. p. 137. The drum in question is a cylinder around which the rope that trans
mits the 'information' to the apparatus that measures the horses' paces is wound.
43. Paris: Baillière et fils, 1858.
44. London: Longmans Green & Co., 1879.
45. Paris: Renouard, 1862.
46. L. Mannoni, op. cit., p. 80.
47. Albert Londe, 'Appareil photo-électrique', Bulletin de la Société Française de Photogra
phie no. 5, vol. 30, M ay 1883, p. 127 (quoted by Denis Bernard & André Gunthert, in
l'Instant rcvé Albert Londe, Paris: Jacqueline Chambon, 1993, p. 134)-
48. The evolution from the photograph of the document to the research instrument is
analysed by Denis Bernard & André Gunthert, op. cit., chap. 3.
49. 'Le Vol des oiseaux', La Nature, June 1883, p. 37 (quoted F. Dagognet, Marey, op. cit.,
p. 78)-
50. M arey to Davanne in: Alphonse Davanne, 'Inventions et applications de la photo
graphie' (1891) (quoted by Denis Bernard and André Gunthert op. cit., p. 153).
51. Quotation from La Nature (22 March 1879) and The Horse in Motion, quoted in
J. Mitry (éd.), 'Le cinéma des origines', Cinéma d'aujourd'hui, no. 9, autumn 1976,
p. 60. M y italics.
52. Not that M arey does not refer to it - on the contrary, he was keen both to give
scientific data to scientists and exact references to painters, whom he regularly in
troduced as beneficiaries when setting out his discoveries (there is an example in La
Machine animale, [1873] P- 15^)- but one cannot draw conclusions about Marey's con
ceptualisation of movement - it is more a question of social utility and allusion to a
type of representation within everyone's reach (Descartes also uses the comparison
with the painter in his Discourse, and before him Galileo). It is a secondary benefit.

76 François Albera
53. Movement, op. cit., pp. 194-5.

54. A distinction is made between the two terms when the aims of the experiences set
out in la Machine animale are put forward: 'from the physiologist's point of view one
must ask them to express actions and reactions at great speed, the energy and dura
tion of each movement, the rhythm of their successions. But the artist is not less
interested to know exactly the attitude corresponding to each instant of a walk in
order to represent it faithfully with the various poses that characterise it.' (op. cit.,
p. 158).
55. M arey speaking of Muybridge, la Nature, 28 December 1878 (quoted by L. Mannoni,
op. cit., p. 155).
56. D. Bernard, A. Gunthert, op. cit., p. 174.
57. Albert Londe (1888) quoted by A. Gunthert, 'Esthétique de l'occasion', Etudes photo
graphiques no. 9, M ay 2001, p. 87, note 31.
58. M. Merleau-Ponty, Phénoménologie de la perception, Paris: Gallimard "Tel", 1994
[1945], p. 318. Bergson was a contemporary of Marey's, and was thus mindful of the
'cinematographic mechanism', whereas Merleau-Ponty no longer took the mechan
ism into account but only the effect, or 'melody' as he put it. Even a strong advocate
of the elusive 'photogeny', such as Epstein, saw this as 'a spark, an exception caused
by jerks' (Bonjour cinéma!).
59. See Nicole Scotto di Carlo, 'Analyse sémiologique des gestes et mimiques des chan
teurs d'opéra', Semiótica IX, 4, 1973 (pp. 289-317), Paul Ekmar, Wallace V. Friesen,
Silvan S. Tomkins, 'Facial Affect Scoring Technique: A First Validity Study', Semióti
ca III, 1, 1974 (pp. 37-58) and especially Margot D. Lasher, 'The Pause in the Moving
Structure of Dance', Semiótica 22, 1/ 2, 1978, pp. 197-126, from whom I have bor
rowed the expressions in italics.
60. See the discussion on the bicycle during the meeting of 18 September 1894 at the
Académie de médecine. Marey, who quickly stressed that he was no cyclist, immedi
ately thought of improving the cyclist's performance by calculating the movement
of the pedals in relation to the body's centre of gravity (Bulletin de l'Académie de
médecine, 1894, pp. 278-280).
61. It should be noted that in 1864, Louis Ducos du Hauron patented an apparatus cap
able of capturing 'any scene with all the transformations that it has undergone dur
ing a specific time period', and underlined its capacity to capture 'the movements of
a dancer, one or several soldiers, a machine, facial expressions, a maritime scene,
waves, clouds moving or the eruption of a volcano ...' (quoted by G.-Michel Cois-
sac, Histoire du cinématographe, Paris: Editions du Cinéopse, 1925, pp. 89-91).
62. Gaston Bachelard, The New Scientific Spirit, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, fore
word by Patrick A. Heelan, Boston: Beacon Press, 1984, p. 54.
63. See, in particular, S.M. Eisenstein, Cinématisme Peinture et cinéma, Dijon: Les Presses
du Réel: 2009, [1980] and Le Mouvement de l'art, Paris: Cerf, 1989.
64. A. Jarry, Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, 'pataphysicien, roman néo-scientifique,
Paris: Gallimard "Poésie", 1980 [1897-1911].
65. A. Jarry, Le Temps dans l'art (lecture of 8 April 1902 at the Société des Artistes Indépen
dants), Paris: L'Echoppe, 1995. Speaking of the legend of Lofs wife, he wrote: 'Then
the Lord said: "M ove no more!"' (p. 9). In Lenz, Georg Biichner's fascinating unfin
ished text from 1778, the eponymous poet undertakes a somewhat frenzied walk in
the mountains that leaves him quite breathless and exhausted, and muses on the

sights and images (evoking 'the play of shadows', 'scenes' and also 'instants') lead
ing him to the following observation: 'Yesterday as I walked up the valley I saw two
girls sitting on a stone, one putting up her hair, the other helping ... Sometimes one
would like to be a Medusa's head to be able to turn such a tableau to stone, then shout to
everyone to come and look. They stood up, the beautiful tableau was gone forever; but
as they clambered down amongst the rocks there was yet another picture. The most
beautiful images, the most resonant harmonies, coalesce, dissolve. Only one thing abides:
an infinite beauty that passes from form to form, eternally changed and revealed
afresh, though needless to say you can't capture it and stick it in museums ...' Com
plete Plays, Lenz and Other Writings: Danton's Death; Leonce and Lena; Woyzeck; Lenz;
the Hessian Messenger; on Cranial Nerves; Selected Letters, translated by John Reddick,
Harmondsworth, Penguin Classics, 1993 [my italics]. The desire to be a 'M edusa's
head', to transform people that one meets into stone statues in order to show them
to others, portrays the place of photography - and even of cinematography ('there was
yet another picture').

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T h e ‘ C in e m a to g ra p h ic S n a p sh ot’
R e r e a d in g E t ie n n e - J u le s M a r e y
Maria Tortajada
The back gr ound to our di scussion is the opposit ion bet w een phot ography and
cinem a: bet w een t he fi xed i m age and the i m age in m ovem ent . In 1970, when
Rolan d Bart hes at t em pt ed to pin dow n the specific nat ure of cinem a in the
phot ogram —t he fixed i m age t hat m ust be assem bled as a series for cinem at o
gr aphi c project ion —he underlined t hat his approach w as an original one. H e
w r ot e t hat it w en t again st 'ever yd ay opinion', which ident ifies the project ed
m ovem ent of im ages as the 'sacr ed essence' of cinem a.1 There is no short age of
references suppor t i ng w h at t oday st ill seem s to be the predom inant 'i d ea' of
cinem a, and w her e t he influence of Bergsonism can be felt . In t his vision, m ove
m ent is seen as cont inuity. A n dr e Bazin and Gi l les D eleuze adopt ed this ap
proach, l eavi n g t heir im print on cinem a t heory. Bazin deem ed cinem a superior
to phot ography, as for him, film t akes on the im pression of m ovem ent . Deleuze
concent rat es on w h at he calls the 'm ean i m age',2 w hich is com prised of cont inu
it y and flux, as opposed to t he 'st ill cut s' of the phot ogram s.
In order to conjure up the illusion of cont inuous m ovem ent in the cinem a, a
series of phot ographic im ages w er e project ed ver y quickly. It can t hus be said
t hat ph ot ogr aphy is an int egral part of the cinem at ographic disposi t ive.3 Phot o
gr ap h y also played a k ey role in t he w ay cinem a cam e into being. Et ienne-Jules
M ar ey pl ayed a vi t al par t in t his process. H is w or k on chronophot ography laid
the t echnical and t heoret ical foundat ion for the synt hesis of m ovem ent . By m as
t ering t he t echnique of the snapshot , he conceived of a kind of 'cinem a' t hat w as
det erm ined b y his concept ual an d m et hodological prem ises. This state of the
'cinem a', as act ualized in sym bolic and di scursi ve terms, in t urn l eads to the
const ruct ion of an 'i d ea' of phot ography. Even i f the developm ent of w h at w as
kn ow n as 'an im at ed ph ot ogr aph y' is a sine qua non of the cinem at ograph, the
key difference between the cinematograph and photography is not simply the illusion o f
movement. A n epist em ological appr oach r eveals that the t wo procedures can al
r eady be dist inguished in the ver y st at us of the phot ographic i m age that is spe
cific to each - the phot ogram is a snapshot w h ose nat ure i s a par adoxi cal one.

80 Maria Tortajada
T h e p a r a d ig m o f th e c o n tin u o u s and th e d is c o n tin u o u s -

th e n o tio n o f in s ta n t
H enri Bergson's place in the developm ent of a cinem at ographic m odel is a ver y
im port ant one. N ot on l y di d he expl i ci t ly refer t o the cinem at ograph and phot o
graphy, he also en vi saged t hem w i t h i n the fundam ent al opposit ion that st ruc
t ured his philosophy: the dist inct ion bet w een t he cont inuit y and discont inuit y
of m ovem ent and t ime. The opposit ion bet w een the cont inuous and the discon
t inuous i s a recurring t hem e in the hist ory of the cinem a. It has been ver y pr o
duct ive in the hist oriographical r evi val of the last 30 years, but w as also used
earlier, in part icular by t hose w h o m ight be called Bergson's offspring. In 1983
and 1985, D eleuze revi sed his r eading of Bergson by m ak i ng cinem a the repre
sent at ive of cont inuity, w h i l e Bazin cam e up w it h his definit ion of realit y based
on Bergson's int uit ion of t em poral cont inuity. There is current ly no specific
st udy of Bergson's place in the h i st or y of cinem a. It is, nonet heless, im port ant to
underline the ext ent t o w hich Bergson's i deas per vaded intellectual circles in the
19 10 s and 1920 s .4 The cinem at ic m ilieu w as no except ion to the rule. A t a time
w h en cinem at ographic crit icism w as gr ad u al l y findi ng its w ay into the press,
M arcel L'H erbier, Paul Sou d ay and Em ile Vuillerm oz disagreed about the st a
t us of cinem a as art .5 They claim ed to be fol low i n g Bergson eit her t o stress the
im port ance of the machine, or to connect the cinem at ograph to Bergson's con
cept ion of life. Anot her exam ple is Jean Epst ein, who, in 1946, dr ew inspirat ion
from Ber gson in a w or k ent it led L'intelligence d ’une machine.6 The title of the
second par t of his book w as 'The M i sun der st an di n g concerning the Cont inuous
and the D iscont inuous'. In ot her w or ds, Bergson w as not on l y cit ed b y t hose
w h o ext olled cont inuit y and flux, but he w as also cited for his an alysi s of the
cinem at ographic m achine as an abst ract m odel.
Scholars oft en refer t o t he w el l-k n ow n fourt h chapt er of Creative Evolution
(l'Evolution créatrice, 1907), w hich uses the 'cinem at ographical m echanism ' as
the m odel of h ow t hought funct ions, and of science. Bergson w as an excellent
an alyst of t he disposit ive. H e associat ed t he cinem at ographic m achine's br eak
in g d ow n of m ovem ent and the series of phot ogram s w i t h the an alysi s of m ove
m ent as proposed b y science - w h er eby w h at exist s si m pl y as cont inuit y and
durat ion is broken dow n . Science split s u p into discret e instant s w h at m ust be
described as the im m ediat e experience of t ime. Ber gson first expr essed t his v i
sion in Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data o f Consciousness (Les
données immédiates de la conscience, 1889 ) vi a his crit icism of Zen o's paradoxes. In
Creative Evolution, the cinem a is t aken as a negat ive m odel: the phot ogram —i.e.,
the fixed im age t hat freezes m ovem ent and t hat Bergson, in fact, called a 'ph ot o
gr aph ' - is an i m age w h i ch is equivalen t t o Zen o's instant, the place and mo-

The ‘Cinematographic Snapshot’ 81
m ent w her e m ovem ent is nullified. The discont inuit y of cinema, w hich only
pr oduces the illusion of m ovem ent t hrough a series of instant s, st ands in oppo
sit ion to Bergson's philosophy, w h i ch is based on the intuition of durat ion. The
instant, for Bergson, is precisely t hat im age, that 'vi ew t aken' from m ovem ent , a
st oppage, a geom et rical point. The instant, w hi ch is associat ed w i t h the phot o
gr aphi c im age, is im placably opposed to durat ion and cont inuous m ovem ent . It
can be said t hat Bergson's concept of the inst ant radicalizes t he m eaning of the
term, w hich is com m only opposed to t hat of durat ion.
The result is t hat Bergson's m odel of the cinem at ograph im poses a cert ain
definit ion of t he phot ogr am which, as a syn onym of the instant, becom es the
ult im at e elem ent t hat cannot be broken dow n , the place w her e bot h durat ion
and m ovem ent are im possible. It can be said that t his idea ext ends across the
h ist or y of the cinema, and t hat Bergson's ph i l osophy pr ovides its subtext.
A n son Rabinbach7 h as sh ow n t hat Et ienne-Jules M arey's research lies at the
basi s of t his crit icism of the break ing d ow n of m ovem ent . M ar ey w as a ph ysi ol
ogist and scient ist of reput e, w h o devot ed his w or k to un der st an din g m ove
ment. H e began his st udies of m ovem ent b y usi n g the graphic m et hod, which
he sum m ar ized in 1878, then t urned to w h at he called chronophot ography,
which, for him , ser ved as a scient ific m et hod8 and al low ed him to perfect appa
rat uses t hat recorded m ovem ent b y br eaki ng d ow n it s phases.
Ch r on ophot ography al low s one to t ake a series of phot ographic i m ages of a
m ovi n g body at a cert ain frequency and t hus depict var ious m om ent s of the
m ovem ent by m eans of juxt aposin g and aligning the fi xed im ages obt ained in a
series. The m an w h o runs or jum ps over an obst acle, the bird flyin g or the horse
galloping, are all capt ured in a series of juxt aposed phot ographic figures, which
reflect 'par t i cu l ar ' m om ent s (t hat M ar ey called 'i m ages'):9 chronophot ography
m ust 'define the vari ous posit ions of t his bod y on the t raject ory at an y part icu
lar m om ent '.10 These chronophot ographs, m oreover, influenced 20t h-century
art, a subject t hat goes beyond the present chapt er's dom ain.
M ar ey im posed an essent ial elem ent on chronophot ography: he w ant ed the
int erval bet w een i m ages al w ays t o be the sam e, i.e., that the shutt er be opened
at a r egul ar rate. To carry out his m easurem ent s, M ar ey built inst rum ent s t hat
allow ed him to control the t ime var i abl e w h en produci ng series of im ages. This
condit ion not on l y form s the basi s of M ar ey's scientific approach but is also one
of the condit ions un der pin ning the cinem at ograph, because t he regular rate
m ak es it not on l y possible to br eak d ow n the phot ographed m ovem ent , but
also to synt hesize it an d project anim at ed im ages. This essent ial elem ent dist in
gui sh es M ar ey from M u ybr i dge.11 The synt hesis of m ovem ent w as also an im
port ant st age for M arey.12 From t he ver y beginning of his research, he used ap
par at uses t hat w er e based on the principle of the ret inal pict ure.13 These
apparat uses - zoet ropes or phenakist oscopes - are classified in the cat egory of

82 Maria Tortajada
ear l y cinem a. They al l ow m ovem ent to be reconst ruct ed from fixed im ages, by
t ransform ing discont inuous im ages int o an anim at ed im age w it h cont inuous
m ovem ent .
Bot h Ber gson and M ar ey associat ed t he t erm 'inst ant ' w it h the phot ographic
i m age - t he equivalent of the phot ogram . Bergson's designat ing of an instant vi a
a geom et rical point can be illust rat ed by a cert ain t ype of chronophot ography.
In order to expl ai n h ow chronophot ography br eak s d ow n t he m ovem ent of a
m ovi n g object, M ar ey com pares the inst ant phot ograph of m ovem ent t aken
w i t h on ly one opening of the shutt er, a curved line and the chronophot ograph
of the sam e m ovem ent , w h i ch pr oduces a series of point s (fig. 1).
Figure l Le mouvement, Nîmes, J. Chamboti, 2002, p. 72. This figure is number

37 (p- 55) in original edition o f Le m ouvem ent (Paris, G. Masson, 1894 ). Jacque
line Chambon's edition has tnodified illustrations
29. Trajectoire simple et trajectoire chronophotographique d’une

boule brillante qui se déplace devant un champ obscur.
These point s reflect a series of instant s in the m ovem ent of a ball. There are
several var iat ions of t his dem onst rat ion, w h i ch w as regular ly undert aken by
M ar ey w h en he w as deali n g w it h w h at he called the photography o f trajectories.
The com parison r eveals a ver y efficient represent at ion of the opposit ion be
t ween the cont inuum of m ovem ent an d the discont inuit y of the Chronophoto
graphie t race.
Thus, if the 'inst ant ', in its opposit ion to durat ion, is a synonym for the m o
m ent ext ricat ed from the m ovem ent of a m ovi n g object, i f t he inst ant is a not ion
associat ed w i t h an inst ant aneous phot ographic im age, or snapshot , if, w hen all
is said and done, t his t erm has the sam e m eaning w hen used by bot h Bergson
and M arey, it can nonet heless be show n t hat the concept of the inst ant act ually
changed bet ween M ar ey's use of it and that of Bergson.

The ‘Cinematographic Snapshot’
It can i ndeed be sh ow n t hat M ar ey's inst ant - the instant that is reflect ed by
the phot ographic i m age in a chronophot ographic series - is not Bergson's in
stant: it is a par adoxi cal im age, because M ar ey form ulat ed it as a durat ion.
In order to const ruct t he concept of the instant, it is not sufficient si m pl y to
not e that the phot ographic i m age reflects a par t icular m om ent in an object's
m ovem ent . It is also necessary to ask h ow t his relat ion is const ituted, bearing in
m ind t hat it is not si m pl y a relat ion of significat ion. The epist em ological ap
proach can pr ovi d e an answer: t he concept depends on the scientist 's project
and pract ice, on w h at he is looking for and w h at he w i sh es t o analyse, on the
m eans available, on the difficult ies he encount ers and on the t ype of solut ions
he proposes. The epist em ological concept is a w eb of link s and relat ions, which
gi ve rise to all t hese quest ions. It em erges from the Foucauldian analysis o f the
discourses.
W hat is im port ant here is not si m pl y to exam ine the initial period of in n ova
t ions and discoveries, but to underst and w h at M ar ey m eant w h en he spoke of
the phot ographic im age, an d the t echnical aspect s t hat he chose to highlight
w h en explaining his approach. It is of par am ount im port ance to observe the var
iat ions in the definit ions of chronoph ot ography t hat he present ed over the years
— the present at ion of the definit ion m ay change w it hout the t echnique it self
changing. The epist em ological concept is det erm ined bot h by a pract ice an d a
w ay of speak in g about that practice. For exam ple, it is not en ough si m pl y to
point out that the principle of the r egul ar int erval is laid d ow n from the outset.
It is also im port ant to exam ine w h at var i es around t his core defining elem ent in
ot her w or ds, one m ust locat e the concept wit hin the ver y process of its form ula
tion, and in par t icular ident ify the pur pose that gover n s it. W hen Gast on Bache
lard w r ot e about the scientific concept , he not ed that: 'The sam e w or d can at the
sam e period in t ime have w it h in it ver y m an y different concept s. W hat m isleads
us here is the fact t hat the sam e w or d bot h denot es an d explains. W hat is de
not ed st ays t he sam e but the explanat ion ch an ges.'14 M y aim here is t o t ry to
shed light on the 'expl an at i on ' of at least one of the aspect s of M ar ey's concept
of the instant.
To t his end, I shall be exam in in g M ar ey's w rit in gs and quest ioning the st at us
of t he snapshot in chronophot ography, w h i ch at the end of the cent ury includes
the cinem at ograph. From t his point of view, the m ost im port ant sources are not
the scient ific art icles, w hich gi ve account s of each result on a dai ly basis, but the
k ey t ext s t hat have sym bol i c im port . I have chosen four of them:
1. Développement de la Méthode graphique par l'emploi de la photographie, 1885,15
the first synt hesis of the research on chronophot ography.
2. Le Vol des oiseaux, 1890.16
3. Le Mouvement, 1894,17 the m ajor synt hesis of w or k on t his quest ion.

84 Maria Tortajada
4. The text of the M usée centennal de la Classe 12 for the U n iversal Exhibit ion of
1900.
Cl ass 12 w as dedicat ed to phot ography, and M ar ey w as its president . This w as

the m ost im port ant present at ion in concret e and sym bolic t erm s m ade aft er
1895, t he year of the Lum ière cinem at ograph. It accom panied an exhibit ion of
objects and im ages.lS
The aim of t hese var i ous w or k s is appar en t ly different , but t hey all cont ain a
synt hesis of research on chronophot ography, w i t h an explanat ion of the
m et hod, a present at ion of the appar at uses w i t h t heir var ious applicat ions, and
a ren ew ed effort to w r it e the hist ory of chronophot ography. M ar ey w as a hist o
rian of chronophot ography, but, in fact, did not relate its hist ory the sam e w ay
each time.
To addr ess the quest ion of instant aneit y, it i s im port ant to exam ine it s links
w i t h phot ography. I w i l l only refer to t w o aspect s. M ar ey chose ear ly on to writ e
a hist ory of chronophot ography, but began by locat ing it w it hin t he hist ory of,
and by present ing it as an applicat ion of, phot ography (1885). M oreover, the
dem onst rat ion int roducing the pract ice of chronophot ography - and t herefore
the k ey m om ent w h en the m et hod is present ed —al w ays refers t o the phot ogr a
p h y of trajectories, w h i ch is precisely w h at bri n gs out the difference bet ween
inst ant aneous ph ot ogr aph y and chronophot ography. In ot her w ords, by fol low
i n g the w ay the concept of the inst ant w as est ablished, w e shall be able to ob
serve h ow an 'i dea of the cinem a' - called chronophot ography at that precise
m om ent in the past - em er ged from phot ography. It w as at t hat t ime when, at
the t urn of the cent ury, t he snapshot first saw the light - and it is, of course, the
not ion of inst ant aneit y t hat al l ow s one to const ruct the concept of the instant.
The snaphot
The idea behind the snapshot w as one of brevit y, som et hing that could be cap
t ured on-the-spot, such as accident s, or people jum pi n g or falling. A n iconogra
ph y began to be est ablished in the 1880s, and by 1900 it had becom e popular.
But t he sn apshot w as also associat ed w i t h anot her t ype of im age produced in
scient ific experim ent s and published in the press - t his is h ow M arey's figures
becam e w el l k now n. From t he t echnical point of view, the snapshot is also de
fined by speed —h ist ory t ells us that the speed of illum inat ion and the speed of
the chem ical react ion depen ded on t he creation of n ew support s, and on there
being innovat ions in opt ics an d r adical i m provem ent s in shut t ers.19

There is no doubt t hat ph ot ogr aph y di d not w ai t for the t echnique of the
snapshot to associat e t he i m age obt ained w i t h the idea of the instant .20 But
paint ing di d not w ai t for ph ot ogr aph y eit her in order to represent an instant.
W it h t he snapshot , however , the st at us of the im age w as over-det erm ined by
one elem ent of the disposit ive, i.e., a charact eristic of h ow it w as m ade. A s can
be clearly seen in the French term ' instantané', w h at the term 'sn apsh ot ' un der
lined w as the br i ef nat ure of the m om ent w h en the im age w as produced. A t the
end of the nineteent h cent ury, 'inst ant ané' m eant bot h ver y rapid shut t ers and
the im ages obt ained by m eans of a short exposure. In a w or d, the phot ographic
i m age referred to the inst ant not on l y as the ver y br i ef m om ent of the phot o
gr aphed act ion, but also as the inst ant aneous m om ent of t he t aking of the
phot ograph. The opening of the shut t er defin es the durat ion of the illum inat ion,
i.e., the exposure t ime, t he m om ent w h en the phot ographic im age is recorded
on the light -sensit ive surface. The const ruct ion of the concept of the inst ant re
quires an underst an din g of t his t echnical process relat ed to the exposure t ime -
w h i ch is w h at I shall devel op in the fol low i n g section.
W hen the exposur e t ime is short, w e h ave a snapshot , an inst ant aneous im
age. But h ow can one qual i fy 'sh or t '? W hen one defines the snapshot , it is not
en ough to m erely m ent ion the rapidit y. I nst ant aneit y —the t rait that form s the
basi s of t he concept of the inst ant —is conceived of by m eans of a relation: t hat
connect ing the durat ion of the illum inat ion to the speed of the object's m ove
m ent .21 I f one w i sh es to obt ain a sharp i m age of a m ovem ent , the shut t er speed
m ust be sufficient ly fast in order t hat the m ovem ent of the object is not recorded
b y m eans of a bl ur or fuzziness.
This relat ion evi n ced b y the snapshot w as posed by M ar ey at the ver y out
set .22 For M ar ey the scient ist and for all phot ographers t aking snapshot s, the
shut t er opening w as described as a durat ion and even m easured in fract ions of
a second. This is the field of m icro-t em poralit y t hat w as explored in the 19t h
century, as t estified b y M ar ey's ent husiast ic w r i t i n g in La Méthode graphique.
M icro-t em poralit y im plies t hat one can conceive of the second in fract ions of a
second, and t hat a fract ion of a second is a durat ion that can be broken dow n
even furt her.23 It m ay seem st range w h en speak in g of a snapshot to connect the
m om ent the i m age is produced t o a durat ion. Fr om a t echnical point of view,
t his is indeed w h at happens. This issue is even broached in phot ography m an
u al s —h ow can one m ast er the durat ion of t he exposure t ime?24 In fact, ever y
t hing depends on the pur pose for w hich snapshot s are t aken. It is clear t hat
w h en the durat ion is indicat ed, it is supposed t o be part icul arly short , as can be
seen in the t erm inology ‘ snapshot '/ 'instantané' —and r api di t y is conceived of in
relat ion to the speed of the m ovi n g object (see Synt het ic Table: The Snapshot ).
The pur pose is essent ial for const it ut ing t he concept of the inst ant that is asso
ciat ed w i t h phot ography. The const ruct ion of the concept is not just a technical

86 Maria Tortajada
quest ion —it is linked to the cont ext defined by t hose w h o use the t echnique,
w hi ch const it ut es its epist em ological dim ension.
In 1885, M ar ey st ressed h ow m uch his pract ice belonged to the hist ory of
phot ogr aphy w h i l e sim ult aneously insist ing on the need for a ver y br ief expo
sure t ime; in his 1900 paper, however, he si m pl y cited 'snapsh ot s' ('images photo
graphiques instant anées') as a defining elem ent of chronophot ography. The brief
ness of the illum inat ion is si m pl y presupposed. From a t echnical view poin t , t his
requirem ent n at ur all y rem ained. But w hen he cam e to define chronophot ogra
phy, ot her fact ors predom inat ed, w hich result ed in changes to t he st at us of the
phot ographic im age w it h in chronophot ography.
T h e c h ro n o p h o to g ra p h ic sn a p sh o t
The m ain elem ent of the sn apshot t echnique t hat M ar ey kept w as the shutter,
w h i ch is a k ey elem ent in the const ruct ion of the concept of the chronophot o
graphic instant .
In M ar ey's w ork , the shut t er speed had to meet ot her requirem ent s t hat w ere
relat ed to the nat ure of chronophot ography. I f one w ish es t o t ake sever al im ages
over a ver y short period of t ime (50 i m ages per second, for exam ple), t he shutt er
m ust open and close ext rem ely qui ck l y in order to produce a series of phot o
graphic im ages. H ence, M ar ey's need to m ak e a special shutt er based on the
m odel of the phenakist oscope's slott ed disc - w h en it rot at es quickly, the inert ia
of the syst em is reduced considerably. The celebrat ed phot ographic gun along
w i t h the appar at uses t hat M ar ey even t uall y built all used the slott ed disc.
The durat ion t hat interested M ar ey the m ost in his m et hod for m easuring the
m ovem ent of objects w as, in fact, that of the int erval bet ween the im ages of the
phot ographic series. A s discussed above, the int erval w as essent ial in the defin i
tion of chronophot ography from the outset, and M ar ey w as adam ant about its
regularit y.25
W hen one exam ines the var iat ions bet ween his var i ous present at ions, the
m ost significant m om ent occurs in M ovement in t he ver y im port ant first chapt er
ent it led 'Tim e'. On this occasion, M ar ey t ook great t rouble in const ruct ing the
not ion of time in his pract ical w ork , l ink ing t oget her the graphic m et hod and
the chronophot ographic m et hod. The k ey m om ent for us concerns the chrono-
met ric dial, w hich appear s on a cert ain num ber of chronophot ographs (fig. 2) -
M ar ey had bar ely est ablished the t echnique for m easur ing the exposure time in
a specific subsect ion w hen he began not ing its lack of precision:
By reason of the clear definition of the images, they can be accurately measured, not
by the time of exposure, which is too short to be appreciated, but by the intervals of time

The ‘Cinematographic Snapshot' 87
between successive exposures. Now, this is the important point in the measurements
which we shall have to make of the duration of certain phenomena.’*1
Figure 2 Cinémathèque française, Paris
There fol low s a subsect ion ent it led ‘ M easurem ent of the I nt ervals of Time
w h i ch separat e Successive Exposur es'.27 W it h the com m ent on the briefness of
t he exposure t ime, w e indeed find our selves in the rat ionale of the snapshot -
but w i t h one difference w i t h regard to the phot ographic snapshot . In 1894,
chronophot ography w as explicit ly present ed by M arey as i n volvin g troo correla
t ive durat ions t hat w er e internal to the machine. I f one of the t w o durat ions is to
be considered as an inst ant —i.e., i f the not ion of inst ant can be applied to the
i m ages produced by the illum inat ion avai lable usi n g an ext rem ely br i ef expo
sure t ime —it s relat ion t o t he ot her durat ion, i.e., the int erval, m ust be defined.
Indeed, M ar ey considered that the int erval w as the on l y elem ent t hat could be
m easured and cont rolled. This is a k ey argum ent , as it sh ow s that the ver y w ay
of conceiving of instantaneih/ w as m odified w hen m oving from phot ogr aphy to
chronophot ography. Chronophot ographic i nst ant aneit y is charact erised as a
st ruct ural relat ion bet ween exposur e and int erval, and no longer bet ween expo
sure and the m ovi n g object bein g phot ographed. The exposure, or concrete m o
m ent w h en t he i m age is m ade, is short er t han t he int erval in t his relat ionship

88 Maria Tortajada
(see Synt het ic Table: The Chronophot ographic Snapshot ). This change in the
relevant relat ionship serves as the concept ual basis for an initial separat ion be
t ween the phot ographic snapshot and the chronophot ographic snapshot .
But t his is not t ant am ount t o sayi n g that t he speed of the m ovi n g object is not
relevant for chronophot ography, as it s im port ance can be plai n l y seen in one of
the problem s t hat M ar ey encount ered. M ar ey's scientific purpose obliged him to
find the great est possible r eadabi l i t y of the im ages. Leavi n g aside t he possible
bl ur t hat is sol ved b y the br ief durat ion of the illum inat ion, there is also the
problem of t he 'con fusi on ' of the i m ages in a chronophot ographic series. In
M ovement , a subsect ion of t he chapt er ent it led 'Chr onoph ot ogr aph y on fixed
plat es' deals explici t ly w i t h the 'I nfluence of the Rat e of M ovem ent '.28 The prob
lem here is t hat of slow speeds and w hen t he m ovem ent com es to a st andst ill, in
w h ich case t he im ages are super i m posed on the plat e and are no longer legible
or an alysabl e.29 W hile for a sn apshot the speed of the m ovi n g object is si gn i fi
cant for set t ing the exposure time, his argum ent em phasises the speed of the
m ovin g object in relat ion t o the interval w hen addr essi n g chronophot ographic
snapshot s. The var i abl e t hat is essent ial to t he phot ographic snapshot , i.e., the
speed of t he object, is n ow relat ed to the int erval. The speed does not direct ly
influence t he durat ion of the exposur e time, the fact or t hat det erm ines the con
cept of instant. The definit ion of exposur e time, as w e h ave seen, is som et hing
that is int ernal to the machine.
T h e c in e m a to g ra p h ic sn a p sh o t
U p to t his point and in M ar ey's w ake, I have underlined the im port ance of the
shutter, i.e., the ver y basis of the snapshot - t hat w hi ch condit ions the m om ent
w h en the im age is m ade and is associat ed w i t h the instant. M ar ey subsequent ly
com plexified t his logic that he had first applied to the phot ographic snapshot .
W e h ave n ow reached w h at I have called the cinem at ographic snapshot . To
solve the problem of the 'con fusi on ' of im ages, M ar ey defined t wo different
w ays of pract ising chronophot ography: eit her usi n g a fi xed sensit ive plat e as a
suppor t or by exposi n g the chronophot ographic series on a m ovi n g support ,
i.e., a di sk or a film . This is h ow t he Lum ière Cin em at ograph ent ered into the
hist ory of chronophot ography, em erging as one exam ple am ong ot hers at the
1900 Exhibit ion.
The principle of the second approach, enabling one to increase the num ber of
sharp im ages, is as fol low s. The i m ages are produced successi vely on a m ovin g
sensit ive surface, w hi ch pauses int erm it t ent ly in front of the lens. Each t ime the
film or plat e pauses, the shut t er opens to al l ow light to enter, t hus produci ng a

rapid series of snapshot s. One t hus obt ains dist inct phot ographs, or phot o
gr am s as M ar ey called them, arranged in series on a disk or film. W hat w as
im port ant for M ar ey w as the synchrony bet ween the exposure time and the
pause t im e of the film w h i l e the snapshot w as being produced.30 The pause
t im e w as super i m posed on t he exposur e time - but w it hout their durat ion being
ident ical, w h i ch furt her det erm ined the success of t he shot because t hey are in
t rinsically linked.
From a t echnical point of view, t he pause t ime is a necessary condit ion for the
second appr oach to chronophot ography. But the period w hen the t echnical ele
m ent t ook on a sym bolic and st ruct uring dim ension in M arey's m et hod di d not
correspond t o the m om ent w hen M ar ey used the intermit tent pause procedure
for the first t ime - which M ar ey him self ident ified wit h the phot ographic gun,
w her e the sensit ive plat e w as a disc t urn in g int erm it t ent ly on t he sam e axi s as
the disc shutter. But for M ar ey in 1885, w h o had been usi n g t his syst em since
1882, the gun w as not par t of chronophot ography, since the ver y definit ion of
chronophot ography lim it s it to the use of a fixed plate, and the m om ent when
the i m age is pr oduced is defined solely b y the quest ion of the shutter.31 The cri
t eria are the exposure t ime, t he frequency of illum inat ion, and the cont rol of the
r egular int erval for the product ion of a 'collect ive i m age'.32 In Le Développement
de la méthode graphique, the pause t ime of the sensit ive plat e is considered a
problem .33
In 1890 and the year s follow ing, t he gun began to acquire a st at us wit hin the
field of chronophot ography at the sam e t ime as the intermit tent pause w as be
com ing m ore im port ant . M ar ey's m ain aim w as al w ays to increase the num ber
of im ages w hile avoi d i n g t heir 'con fusion ' - chapt er X of the Vol des oiseaux is
cent red on this quest ion. A n ew t echnique al low ed for a change in t he st at us of
the pause, w hich w as t hen en vi saged as a solut ion to the problem : it w as the
possibilit y of usin g a li ght w ei ght support - the film - rat her t han the plat e of
the phot ographic gun, w h ose inert ia prevent ed a large num ber of im ages from
bein g capt ured. This m et hod34 w as present ed as one solut ion am ong many, in
cl udi n g alt ernat ing i m ages (par agr aph 96), the r evolvin g m irror (paragraph 98),
m ovi n g the appar at u s (paragraph 99) and the st roboscopic m et hod (paragraph
10 1) . But , par adoxi call y enough, w h en M ar ey chose to use supple film rat her
t han the phot ographic gun, he sim ult aneously m ade the lat t er part of the chron-
ophot ographic m et hod pr oper - the gu n w as hencefort h present ed as the prim e
m eans of dissociat ing t he i m ages by m ovi n g and int erm it t ent ly pausi n g the sen
sit ive surface.35
The synt hesis in 1894 r adicalised M ar ey's st andpoint . In Movement, the
'Ch r on oph ot ogr aph y on m ovi n g plat es' w as gi ven a st at us in it s ow n right, t ak
i n g up a separat e chapt er (VII) aft er 'Ch r on ogr aph y on fi xed plat es' (IV). The
phot ographic gun t hereupon ent ered fu l l y into the hist ory of chronophot ogra-

90 Maria Tortajada
ph y37 — it w as present ed chronologically, aft er M uybr idge, but w as direct ly

linked t o t he quest ion of the intermit t ent pause, w hich w as a fundam ent al ele
m ent of the film -based chronophot ographic appar at uses i nvent ed b y M arey.
The begin ni n g of t his 'h i st or y' that culm inat ed w it h the n ew possibilit ies of in
t ermitt ent pauses is at t ribut ed to Pierre-Jules-César Janssen: 'Th e honour is due
to him of h avi n g inaugurat ed w h at is n ow ad ays called chronophot ography on a
m ovin g plat e.'38
A ft er t his decisive t urnin g point, the 1900 Exhibit ion kept the sam e principles
of present at ion. Janssen's experim ent w as qualified as follows: 'This experim ent
seem s to h ave been the earliest achievem ent of chr onoph ot ogr aph y',39 and the
gun is present ed as item num ber 6 (No 6. Photographic gun, 1882). The interm it
tent pause is agai n present ed as essent ial for addr essin g a w ay to avoi d the con
fusion of i m ages w hen t heir num ber is increased.
In short , the int ermit t ent pause is an essent ial param et er, firstly, because it
condit ions the double definit ion of chronophot ography, whet her on fixed or
m ovi n g plat es; secondly, because t his param et er det erm ines the hist orical pr e
sent at ion of chronophot ography, w hich som et im es excludes and som et im es in
corporat es the phot ographic gun. The int ermit tent pause is not on l y im port ant
from a t echnical vi ew poi n t , it is also fundam ent al from a sym bolic vi ew poi n t in
order to enable one to est ablish w h at chronophot ography ent ails.
Once the epist em ological val ue of t his quest ion has been est ablished, it is fas
cinat ing to observe h ow M ar ey proceeded. H e t reat s the intermit tent pause as a
durat ion, as a n ew param et er in the const itution of the chronophot ographic
snapshot , and t hereby of the concept of the instant, w hich is associat ed w it h it -
t his instant then becom es a paradoxical instant.
W hen he set out to pr ovi de det ails, M ar ey calculat ed the pause and m ove
ment t imes of t he film as par t of the overall dat a in the chronophot ographic
series.
In 1890, t he t otal pau se t ime in the product ion of a series of chronophot o
graphic i m ages w as equivalent to h alf t he total t ime that the film passed by the
front of the lens - in ot her w or ds, there w as as m uch pausi n g in the m achine (to
al low the exposure time) as t here w as film m ovem ent (sim ult aneous to the in
t erval).40 In 1894, no equivalen t det ails w er e given.
In 1900, the relat ion bet w een m ovem ent and pause w as invert ed: the du r a
tion of the pause w as n ow set out as the longer one. One can see t hat M arey's
m et hod w as caught bet ween t w o essent ial and com plem ent ary ends: t he int er
val m ust be as short as possible, creat ing a lot of im ages; the film m ust pause for
as long as possible (sharpness). In the par agr aph ent itled, significant ly enough,
'M ult iplicat ion of t he N um ber of Pict ures ... (No. 8)', M ar ey began t hus his pr e
sentation: 'A perfect an alysi s of m ot ion requires that the phot ographs be t aken
at as short intervals as may he'.41 Com i n g to t he Lum i ère cinem at ograph (No. 12),

w h i ch he had ident ified as par t of the series and var iat ions of chronophot o-
graphs, he st ipulat ed the nat ure of the alt ernat ion bet ween the m ovem ent and
pausi n g of the film : ‘ D uring two-thirds of the whole time, thefilm is at rest'42 in the
un fur lin g of the film .
The t ot al durat ion of the pauses w as great er t han the durat ion of the m ove
ment. So w e m ay indeed ask our selves w h at has changed in the const ruct ion of
inst ant aneit y and the concept of the instant, bet ween the rat ionale of the shutt er
(chronophot ography on fixed plates) and that of the com binat ion of intermittent
pause and shutt er.
In act ual fact, t he essent ial t erm s highlight ed by the discourse are no longer
the int erval and exposur e time, bu t the int erval and t he am ount of t im e the film
is paused. In chronophot ography w i t h a m oving support , the exposure and
pause t im es are synchronous - t oget her t hey define the m om ent w h en the sn ap
shot is produced. But t heir rat ionale i s the opposit e: for the sake of i m age sh ar p
ness, t he pau se time m ust be t hought of as a subst ant ial durat ion, w h il e expo
sure t im e m ust be ver y brief. A n d, in M arey's w or ds, the briefness of the
durat ion of the exposur e t ime - t he t echnical requirem ent of the snapshot - is
hidden b y the em ph asi s t hat is put on the need for a long-last ing pause of the
film (see Synt het ic Table: The Cin em at ogr aphic Snapshot ).
Synt het ic Table
Instantaneit y Exposure t ime Key elem ent s

(con cept o f instant) Aim o f t he pract ice
Phot ographic ver y quick Exposure t ime /
snapshot M obile (speed)
Chronophotographie ver y quick Exposure t ime /
snapshot D urat ion o f t he int erval
Cinematographic Exposure t ime // Pause t im e Int erm it t ent pause
snapshot T h e p au se t i m e is v er y lon g AND
D urat ion o f t h e interval
A n im port ant concept ual t ension pr esi des over the const itution of the phot o
gram , t he snapshot pr oduced b y chronophot ography on a m ovin g plate, which
is pr ecisely the sam e as for the cinem at ograph: w e see that the instant associat ed
w i t h t his in M ar ey's scient ific and hist oric discourse is paradoxical, because
w h at under pins it from the vi ew poi n t of the di sposi t i ve is precisely the require
m ent t hat it be bot h short and long. This is t he inst ant aneit y that w e call cine
m at ographic. The epist em ological separat ion bet w een phot ography and cinema
- bet ween phot ographic and cinem at ographic par adigm s - is played out in the
val ue of the fixed i m age before being posed in the rendering of m ovem ent and

92 Maria Tortajada
the illusion of cont inuity. The phot ographic snapshot and the cinem at ographic
snapshot do not const ruct t he sam e concept of the im age in the M ar ey era.
In c. 1900, som et hing w as bein g pl ayed out t hat bypasses the dist inct ion be
t ween fi xed and anim at ed that dist in guishes phot ogr aphy from cinem a. This
un assum i n g 'even t ' concerns the st at us of the snapshot . W hat happen s to it
w h en it ent ers t he realm of cinem a vi a chronophot ography? It becom es a par a
doxical snapshot , the phot ogram , w hich requires bot h the durat ion of the pause
and t he br evi t y of the instant. Behind t he phot ography vs. cinem a debat e, w e
discover t hat t here are t w o t ypes of inst ant aneous phot ograph. But it is not
en ough si m pl y to exam ine the m edium s. W e com e to see that in the discursive
use of di sposit ives of vision , the k ey issue is the t ransform at ion of our w ay of
conceiving t he inst ant and inst ant aneit y in t heir relat ion to the im age and repre
sent at ion. W e are t hus deali n g w i t h an inst ant that lasts, an inst ant t hat Berg-
sonism w ould hast en to sideline —and w i t h it the hist ory of cinema.
N o te s
1. Roland Barthes, 'Le troisième sens' (1970), L'Obvie et l'obtus, Seuil (Tel Quel), 1982,
p. 59; English translation by Richard Howard: 'The Third Meaning', in The Responsi
bility of Forms, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
2. Gilles Deleuze, L'image-Mouvement, Paris: Minuit, 1983, p. 11 (English translation by
Hugh Tomlinson & Barbara Habberjam: Cinema 1: The Movement-Image. London
and New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001) and L'image-
temps, Paris: Minuit, 1985 (English translation by Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Gale
ta: Cinema 2. The Time-Image. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989).
3. The viewing dispositive covers everything that allows the spectator to see a repre
sentation, from the machine to the machiner)', from production to projection and
reception, from technique to practice and institutional constraints. The whole in
cludes not just technical parameters, but also the codes of the representation.
4. See Julien Benda, Sur le succès du bergsonisme. Précédé d'une Réponse aux défenseurs de
la doctrine, Paris: Mercure de France, 1914.
5. Marcel L’Herbier, 'Hermès et le silence (19x7), Intelligence du cinématographe, Paris:
Corréa, 1946, pp. 199-212; see Pascal Manuel Heu, 'La querelle de 1917', Le temps du
cinéma. Emile Vuillermoz père de la critique cinématographique, 1910-1930, Paris: L'Har-
mattan 2004, pp. 187-212; and for the sources: ibid. pp. 220-335.
6. Paris: Jacques Melot, 1946.
7. 'Temps et mouvement. Etienne-Jules M arey et la mécanique du corps', Le moteur
humain. L'énergie, lafatigue et les origines de la modernité, Paris: La Fabrique, 2004, pp.
146-208. Original edition: The Human Motor, New York: Basic Books, 1990.
8. Marta Braun shows the particular scientific nature of Marey's use of chronophoto
graphy, compared to M uybridge, for instance. See Picturing Time. The Work of Eti-
enne-jules Marey, 1830-1904, Chicago and London: Chicago University Press,
pp. 228-254.

9. In Marey's experiments, the images came on three different types of support: the
fixed plate, the mobile plate of the photographic gun and the cinematographic film.
10. Etienne-Jules Marey, Le mouvement, Nîmes: Jacqueline Chambon, 2002 (1894); Move
ment, translated by Eric Pritchard, London: William Heinemann, 1895, P- 54
11. The notion of 'measurement' is as intrinsically linked to Bergson's cinematographic
model as it is to Marey's practical work. But its conceptual framework is by no
means the same. See M. Tortajada, 'Evaluation, mesure, mouvement: la philosophie
contre la science et les concepts du cinéma (Bergson, Marey)', Revue européenne des
sciences sociales, no. 141, vol. XXXXVI, 2008, pp. 95-1x1.
12. Scholars working on Marey often minimise his interest in the synthesis of move
ment. This is even the case in the most remarkable research work, i.e., François Da-
gognet's (Etienne-Jules Marey. La passion de la trace, Paris: Hazan, X987, translated by
Robert Galeta and Jeanine Herman, Etienne-Jules Marey: A Passion for the Trace, New
York: Zone Books, 1992) and Michel Frizot (in particular Etienne-Jules Marey cnrono-
photographe, Paris: Nathan/ Delpire, 200X). Laurent Mannoni, however, gives weight
to the 'filmic' dimension of Marey's work on chronophotography (in particular in
Etienne-Jules Marey. La mémoire de l'œil, Milna/ Paris: Mazzotta/ La Cinémathèque
française, X999). I believe that it is important from an epistemological viewpoint to
reassess the place given to the synthesis of movement in Marey's approach.
13. I.e., 'the physiological property of the retina of retaining for a brief moment the im
pression of an image after the object which has produced it has disappeared' (Move
ment, op. cit. p. 305).
14. Gaston Bachelard, The Formation of the Scientific Mind: A Contribution to a Psychoana
lysis of Objective Knowledge, introduced, translated and annotated by M ary MeAll es
ter Jones, Manchester: Clinamen, 2002, p. 28.
15. Supplément à La Méthode graphique dans les sciences expérimentales, Paris: Masson,
1885. Sometimes only the dates of the first editions are indicated for these four
sources.
16. Paris: Masson, 1890.
17. Op. cit. English translation: Movement, trans. E. Pritchard, New York: Appleton,
1895; London: Heinemann, 1895.
18. 'Exposition d'instruments et d'images relatifs à l'histoire de la chronophotographie',
par le Docteur Marey, membre de l'Institut, Musée centennal de la classe 12 (photogra
phie) à l'Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 à Paris, Métrophotographie et
chronophotographie, Saint-Cloud, impr. Belin, s.d. English translation: 'History of
Chronophotography' Smithsonian Report for 1901, Washington, DC: Government
Printing Office, 1902, pp. 317-340. For reasons of space, I shall not refer to Marey's
lecture that synthesised his work - 'La chronophotographie. Conférence faite au
conservatoire national des arts et métiers le dimanche 29 janvier 1899', Annales du
Conservatoire des arts et métiers, 3e série, vol. I, Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1899, pp. 283
318. It confirms the conclusions presented here.
19. All of these questions are addressed in the research papers published by André
Gunthert, Michel Frizot and François Brunet, and in particular: A. Gunthert, 'Entre
photographie instantanée et cinéma: Albert Londe', Alexis Martinet (éd.), Le Cinéma
et la science, Paris: Ed. du CNRS, X994, pp. 62-69 and 'Esthétique de l'occasion. Nais
sance de la photographie instantanée comme genre', Etudes photographiques, no. 9,
M ay 200X, pp. 64-87; M. Frizot, Le temps d'un mouvement. Aventures et mésaventures

94 Maria Tortajada
de ¡'instant photographique (catalogue d'exposition), Paris: CNP, 1986, and 'Vitesse de

la photographie. Le mouvement et la durée', Michel Frizot (éd.), Nouvelle histoire de
la photographie, Paris: Adam-Biro, Bordas, 1994, pp. 243-255; F. Brunet, 'Refonda
tions: Le moment Kodak', La naissance de l'idée de photographie, Paris: PUF, 2000,
pp. 213-329.
20. See François Albera, Maria Tortajada, 'L'Epistémè « 1900 »', Le cinématographe, nou
velle technologie du XXe siècle/The Cinéma, A New Technology for the 20th Century, Lau
sanne: Payot, 2004, pp. 47-49, regarding Gustave Le Gray.
21. M. Frizot, Nouvelle histoire de la photographie, op. cit.
22. 'Light was admitted nine times per second, and the illumination time about 1/ 900 of
a second. This brevit y of exposure time is once again a necessary condition for the
sharpness of the images, for it prevents the bird from making a noticeable move
ment while the photograph is being taken.' (Développement de la méthode graphique
par l’emploi de la photographie, op. cit., pp. 26-27).
23. '[CJhronography is admirable; it is a true microscope of time and shows that the
indivisible instant that is so often evoked does not exist, and that sometimes regular,
rhythmic and perfectly coordinated acts take place within one hundredth of a sec
ond', Etienne-Jules Marey, La méthode graphique dans les sciences expérimentales et par
ticulièrement ni physiologie et en médecine, Paris: Masson, 1878, p. XII. On the graphie
method, see M. Frizot, 'Les courbes du temps. L'image graphique et la sensation
temporelle', Pascal Russo (éd.), Aux origines de l ’abstraction, (Catalogue), Musée
d'Orsay, 2003, pp. 68-83 and J°ël Snyder, 'Visualisation et visibilité. La méthode
graphique de M arey', Études photographiques, no. 4, M ay 1998, pp. 64-86.
24. See, for example, what Albert Londe (La photographie moderne, Paris: Masson, 1896
(1888)) wrote on 'determining the duration of exposure in instantaneous photogra
phy', with reference to James Jackson's tables that calculate the speeds of different
mobile objects (pp. 261-263) and his doubts on the usefulness of knowing the abso
lute value of the time of exposure (p. 143).
25. From 1885 onwards, the interval was either based on the frequency of the images
(8 images per second, meaning an interval of i/ 8th sec. between each image), or by
the distance separating the images within the chronophotographic series, or by the
angular distance measured on the shutter between two windows or on the so-called
chronometric dial.
26. Movement, op. cit., p. 17, my italics.
27. Ibid., p. 17. Right from the beginning, M arey had stressed the brevity of the interval.
In 1890, this comment was part and parcel of the definition. But in 1894, when he
introduced the fundamental relation (exposure/ interval), it was the exposure time
that was the briefer of the two.
28. Ibid., pp. 58-60.
29. 'In different speeds of translation (of the moving object), the number of images
which can be taken in a given time without producing confusion, increases as the
former become greater.' (ibid., p. 58). And again: 'When the object, of which succes
sive images are to be taken, confines its movements to one particular spot, confu
sion and superposition are bound to occur', (ibid., p. 63). This problem was identi
fied as early as 1885.

30. This is contrary to what happened with Edison's Kinetoscope where the film does
not stop. The exposure must then be extremely brief, thus not allowing there to be
projection.
31. 'An ingenious trick consisting of taking a series of photographs of a moving body at
equal time intervals on the same immobile plate, reproducing the most complicated
movements in an extremely simple form. / Chrono-photography, such is the name that
I shall give to this experimental procedure that overcomes an important shortcom
ing in the graphic method' ('Avertissement', Développement de la méthode graphique,
op. cit., p. V).
32. Ibid. p. 28.
33. The inertia of the plate prevents the number of images from being increased: 'It is
difficult to go beyond ten to fifteen images per second by using apparatuses in
which a plate has to alternately move and stop to be exposed at different points of
its circumference. Sometimes I have doubled this speed, but the apparatus then
started vibrating and the sharpness of the images may be jeopardised' (ibid., p. 17).
The solution put forward at this period was the partial photograph, thanks to which
the overlapping of figures was avoided by reducing their surface area they occupy
on the photographic plate.
34. Paragraph 100: 'Dissociation des images au moyen d'une translation imprimée à la
surface sensible', Le vol des oiseaux, op. cit., p. 154.
35. Even though it was introduced in paragraph 88 (ibid., p. 132) after Muybridge, i.e.,
using chronological order as in 1885, the problems it posed were only addressed in
paragraph 100, when he introduced the need to use a 'long band of sensitive paper'
(ibid., p. 154).
36. The methods of alternating images, rotating mirror and moving the apparatus are
presented in the chapter entitled 'Chronophotography on fixed plates' (Movement,
op. cit., pp. 62-66). It should be noted that, at this juncture, M arey was no longer
presenting the stroboscopic method.
37. The explanation is the same as that given in 1890, with some additional information.
M arey begins the subsection entitled 'Principles of Chronophotography on moving
plates' by making a list of the gun's defects: 'The weak point of the photographic
gun was principally that the images were taken on a glass plate, the weight of which
was exceedingly great. The inertia of such a mass, which continually had to be set in
motion and brought to rest, necessarily limited the number of images. The maxi
mum was 12 in the second, and these had to be very small, or else they would have
required a disc of larger surface, and consequently of too large a mass, [new para
graph] These difficulties may be overcome by substituting for the glass disc, a con
tinuous film very slightly coated with gelatine and bromide of silver.' (ibid., p. 115).
38. Ibid., p. 103.
39. 'H istory of Chronophotography', Smithsonian Report for 1901, op. cit., p. 318.
40. 'The interval between two consecutive images was 18 millimetres, the number of
images fifty per second. The average speed of the paper was therefore 18 x 50 milli
metres or 900 millimetres per second. The total of the fifty pauses of the paper taken
alone represented half of the time, the result being that during the transfer, the aver
age speed was about 1.80m per second'. (Le vol des oiseaux, op. cit. p. 155, note 1).
41. 'H istory of Chronophotography', op. cit., p. 323 ('The perfect analysis of a move
ment requires that the images be taken at very short time intervals', my italics). Right

96 Maria Tortajada
from the beginning of his text for the Universal Exposition, at the key moment when
M arey was giving the definition of chronophotography, the interval was given a
double specification, with brevit y being as important as equidistance: 'By chrono
photography is meant a method which analyses motions by means of a series of
instantaneous photographs taken at very short and equal intervals of time', ibid.,
p . 3 17 .
42. Ibid., p. 328, my italics.

T h e C in e m a to g r a p h versus P h o to g ra p h y , o r
C y c l i s t s a n d T i m e in t h e W o r k o f A l f r e d
Jarry
Maria Tortajada
A t the end of the nineteent h cent ury, speed w as bot h in vogue in popular cul
t ure and at the heart of scient ific research. I nsight w as gained into m ovem ent by
m easuring speed variat ion and by obser vi n g the var i ous posit ions required by
locom ot ion. The energy spent in perform ing var ious t asks w as calculat ed,
som et im es forcing people's bodi es to t heir ut m ost limit s. It w as fashionable to
organise races, of bicycles or t rains for exam ple, enabling one to com pare
speeds and put the m achines - the flagships of indust ry - t hrough t heir paces.
V ar i ou s fai r gr oun d cont rapt ions w er e const ant ly com pet ing to be the best, such
as sw it ch back s looping the loop at breakneck speeds. Speed as a scientific object
and as a social phenom enon fascinat es - accident s t hem selves have becom e
spect acles of m odernit y —because our un derst an di n g of it is based on the t wo
concept s of t ime and space t hat w ere const ant ly explored and quest ioned at the
t urn of the century. Speed w as cent ral to the par adoxes explor ed by H .G. W ells
in his l it erary laborat ory vi a the con t em porary popul ar t heme of the fourt h d i
m ension. Speed w as also a considerable cont ribut or to the fut urist ic novel,
w h i ch put n ew t echniques to the t est of t he im agi nar y w or l d. W hile Etienne-
Jules M ar ey brough t the physiologist 's appr oach to the quest ions of m ovem ent ,
t im e and space, w i t h the invent ion of t he chronophot ographic met hod and by
br eak i n g d ow n m ovem ent capt ured by m eans of phot ography, H enri Bergson
t ook a st and against t he scient ific vi ew poi n t in the nam e of a part icular exper i
ence of t ime and t he intuition of durat ion. Tim e and space w er e no longer a
priori dat a but w er e used or relat ivised according to not ions of m easurem ent ,
experience, percept ion or intuit ion. Scient ist s, philosophers and w r it ers w ork ed
on fleshing out t hese not ions.
Cinem a and phot ogr aphy lie at the cent re of t hese quest ions. W hen M arey
m ade chronoph ot ograph y a scient ific m et hod - t hus defining som e of t he con
dit ions t hat m ade cinem a possible —it w as by fixing the t ime variable, by im pos
in g a r egul ar int erval bet w een each shot . W hen Bergson defined the funct ioning
of science, it w as b y bui ldi n g u p the 'cinem at ographic m odel' of t hought . W hen
A l fr ed Jar r y brought ph ot ogr aph y and cinem a into his chronicles or novels, it
w as to t ackle the par adoxes of time. It is hard to im agine a m ore revealing

98 Maria Tortajada
t hem e t han the bicycle race, w i t h the speed records it involves, to put cinem a
and phot ogr aph y t o the test in t heir capacit y to m odel the concept of time.
A l fr ed Jarry, fam ous for his Ubu the King, t ook gr eat interest in the t hem es of
m odernit y at the end of t he century, w h en cinem a w as just beginning to em erge.
In h i s w r i t i n gs, the cinem at ograph and phot ogr aphy are linked t oget her by
m eans of a m ult it ude of m achines and the phenom enon of speed. There w as an
abundance of st ories of spect acular races and com pet it ions w i t h trains, aut om o
bi l es and bicycles. These di ver se m ovi n g bodies, w hich included t ram s and om
nibuses, t ook the st age t oget her w it h t he m achines t hat Jar r y him sel f invent ed,
such as t he physi cs st ick in Caesar Antichrist, t he paint ing m achine in the Exploits
and Opinions o f Dr Faustroll and the l ove m achine in the Supermale. A t the heart
of t his m odernit y that Jar r y him self w as at t em pt ing to pin dow n, cinem a and
phot ogr aphy h ave neit her the sam e hist orical funct ion nor t he sam e sym bolic
value.
Phot ogr aphy and cinem a w i l l be underst ood here as being dispositives st ruc
t ured by a spect at or, a represent at ion and a 'm achin er y' that al low the spect at or
to h ave access to t he represent at ion.1 To w h at end are t hese disposi t ives em
ployed w h en t hey are not used for m ak i n g or sh ow i n g i m ages and sounds -
w h en t hey are exploit ed by discourses that appropriat e t hem and t ransform
them, exploit in g t hem to const ruct t heir ow n argum ent at ion or set up a specific
concept ualisat ion? A n d in w h at concept ual const ellat ion can t hey be inscribed?
These quest ions can be addressed usi n g an epist em ological approach. It is the
det erm ining aspect s of the di sposi t i ves of cinem a and phot ography that interest
us here - not t o fost er a genealogical t ype of interpret at ion, but to ident ify the
elem ent s that belong to the scientific or t echnical environm ent of the time and to
the cinem at ographic or phot ographic m odel, w h i le sim ult aneously looking at
the relat ions bet w een them. The di sposi t i ves br in g var ious elem ent s into play -
ot her disposit ives, t heories, not ions or concept s - w i t h w hich t hey are t hem
selves correlat ed. W hen seen as a net work, t hese elem ent s m ay be said to m ake
up the cult ural pr esupposit ions that det erm ine not on l y the cinem at ographic or
phot ographic disposit ive, but also Jar r y's m achines. Phot ography and cinem a
w i ll appear in posit ions and funct ions t hat som et im es differ from the pract ices
t hem selves, t hereby pr oduci ng original configurat ions and parallels.
Thus, I w ou ld like to sh ow that du r i n g the closing years of the 19t h century,
w h en the theme of t ime in m ovem ent and concept ions of progr ess w er e so im
port ant ,2 Jar r y not on l y inscribed him self par adoxically in the m odernit y of his
era, but also cam e to elaborat e t w o concept ions of time that w ere independent
of the m odel of his cont em porary, H enri Bergson. I shall t hus be exam ining the
cinem at ographic di sposi t i ve as an epist em ic m odel,3 w hi ch I shall confront wit h
anot her set of relat ions associat ed w i t h phot ography, in order to const ruct one
or several 'i m ages' of time.

The Cinematograph versus Photography, o r Cyclists and Time in the W o rk o f A lfred Jarry 99
T h e c in e m a to g ra p h
In Jar r y's w or k , one finds t w o im port ant cinem at ographic figures. The first is
Ixion, a vict im of the t ort ure of H ades, like Tant alus and Sisyphus. H e w as
chained to the perim et er of a w heel an d dest ined to revolve for all eternity. H e
w as m ent ioned in 1903 in a t ext published in La Plume, 'L a m écanique d'Ixion',
and republished in the collect ion of Jar r y's n ew spaper chronicles, La Chandelle
verte. The second is the Superm ale, t he hero of the epon ym ous n ovel published
in 19 01, a m an w h o is so pow er ful that he i s capable of pr ovi n g his vi r i li t y m ore
t han 82 t im es in a single day.4 This tale of love t ells the st or y of t w o w ager s - the
first seeks to sh ow that fi ve cyclist s on a five-m an bicycle, fed on except ional
food, can beat a locom ot ive over a dist ance of 10,000 miles. The second in volves
pr ovi n g the Superm ale's virile perform ance.5
I xion appear s several t im es in Jar r y's w ork , but it is in 1903 t hat he is explic
it ly com pared to the cinem at ograph:
And let us first of all examine the torture of the condemned man from the point of
view of the feelings.
Ixion, according to the poets, is tied to the wheel on the exterior of the circumference.
It is in such manner that men-snakes 'revolve' in fairs, their neck touching their heels.
We should note that Ixion's eyes are turned outwards and thus reflect the world, just
like the lenses of a Lumière cinematograph.6
It is, of course, significant t hat Lum ière is m entioned, but equal l y im port ant are
the elem ent s describing the t orture. For w h at is pinpoint ed r egar di n g the cine
m at ogr aph is the st ruct ure of the m achine — the wheel, w h ose circular shape
and r evol vi n g m ot ion recall t he spool of film and it s unw in di n g. The cinem at o
gr aph it self is designat ed b y its lenses w hich, in the passage, are com pared to
Ixion's eyes as he r evol ves on t he wheel. Th ey reflect t he w or ld, in ot her w or ds
reproduce it, and const itute the represent at ion of it in the ver y heart of the m a
chine. Since Ixion is forced t o pass indefinit ely b y the sam e point, he is sub
m it t ed to a repet it ive process t hat he shares w i t h the cinem at ograph. A t the
t urn of the century, t his m achine const ant ly exploit ed repet ition, as had opt ical
t oys such as the phenak ist oscope or t he zoet rope before it. The sam e little film
w as project ed several t im es bot h for w ar d and back w ar d and at var yi n g speeds,
t hereby int roducing a m echanical elem ent into t he heart of the cinem at ographic
spectacle. Ixion is at t ached to a m achine as one of its w or k i n g part s, but, at the
sam e time, he is in the posit ion of the spectator, as he looks at the w or l d and
t urns it int o a represent at ion. Con t r ar y to the cinema, however, the spect at or is
inside the appar at us - his eyes are w or k i n g part s of the m echanical syst em that
incorporat es him . The figure enact s a condensat ion of the cinem at ographic dis-

100 Maria Tortajada
posi t i ve - the spect at or is not in front of t he project ed im age, but is sim ult a
neously the project or (or devi ce t ak i n g t he shots, no dist inct ion is m ade in the
t ext here),7 the person w at ching the spect acle, and finally, the place w her e the
represent at ion is m at erialised vi a the reflect ion of the lenses. A l l these elem ent s
are cont ained in a single m echanical st ruct ure - Ixion's wheel.
The rot at ing m ovem ent w i l l lead to Ixion being com pared t o a cyclist :
Those who may never have been initiated into cycling have doubtless forgotten or
simply not known that the first memorable record for the time of the mile was estab
lished by Johnson, by means of an elliptical cogwheel that, theoretically at least, elimi
nated neutral - with the least effort coming from the highest gear.
And in relation to this, suffice it to indicate that Ixion is the father of middle-distance
racers.
Middle-distance racers, absolutely. Ixion the eternal no longer remembers when he
started nor that he started. Ixion is in the 'state of mind' of the cannonball savouring
its trajectory.
He enjoys going quickly, without patting his own back.s
The cinem at ograph t hus for ges a link w it h speed, races and a cert ain concept ion
of time, to which I shall ret urn below.
The fam ous 10,OOO-mile race is of the sam e ilk. The Superm ale is also assi m i
lat ed t o a m achine and i n volved in repet it ion. The cinem at ograph is not nam ed
in t his scene, but un der pins t he text .9 The race is a com pet it ion bet ween t w o
m achines, a t rain and a five-m an bicycle, w i t h the cyclist s st r apped t o it as if
t hey are being t ortured. Var i ous ot her m ovi n g objects join in: an aut om obile
and a flyi n g m achine t hat pul ls t he bicycle, a t railer and finall y a 'sh ad ow ',10
w h ich t urns out to be the Superm ale. The t ext underlines the ext raor dinary
speed reached by t he m ovi n g bodi es and t heir const ant acceleration. It is not by
chance t hat one speak s of t he 'per pet u al m ot ion' race, and that the dram at ic
t ension is increased b y t he const ant reference to m easurem ent s:
The silken thread of the speedometer was still quivering regularly, tracing a vertical
blue spindle against Corporal Gilbey's cheek, and I read on its ivory dial, as had been
predicted for that time, the number of kilometers per hour: 250.11
O r again:
The education of Jewey Jacobs had taken us a whole day. It was the morning of the
fourth day, three minutes, seven and two-fifths seconds after nine o'clock, and the
speedometer was at its farthest limit, which it had not been designed to exceed: 300
kilometers per hour.12
A m on g t he m an y clues t hat refer to the cinem a, the appearance of the Super

m ale is the m ost st riking - he sudden ly appears like a sh adow born of a shad-

The Cinematograph versus Photography, o r Cyclists and Tim e in the W o rk o f A lfred Jarry 10 1
ow, like a figur e project ed on a screen, in the m iddle of t hese num erous m a
chines. The Superm ale is associat ed w i t h the phenom enon of the cinem at o
gr aphi c illusion:
... When the lamp was lit behind us, sweeping our shadow forward along the track,
the five members of our shadow were grouped for an instant so as to seem, fifty yards
in front of us, like a single racer seen from behind, riding in front of us. Our simulta
neous pedal strokes completed the illusion - which I heard afterwards was not an
illusion. When our shadow was thrown forward we all felt sharply and distinctly
that some silent and unbeatable opponent, who must have been watching us for
days, had taken off on our right at the same time as our shadow, hidden within it,
and kept fifty yards ahead ...13
The narrat or sim ult aneously pedal s on the five-m an bicycle and pl ays the par t
of t he spect at or obser vi ng t he sh adow and recalling cert ain m em ories. H e gives
ven t to his ast onishm ent:
... I did not notice that the vibrations caused by our speed had put out the lamp, and
yet the same odd outline, still visible because the track was very white and the night
quite clear, was "leading the pack" fifty yards in front!
It could not have been projected by the locomotive's headlamps ...
Still, there is no such thing as a ghost - then what could this sliadmv be?14
This n ew m ovi n g bod y is, of course, the Superm ale, the m yst er ious rival.
In order to m ak e the apparit ion appear, t he t ext set s up the im aginary w or ld
of a project ion. The spect at or is t hus plun ged into dark n ess - it is night -time,
there is no light , and t he t rack is whit e, like a screen pr ovi di n g the surface
agai nst w h i ch the figur es st and out. The sh ad ow m ot if is also im port ant here. It
is as i f w e are in the w or l d of Gorki, w h o described t hat 'st r an ge silence' of the
w or l d of silent film s: 'Yest er d ay evening, I w as in t he Ki n gdom of Sh ad ow s',15
im m ediat ely locat ing cinem at ographic project ion in the night of H ades. The
sh adow also refers to the m odel put for w ar d by the Platonic m yt h of the cave
and the decept ive illusion, that, right from outset, becam e a st ereot ype of the
im agi n ar y w or l d of the cinema.
A n d it is precisely as a cyclist t hat t he Superm ale is represent ed as a project ed
figure born of a cinem at ographic disposit ive. The m ovi n g object w hich fi nall y
appear s is a road hog w h o is fast er t han all the ot her vehicles and ends up by
bein g the first to cross the finishing line. An ot her of his charact erst ics is t hat he
avoi d s accidents, even w h en he collides w i t h t hings and com es close to cat a
st rophe. One of the t w o descript ions present ing him underlines t his aspect —
the narrat or has just seen the road hog appear an d fears the w or st w h en the
locom ot ive seem s to best ride him:

«02 Maria Tortajada
... the Road Hog, coming up at the very instant when the shadow disappeared, and
merging for a second with it, crossed the track in front of our machine with incredible
awkwardness but with providential luck, both for him and for us. On his apocalyptic
machine, he went veering into the first r ai l ... You would have thought, my goodness,
from the amount of zigzagging he was doing, that he hadn't ridden a bicycle for more
than three hours in his life ... he was carrying out his imbecilic little maneuvers in
front of a great express train that was booming down on him at more than three
hundred kilometers an hour. ... At precisely that instant the front of the machine
caught up with his rear wheel.
During that second when he was about to be crushed to pulp, everything about his
comical silhouette, down to the details of the spokes in his bicycle wheels, remained
photographically imprinted on my retinas. Then I closed my eyes, not wishing to
count his ten thousand fragments.
He wore pince-nez, was practically clean-shaven, and had just a small, sparse, curly
beard.
He was dressed in a frock coat and wore a top hat gray with dust. ...
Surprised to hear the regular clicking [of the wheels], as well as the grating sound of
the worn bearings, a good half-minute after what I had supposed must be the cata
strophe, I opened my eyes again and couldn't believe them - I couldn't even believe
that they were open. The Road H og was still gliding along on our left, on the track!
The locomotive was up against him and he seemed in no way inconvenienced by it.
Then I saw the explanation of this marvel: the wretched fellow was no doubt unaware
of the arrival of the great train behind him otherwise he would not have shown such
perfect composure. The locomotive had bumped into his bicycle and was now push
ing it by the rear mudguard! As for the chain - for of course the ridiculous and senseless
character would not have been able to move his legs at such a speed - the chain had
been snapped in two by the impact, and the Road Hog was pedaling joyfully in space
- needlessly, moreover ...
N ot hing can st op t his cinem at ographic cyclist goi ng at full tilt. H is race is
m arred neit her b y st ops nor accident s. Even the narrat or's fear —he keeps the
fat al inst ant 'ph ot ogr aph i cal ly im print ed on [his] ret inas' before the final colli
sion - pr oves to be false: m ovem ent an d speed are the ver y condit ions of the
cyclist associat ed w i t h the cinem at ograph.

P h o to g ra p h y
The machine, the t orture vict im and t he cycle race are br ough t t oget her in a
chronicle in the Chandelle verte, w hi ch is no longer cent red on cinem a but on
phot ography: 'L a Passion considérée com m e course de côt e' ('The Crucifixion
Consider ed A s A n U phill Bicycle Race) / 7 published by Jar r y in Le Canard sau
vage in A pr i l 1903, por t r ays t he cyclist prot agonist as Jesus Christ on the day of
his crucifixion. The st or y is a hum orous one, juxt aposin g in a som ew hat m ock
in g m anner the crucifixion w i t h det ails of m odem life such as the bicycle, the
t yre and phot ography. Tw o n ar r at ive m odels are int ert wined: the cycle race
w it h its uncert aint ies and Christ 's Passion. The comic and iconoclast ic effect de
r i ves from the w ay in w hi ch the reader is asked to read the narrat ion of a sacred
st ory as a spect acle, a popul ar com pet it ion.
A dose of irony is added to all this, w h i ch is all the m ore vi si bl e w h en one is
aw ar e of races in general and Jar r y's 'cinem at ographic' cyclist s, because,
alt h ough breakneck speed and cont inuous m ovem ent are ver y im port ant to I x
ion and t he Superm ale, the 'r aci n g cyclist ' Jesus Christ is charact erised b y inac
t ivi t y and st opping. The problem at the st art of t he race i n volves the wheel, the
ver y object t hat fost ers the com parison w i t h the cinem at ograph. This is h ow the
st ory begins:
Barabbas, slated to race, was scratched.

Pilate, the starter, pulling out his clepsydra or water clock, an operation which wet his
hands unless he had merely spit on them - Pilate gave the send-off.
Jesus got away to a good start.
In those days, according to the excellent sports commentator St. Matthew, it was cus
tomary to flagellate the sprinters at the start the way a coachman whips his horses.
The whip both stimulates and gives a hygienic massage. Jesus, then, got off in good
form, but he had a fiat right away. A bed of thorns punctured the whole circumfer
ence of his front tire.18
The accident —the failure of speed and m ovem ent —is sym bolised by t his cy
clist, w h o is fat ed to car ry hi s bike and w al k . The nar r at ive st rat egy em ployed is
to m aint ain t he r eader 's expect at ions b y on l y narrat ing the m om ent s w hen the
cyclist st ops. Aft er h avi n g m ent ioned the t yre incident, the chronicler describes
Christ 's bicycle out side the cont ext of the race, as i f parent het ically w it hin the
story.
We had better begin by telling about the spills; but before that the machine itself must
be described.’ 9

104 Maria Tortajada
A ft er a lon g det our vi a the hum ourist ic present at ion of the bicycle in the shape
of Christ 's cross, the chronicler fi nall y begi n s to narrat e the race, which, si gn i fi
can t ly he cut s before the end:
We shall abridge the story of the race itself, for it has been narrated in detail by spe
cialized works and illustrated by sculpture and painting visible in monuments built
to house such art. There are fourteen turns in the difficult Golgotha course. Jesus took
his first spill at the third turn. His mother, who was in the stands, became alarmed.20
W hen he fi nall y does narrat e the race, he does so in point illist fashion, only
m ent ioning t he fal ls - the 'spi l l s' - the st ops, as it were. It is int erest ing to note
that Jar r y t wice refers t o phot ography w h en st agi n g the event . In act ual fact,
ph ot ography appear s as the opposit e of cinem a and its defining elem ent s such
as are exploit ed here, i.e., the cyclist s and the race. The not ion of t ime based on
the phot ographic di sposi t i ve is t hus the cont rary to that based on the cinem at o
graphic disposit ive.
In La Chandelle vert e, ph ot ogr aphy is m ent ioned m ore oft en t han cinema, and
it is oft en associat ed w i t h accident s.21 It is t hus no surprise to di scover that
phot ogr aphy is present in t he cycle race sect ion of the Supermale w hen the n ar
rat or expect s t here to be a cat ast rophe, foreseeing that the t rain w i ll crush the
m yst er ious cyclist . The accident is precisely one of the elem ent s t hat defines
phot ographic pract ice as Jar r y saw it.
It is im port ant to not e that ph ot ogr aph y here is diver t ed from it s indicial
character. Jar r y occasionally m ent ions the dar k room on ot her occasions,22 but it
is not linked to the net works of speed an d cycling. Port rait phot ography, wit h
its poses and concom it ant const raint s - the durat ion of exposure, stillness of the
m odel, finding an at t it ude — are not used, despit e their w i despr ead use in
France dur i ng the last decades of the ninet eent h cent ury.23 Jar r y w as not int er
est ed in anot her aspect that i ncreased ph ot ogr aphy's st an di ng at the end of the
cent ury: its capaci t y to reveal the invisible, apparit ions and vi si on s - a dream
that spirit ist ph ot ogr aph y claim s to sat isfy.24
Jar r y uses t he accident to int roduce press phot ography, w hi ch w as devel op
in g at t he t urn of the century, and t o br i n g on 'repor t ers'.25 H e i s resolut ely
'm oder n ' in t he w ay that he point s to the instantaneous nat ure of the phot o
graph, and t hus to t he developm ent of bot h the t echniques t hat nurt ured the
inst ant aneous phot ographic i m age and the w or l d of the im aginat ion that
t hrived on and st im ulat ed t his developm ent . Thanks to the inst ant aneous im
age, speed becom es a vi t al elem ent of the phot o, as bot h the speed of the shutt er
and t he chem ical react ion are necessary to capt ure m ovin g subjects.26 In the
final narrat ion of the different 'spi l l s', the m ention of phot ogr aphy - the second
in the t ext - underlines t his aspect .

The Cinematograph versus Photography, o r Cyclists and Tim e in the W o rk o f A lfred Jarry 105
His excellent trainer, Simon the Cyrenian, who but for the thorn accident would have
been riding out in front to cut the wind, carried the machine.
Jesus, though carrying nothing, perspired heavily. It is not certain whether a female
spectator wiped his brow, but we know that Veronica, a girl reporter, got a good shot of
him with her Kodak.
The second spill came at the seventh turn on some slippery pavement. Jesus went
down for the third time at the eleventh turn, skidding on a rail.
The Israelite demimondaines waved their handkerchiefs at the eighth.
The deplorable accident familiar to us all took place at the twelfth turn. Jesus was in a
dead heat at the time with the thieves. We know that he continued the race airborne -
but that is another story. (My italics)
Thus en ds Jar r y's chronicle. This passage includes a double reference to phot o
graphy, explici t ly w i t h 'K o d ak '27 and 'shot ', and m ore playfu ll y w it h the refer
ence to t he demimondaines, w i t h Jar r y punn ing on the w or d instantané, French
for bot h snapshot and prost it ut e. The charact er of Christ is surr oun ded by
phot ography. Jar r y im m ediat ely exploit s t he doubt about the legend of Veron i
ca's veil and t he im print of t he H ol y Face in order to underm ine the indicial
val ue t hat one m ight be t em pt ed to at tribut e to phot ography.
It is not able t hat in the reference to t he 'shot ', the m ovem ent of the phot o
gr aphed subject is of little im port . Speed is not the Christ -cyclist 's st rong suit.
One m ight t hink t hat b y link in g t he phot o to the accident - w it h the associat ed
surprise, the loss of balance, the upset t ing of an order - that the t opic of speed
w ou l d be m aint ained, t oget her w i t h the i m agin ar y w or l d of fleet ingness, the
ephem eral and t im e suspen ded. But Jar r y does not fol low that pat h. Eit her
m ovem ent is absent , as in t his exam ple (the only act ion is 'Jesu s ... perspired
or it is nullified by the accident, w h i ch is defined pur ely in negat ive t erm s and
the denial of all speed, since m ovem ent is excluded from the lit eral represent a
tion of the falls. I n short, the inst ant aneous phot o has no connect ion w i t h speed.
This conclusion, at first sight surprising, al ludes to one of t he charact erist ics of
h ow inst ant aneous ph ot ogr aphy w as per ceived at the time - alt hough the in
st ant aneous shot is i n volved in the speed, it freezes subjects in t heir m ovem ent
and offends observers, as i f the im m obilit y it creat es is difficult to accept .28 'The
Cr ucifixion Consider ed A s A n U phi ll Bicycle Race' seem s to port r ay this. W hen
Jar r y devel ops one of his cont em poraries' preferred t hem es - accident s and falls
- he elim inat es all idea of m ovem ent , and t hus m ak es the phot ographer-repor-
t er's act l aughable, as all t hat h as been capt ured of the accident is w h at eludes
speed, i.e., the radical halt t hat is the result .
In short , t he m ovem ent an d speed const ruct ed by the cinem at ographic fi g
ur es st and in opposit ion to the halt and accident of a figure m odelled on the
im agi n ar y w or l d of t he inst ant aneous phot ographic im age. Is that t ant am ount

106 Maria Tortajada
to sayi n g that Jar r y set s up a concept ion of t he inst ant that w ou ld st and in op
posit ion to the flow of durat ion, the cont inuous flow that is the prerogat i ve of
the cinem at ograph? These are t he t erm s addr essed by his cont em porary and
form er professor, H enri Bergson, for w hom the not ions of t he cont inuous flow
of time, m ovem ent and experience are crucial. It w as by enhancing their st at us
that he w as able to crit icise not just the break ing dow n of m ovem ent , but also
the cinem at ograph and its m echanical nat ure. Bergson associat ed phot ogr aphy
w i t h st opping w hen it designat ed the phot ogram of the cinem at ographic m od
el, such as is put for w ar d in Creative Evolution (1907, t ranslat ion 19 11).29 But it
belongs to anot her par adi gm w hen used in Matter and Memory (1896)30 - it is
t hus linked to t he ver y m ovem ent of m at t er of w hich it becom es, t hrough exam
ple, a subst it ut e.3’ Durat ion, m oreover, is fundam ent al in the phot ographic
funct ion w hi ch Bergson calls upon to define 't he ver y m ovem ent of the m em ory
at w or k ':
Whenever we are trying to recover a recollection, to call up some period of our his
tory, we become conscious of an act sui generis by which we detach ourselves from the
present in order to replace ourselves, first in the past in general, then in a certain
region of the past - a work of adjustment, something like the focussing of a camera.
But our recollection still remains virtual; we simply prepare ourselves to receive it by
adopting the appropriate attitude. Little by little it comes into view like a condensing
cloud; from the virtual state it passes into the actual; and as its outlines become more
distinct and its surface takes on colour, it tends to imitate perception. But it remains
attached to the past by its deepest roots ...
The 'focussi n g' ser ves as a m odel for the m em ory: the 'pu r e m em ory' t hat the
recollected i m age 'h as pr ogr essi vel y devel oped'32 im plies a phot ographic pr o
cess that is based on the passi n g of the t ime necessary for developm ent , which
Jarry, however, com plet ely abolishes w h en he exploit s this m edium . In t hese
last t wo exam ples, Bergson's approach has not hing to do wit h the inst ant aneous
shot as t he cessat ion or st oppi n g to w hich Jar r y refers. A n d w h en it is associat ed
w i t h the fixi n g of t he cont inuous m ovem ent in the 'cinem at ographic m odel', w e
not e t hat ph ot ogr aph y is defined b y Bergson in relation to the fl ow of time. For
Jarry, however, int errupt ed speed and m ovem ent are used w it h out im plyin g
not ions of t em poral flow and the passage of time. The inst ant aneous shot is
m erely the r ever se of speed, it s denial. Li k e the accident, par adoxicall y enough,
it is defined w it h out reference t o time.

Tw o pa ra d o xe s o f tim e
A n d yet in t his text, phot ogr aphy pl ays its part in devel opi n g anot her form of
time. The first quot at ion in t his cont ext occurs in the part precedi n g the act ual
narrat ion of the race by m eans of the different falls. Jar r y describes the m achine
—t he bicycle —at t he sam e t ime as he set s out a k ind of hist orical par od y of the
sport of cycling:
Jesus, after his puncture, climbed the slope on foot, carrying on his shoulder the bike
frame, or, if you will, the cross.
Contemporary engravings reproduce this scene after photographs. (My italics)33
It is a l api dar y com m ent , but rich in m eanings. The first is the com ic nat ure of
the hist oric inversion. It is unexpect ed, to say the least , to int roduce phot ogra
ph y in biblical t im es and to t urn the phot ograph into a m eans of lat er r eproduc
tion. The p lay is on t he respect ive posit ions of the old and the new, the begin
ni n g of a quest ioning of the essence of t he m odem . But anot her reading m ust be
added to t his first one, relat ed to t he hist ory of phot ogr aph y and the w ay it w on
over the press, rem iniscent of the regist er of the 'report er phot ogr apher'. M e
chanical r eproduct ion had st art ed to devel op in 1880. Previously, on the rare
occasions w h en phot os did appear in n ew spaper s or review s, t hey relied on the
t echnique of en gr avi n g on w ood — t hese illust rat ions bore the label 'aft er a
phot ogr aph'.34 The expr essi on used by Jar r y and the allusion to en gr avi n gs re
fer back to a form er time, but recent in relat ion to the t ime he w as w r i t i n g (in
1.903) - a t ime w h en one did indeed m ake an en gr avin g from a phot ograph,
w her e m odern pract ice could par adoxi call y 'precede' a t radit ional procedure.
This forces us to ret hink our first reading: t here is not on l y one past , t hat of the
crucifixion, and one m odernit y, that of phot ography, but there is also a past
w it hin m odernit y, w h i ch m ak es m odernit y it self appear w it hin hist orical time,
and, ironically, accords it a place pr evi ou s to the one t hat t radit ion r eserves for
it. The reference al low s us to t hink of m odernit y in a paradoxical way. For w hat
is m odem i s ancient , from a cert ain point of view, an d vice-versa. W hat is
achieved here is the disorient at ion of H ist ory.
W e m ust also en vi sage a t hird reading of the sam e sentence. The p l ay on the
quest ion of reproduct ion is not on l y significant in relat ion to such a m odalit y or
pract ice of phot ography. It is also a cent ral elem ent servi n g to define its st at us as
a represent at ion. Reproduction in t his t ext appear s as the insert ing of the differ
ent represent at ions of the event narrat ed w it hin a series - a series that, m ore
over, has com e t hrough H i st or y and time.
Clearly, the phot ograph t aken b y the Kod ak is necessarily t aken at the time of
the race; it i s t he w it ness gi vi n g an account , since the report er Veronica w as

108 Maria Tortajada
indeed there. It could appear as a m em ory tool, an inst rum ent ser vin g to r egis
ter all not able event s and put t ing it self in t he service of hist ory,35 Even i f w e can
init ially agree t hat the phot ograph is a represent at ion t hat is produced at the
sam e t im e as the event it show s, even i f it is or i gi nall y placed in a direct relat ion,
it is, however, not unique —w e shall see t hat in cert ain respect s it is not even the
first. It ent ers into a net work of represent at ions to w h ich the t ext const ant ly
alludes. The accum ulat ion of references speak s volum es. A par t from the en
gr avi n gs m ent ioned in the quot at ion com m ent ed on here, w e find:
It is not true that there were any nails. The three that one sees in the images belong to
a rapid-change tire tool called the "Jiffy."36 ...
That explains why the illustrated magazines, in reproducing this celebrated scene, show
bicycles of a rather imaginary design (p. 123, my italics).
Sim ilarly, a net wor k of st ories or descript ions, or references to old texts, hist o
rians or m em orable n am es in the hist ory of religion, t ake over from the fi gu r a
t ive represent at ions. Jar r y t hus uses the w el l-k n ow n pract ice of w r i t i n g a com
m ent ary on the text, confirm ing or quest ioning pr evi ous discourses:
A few people have insinuated falsely that Jesus's machine was a draisienne, an un
likely mount for a hill-climbing contest. According to the old cyclophile hagiogra-
phers, St. Briget, St. Gregory of Tours, and St. Irene, the cross was equipped with a
device which they name suppedaneum. ...
Lipsius, Justinian, Bosius, and Erycius Puteanus describe another accessory which
one still finds, according to Cornelius Curtius in 1643, on Japanese crosses ...
This general description, furthermore, suits the definition of a bicycle current among
the Chinese ...37
W hen Jar r y set s out to narrat e t he race proper, he uses a pret ext - that it has
been 'nar r at ed in det ail b y specialized w or k s and illust rat ed by sculpt ure and
paint ing vi sibl e in m onum ent s bui lt to house such art ' - si m pl y to gi ve a sum
mary. There is no bett er w ay of st ressing the proliferat ion of the represent at ions.
It is t hus no coincidence t hat he chooses to gi ve the account of the race based on
it s fourt een bends, i.e. the w ay of the cross w i t h its fourt een st ations. The w ay of
the cross is al r eady in it self a st agi n g of the Passion. The crucifixion scene had of
course al r eady been used in ear ly cinem a as a m eans of t ransit ion bet ween a
n ar r at ive st ruct ure based on the t ableau and the linearizat ion of the film n arra
t ive,3* but here w e not e t hat Jar r y deliberat ely chose it in 1903 for its non-linear
form , st ressing its pluri-punct iliar an d static nat ure. Finally, the event it self is
lost in the n et wor k of represent at ions —even before bein g a unique, prim e hi s
t orical fact t hat could have been 'ph ot ogr aph ed', the race-Passion al r eady pr e
sent s it self as a pre-st ruct ured narrat ion t hanks to the form of the w ay of the
cross. A l l that is left i s a series of represent at ions w her e phot ography does not

The Cinematograph versus Photography, o r Cyclists and Tim e in the W o rk o f A lfred Jarry 109
h ave a clearly defined hist orical place, eit her as a m odern m edium as w e saw
above or even, at the ot her ext rem e, as an original represent at ion cont em porary
to the event .39
In conclusion, Jar r y saw ph ot ogr aph y as an inst ant aneous phot ograph that is
in cont act w i t h the event , even t hough the even t vanishes in the hist orical and
non-vect orized series of represent at ions. Ph ot ography joins a net work of repr o
duct ions t hat are a t estimony, w h i l e si m ult aneously helping to disrupt the link
bet ween past and present . It t hus becom es problem at ical to conceive of H ist ory
as an advan cing of time t hat is bot h vect orized and subm it t ed to pr ogr ess - a
posit ive val ue in the cent ury t hat saw the indust rial revolut ion. H i st or y can
on l y be capt ured or appr oached on a point-to-point basi s t hrough each represen
tation. It is based neit her on durat ion nor on a t em poral un fol di n g of time. In
'Th e Crucifixion Considered A s A n U phill Bicycle Race', t ime is the point illist
and par adoxical deepening of hi st ory t hrough it s represent at ions.40
But w h at can one say of t ime in Jar r y's cinem at ographic m odels? For Ixion
and the Superm ale, it is const ruct ed t hrough the experience of speed. Cont r ary
to the act of r ew or k i n g hist ory t hrough the different m om ent s chosen, cinem a
t ographic fi gur es are in time, t hey l i ve in the present by experiencing speed -
speed w h i ch n ever st ops because t here can be no accident. In the t en-t housand-
m ile race, the accident is announced several t im es but al w ays avoided —it is the
r ever se side of Jar r y's phot ographic m odel. The 'experience' of super lat ive speed
could br i n g Jar r y closer to Bergson, w h o also m akes experience a part icular
m eans of kn ow ledge, peculiar to intuition. H i s requisit e, speakin g of the intel
lect and the k n ow l edge of matter, is to 'inst all it self w i t h i n the m ovi n g' inst ead
of break i n g it dow n or bui ldi n g it up by m ult iple st opping points, such as the
pract ice of m odern or ancient science does.41
A n d yet , the experience of speed in Jar r y's w or k is also linked to a paradox. In
the race in t he Supermale, the pr odi gi ous vel oci t y is const ant ly m easured, but
the effect pr oduced on t he narrat or, sit t ing on the five-m an bicycle, is quit e dif
ferent. N o m ovin g body m an ages to out dist ance the ot her - t hey are all corre
lat ed, as it wer e, and inseparable, like the part s of a single and huge m achine
t r avel li n g at an incredible speed.
... the locomotive, looking like a big, good-natured animal, was grazing42 in the same
part of our visual "field", neither advancing nor receding. Its only apparent motion
was a slight trembling of its flank ... (p.52).
The train had retained its previous position, with the same apparent immobility ...
(P- 54)-
O r again:
The train kept up with us steadily ... (p. 60).

1110 Maria Tortajada
We were now again moving as before ... The locomotive was still at the same level (p.
61).
In ot her w or ds, the experience of speed in the phenom enological sense of the
t erm is im m obilit y.43 This is m ade explicit in anot her t ext published in La Revue
blanche ( 15 M arch 1903), about looping the loop:
We believe that within a few months, new switchbacks will adopt this system, where
the spectators in seats in wagons will whizz around an immobile 'acrobat'. Acrobacy
and speed will very naturally be, one day, immobile .. .44
That is h ow t he fol low i n g descript ion of Ixion in the 1903 st ory quot ed above is
to be underst ood: 'Ixion is in the 'st at e of m ind' of the cannonball savour in g its
trajectory. H e enjoys goi n g quickly, w it hout pat t ing his ow n back ' (p. 406). By
refusing the gl or y of speed ('w it hout pat t ing his ow n back'), Jar r y creat es an
i nsurm ount able par adox, and t hus calls into quest ion bot h the experience and
its excessive valori zat i on as a place of k n ow l edge. The t ime that one experiences
in m ovem ent is not t hat of the flow of life but t hat of et ernit y - Jar r y says that
Ixion i s 'et er nal'. W e should note, however , that t his is not a ret urn to the ideal
and unchangeable classical values, as t hey too are m ocked.45
The chance st opping linked to the phot ograph is opposed to the im m obilit y
of speed, linked to t he cinem at ograph. A t ime t urned t ow ar ds the past and the
par adoxi cal elaborat ing of hist ory are opposed to an equall y par adoxi cal time
linked t o 'experience'. In t he first case t he par adox belongs to hist orical time,
conceived t hrough the st oppi n g of m ovem ent , the accident and its point illist
reconst it ut ion in a series of represent at ions, not finalized b y progr ess. In the
second case it st em s from the nat ure of t he experience linked to speed and
m ovem ent . N eit her the phot ographic n or the cinem at ographic m odels gi ve ac
cess to t ime as durat ion, un fol di n g or flow. Even w h en one experiences speed,
one is faced w i t h its negat ion. It is because speed and m ovem ent , t hose essent ial
qualit ies of cinem at ographic m achines, cannot be reduced eit her to the st opping
of the inst ant aneous shot and the phot ographic accident, or to cont inuous
m ovem ent conceived in its durat ion according to Bergson's m odel. Jar r y can
t hus st im ulat e n ew r eadi ngs of cinem a t heory that recall the im port ant role
played by Bergson, whet her for his det ract ors - the defender s of discont inuous
m ovem ent , st ops and breaks (as is pr oper to a cinem a of the phot ogram ) —or
t hose w h o claim to be influenced b y his phi l osophy and w h o find in the appar
ent m ovem ent of project ion the experience of the cont inual fl ow of life.

The Cinematograph versus Photography, o r Cyclists and Time in the W o rk o f A lfred Jarry III
N o te s
1. The term dispositive covers the system of relations that is established between these
three elements, taking into account the mode of producing and showing the repre
sentation.
2. Denis Bernard and André Gunthert track down this mode of thought in the relation
of anatomy and physiology: 'A few years after the French publication of Darwin's
Evolution of the Species (1862), that put forward the idea of analysing the movement
of nature as an evolutive, dynamic and irreversible process, Claude Bernard's Intro
duction contributed to imposing the idea of a movement that integrates the repre
sentation of time, where contemporaries recognised the very image of the forward
march of social, scientific or industrial progress' (L'Instant rêvé. Albert Londe, Nîmes/
Laval: Jacqueline Chambon, Tois, 1993, p. 165).
3. See Michel Foucault, L'Archéologie du savoir, Paris: Gallimard, 1969, pp. 249-250. In
other words, the relations between the distinct elements that become a historical
model through the cinematographic dispositive - the machines that Jarry invented
or made his own make up distinct epistemic interpretations of these distinct
elements.
4. Alfred Jarry, Le Surmâle. Œuvre complètes, II, Paris: Gallimard (La Pléiade), 1987; The
Supermale, translated by Ralph Gladstone and Barbara Wright with an introduction
by Barbara Wright, Cambridge: Exact Change, 1999.
5. I have written elsewhere in some detail on these two figures and their relation with
the cinematograph - here I give a brief summary. See in particular 'L'ombre projetée
de la vitesse. Le cinématographe et la course des dix mille milles dans Le Surmâle
d'Alfred Jarry', Etudes de lettres, 'On a touché à l'espace!' (eds. D. Chaperon,
Ph. Moret), (Université de Lausanne), no. 1, summer 2000; 'Machines cinématiques
et dispositifs visuels. Cinéma et « pré-cinéma » à l'oeuvre chez Alfred Jarry ', 1895,
no. 40, July 2003, pp. 5-23.
6. 'La mécanique d'Ixion', La chandelle verte, Œuvres complètes, Vol. II, Paris: Gallimard
(La Pléiade), 1987, p. 405.
7. Moreover, the Lumière cinematograph is both camera and projector.
8. 'La mécanique d'Ixion', op. cit., p. 406.
9. It is explicitly associated with the Supermale and the repetition imposed on him in
the scene leading to the revelation about love, where a curious phonograph-voyeur
plays a part. The man and woman are about to recommence: 'A phonograph loud
speaker occupied the center of the table from which they had eaten. From its horn,
now strangely blocked by odors and colors, there blared forth a loud singing that
filled the hall. / "Bravo, said Virginie again. / The word was inaudible, but the ges
ture of her pudgy hands could be seen as they tried, ironically, to applaud, without
relinquishing their grip on her vantage point. / "W hy not — " and she shouted at
the top of her voice in an effort to be heard above the organlike roar of the enor
mous instrument — "a cinematograph?" / The girl's lips were moving, but their
voices could no longer be heard. / Whether or not they heard Virginie, André and
Ellen seemed disposed to answer her request by striking some theatrical attitudes:
the "Indian" had plucked a red rose from the bouquet and offered it, with a ternder-
ness humorously tinged with ceremony, to the masked woman on the divan; then

112 Maria Tortajada
their mouths joined for a minute, wit h no more concern for their audience, who
were now unable to trouble them, and let themselves sway to the flowing rhythm
of the music.' (The Supermale, op. cit., pp. 115-6). [Translator's note: I have modified
one part of the published translation of Virginie's monologue, which reads: "'W hy
don't you —" [ ...] "show motion pictures?"'.]
10. Ibid., p. 66. It is alluded to from the beginning of the race, but without identifying it:
"'Something's following us!"' (Ibid., p. 53)
11. Ibid., p. 54.
12. Ibid., pp. 59-60.
13. Ibid., p. 65.
14. Ibid., p. 66.
15. Presented by Jay Leyda, Kino. Histoiredu cinétrn russe et soviétique,Lausanne:L'Age
d'Homme, 1976, pp. 172-174. It should, however, be noted that Jarry opposes the
impression of silence by introducing the metallic noise of the machines - the clank
ing creaking, etc.
16. The Supermale, op. cit., pp. 67-69.
17. In The Selected Works of Alfred Jarry, edited by Roger Shattuck and Simon Watson
Taylor, translated by Roger Shattuck, New York: Grove Press, 1965, pp. 122-4.
18. Op. cit., p. 122.
19. Ibid., p. 122.
20. Ibid., p. 124.
21. For example, the article published in the Revue blanche on 15 M ay 1901, 'La photo
graphie des accidents', La Chandelle verte, op. cit., pp. 297-298. Or in Le Canard sau
vage (23-29 August 1903), the article entitled 'L'auto populaire': 'Not a letter but an
illustrated post card with an instantaneous photograph of the accident" (ibid.,
p. 504). Jarry's infatuation with accidents - reworked by him as a news item - covers
machines other than bicycles, all of which are on wheels.
22. See in particular: 'The swan is distinguished by its whiteness, which is not compar
able to that of the lily when observed in the conditions that best bring it out, such as
in a valley shaded from the sun sufficiently to be more or less transformed into a
dark-room' ('Le chant du cygne', in La Revue blanche of 1 November 1902, Ibid.,
p. 378).
23. Gisèle Freund describes the fad of portrait photography during the Second Empire
and its spreading and success up to the end of the nineteenth century (Photographie
et société, Paris: Seuil, 1974, pp. 60, 85 in particular). Walter Benjamin goes back over
different historic modes of the practice in order to conceive of its relation with the
aura ('Petite histoire de la photographie' (1931), 2. Poésie et Révolution, Paris: Denoël/
Gonthier (Lettres nouvelles), 1971, pp. 22-25. He also brings it up in 'L'œuvre d'art à
l'époque de sa reproduction mécanisée' (1936), Ecritsfrançais, Paris: Gallimard, 1991,
p. 150 (English translation: 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduc
tion', translator unknown, published on <http:/ / academic.evergreen.edu/ a/ arunc/
compmusic/ benjamin/ benjamin.pdf>). As for Jarry, mention must be made of 'A
propos d'un album', published in 1901 in La Revue blanche of 1 March 1901 (op. cit.,
pp. 280-281), with reference to 'portrait[ing] a writer'.
24. I.e. Hippolyte Baraduc: L'Ame humaine, ses mouvements, ses lumières et l'iconographie
de l'invisiblefluidique, Paris: C. Carré, 1896.

25. See for example 'M odern reporters see no further than the ends of their noses, which
they sport short. / So they take photographs' ('Faits divers', Le Canard sauvage, 27
September/ 3 October 1903, op. cit. p. 519). A distinction must be made between 're
porters', associated with photography, the instantaneous event and also the accident,
and 'observers', whom Jarry calls upon in his chronicles to bear out knowledge that
he claims is accepted and verified, but which in fact allows him to develop a paradox
and comic effect. In the chronicles, the observer becomes, as it were, the partner in the
act of enunciation. For example ' ... thus the most superficial observer could not cast
doubt on the fact that if shooting is organised outside of Paris, the vestiges will be
found alongside the railways' ('La quadrature du disque', La Chandelle verte, op. cit.,
pp. 369-370) or: 'Any observer knows that rails, which are guaranteed to be parallel
over a short distance, join up when nearing the horizon, through some defect or other.
Somewhere beyond the horizon there is most certainly a point where they come to
gether and form a V ...' ('L’aiguillage du chameau', ibid., p. 377).
26. Michel Frizot defines as follows the instantaneous image: 'The accession to instanta-
neity, which is not an end in itself but a modality of the evolution of photography, is
defined by speed, and more precisely the coupling of two speeds: that of the subject,
that one can imagine greater and greater, and that of the shutter, that element which
determines the brevit y with which light enters into the chamber' ('Vitesse de la
photographie. Le mouvement et la durée', Nouvelle histoire de la photographie (ed.
M. Frizot), Paris: Bordas, Adam Biro, 1994, p. 244.
27. 'Kodak' is the name of the camera designed by Eastman. There were other portable
cameras at the time: the 'Detectives'; the 'Express Détective Nadar ' (1888), the 'Vé-
locigraphe' (1891), the Lumière Brothers' 'Automatique'. What was special about
the Kodak was that it worked with a film that was entirely developed in the factory.
The advertising slogan 'You Press the Button, We Do the Rest” underlines this facil
ity which would ensure its success (Jean-Claude Gautrand, 'Photographie à l'impro-
viste. Impressions instantanées', Nouvelle histoire de la photographie, op. cit., pp. 237
238).
28. André Gunthert and Denis Bernard write in the following way about the favourable
reaction expressed by Meissonier, a painter of the equestrian genre, in favour of
photography and of what it reveals about the horse's gallop: 'But this beautiful tale
is deceptive. It is an isolated episode in the history of reception of the instantaneous
shot and dissimulates that ever-present violence of its images and the profound
resistance to which they have always given rise.' (L’Instant rêvé. op. cit., p. 172).
29. See the famous pages of Chapter IV of Creative Evolution, translated by Arthur
Mitchell, PhD. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 19 11: 'W e take snapshots, as
it were, of the passing reality ..., ( ibid., p. 306).
30. 'The whole difficulty of the problem that occupies us comes from the fact that we
imagine perception to be a kind of photographic view of things, taken from a fixed
point by that special apparatus which is called an organ of perception - a photograph
which would then be developed in the brain-matter by some unknown chemical and
psychical process of elaboration. But is it not obvious that the photograph, if photo
graph there be, is already taken, already developed in the very heart of things and at
all the points of space?' Bergson, Henri. Matter and Memory, authorized translation by
Nancy Margaret Paul and W. Scott Palmer, New York: Zone Books, 1988 (London:
Distributed by MIT Press, 1988; originally published: London: Swan Sonnenschein,

114 Maria Tortajada
1911), pp. 38-9. The translation is available on the Internet at the following address:
<http:/ / www.brocku.ca/ MeadProject/ Bergson/ Bergson_ 191ib/ Bergson_i9ii_p3.html>.
31. There are indeed two photographic paradigms, not be confused under any circum
stances. See 'Photographie/ Cinéma: paradigmes complémentaires du début du XXe
siècle', Colloque Fixe/ Animé, Université de Lausanne, Section d'histoire et esthé
tique du cinéma, 2007, forthcoming (see www.unil.ch/ cin/ page56362.html).
32. Op. cit., p. 134.
33. Translator's note: Roger Shattuck's translation ('from photographs') has been mod
ified here.
34. See Gisèle Freund, op. cit., p. 101, and Sylvie Aubenas, 'La photographie est une
estampe. Multiplication et stabilité', in Michel Frizot, op. cit., p. 229, and André
Barret, Les premiers reporters photographes 1848-1914, Paris: A. Barret, 1977, p. 6.
35. This was already one of its functions during the Second Empire. See André Rouillé,
L'Empire de la photographie 1839-1870, Paris: Le Sycomore, 1982, p. 164.
36. Translator's note: I have modified the published translation, which reads: '[t]he
three objects usually shown in the ads ...'
37. Op. cit., p. 123. We may also mention the presence of a 'female spectator' - this is
how Veronica is designated - since the sporting and historic event is indeed treated
as a spectacle-representation.
38. See Noël Burch, La lucarne de l'infini. Naissance du langage cinématographique, Paris:
Nathan, 1990.
39. Creating a series of representations through a phenomenon of reproduction may in
some respects be compared to Benjamin's thinking on the aura of the prime object,
whether work of art of natural object - the 'hic et nunc, its unique existence'. We
could thus say with Benjamin that in 'The Crucifixion Considered As An Uphill
Bicycle Race', the reproduction of the event 'substitutes a plurality of copies for a
unique existence' ('The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction', op.
cit.). One must however underline that the nature of reproduction as envisaged by
Jarry differs from that studied by Benjamin, who concentrates on mechanised repro
duction and the accessibility that it gives to the masses in the synchrony of a period
(in particular by means of the idea of 'ubiquity', ibid). Jarry for his part worked on
serializing reproductions in historical time, which he confronts with this paradox.
40. The temptation here is to link the breaking down of time brought about by this way of
treating history to the real 'breaking down of movement' realised by Marey by
means of the chronophotographic method, even though in this method, there is still
a refererence to an unfolding of time that is measurable, and thus vectorized.
41. Creative Evolution, op. cit., p. 343
42. Translator's note: I have modified the published translation, which reads 'seemed to
be grazing'.
43. Or a very slow movement, as can be seen in my article entitled 'Le spectateur méca
nique', op. cit. dealing with the stroboscopic effect and the reference to early-cinema
apparatuses.
44. Textes critiques divers, Œuvres complètes, Vol. II, op. cit., p. 674.
45. With a neat pun Jarry, in Faustroll, speaks of 'ethernity', an allusion to scientific the
ories about ether, introducing an ironic touch with relation to the classic values of
the Ideal time in which the notion of eternity is inscribed. See Book VIII, entitled
'L'éthernité', Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, op. cit., pp. 724-727.

bel67dc29bl5e7d8223a7c2bSbed0e00
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Exhibit ion
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bel67dc29bl5e7d8223a7c2bSbed0e00
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D y n a m i c P a th s o f T h o u g h t
E x h i b i t i o n D e s ig n , P h o t o g r a p h y a n d C i r c u l a t i o n in t h e
W o r k o f H e rb e rt Bayer
Olivier Lugon
A l l exhibit ions - whet her t hey be art istic, com m ercial or didact ic, and h ow ever
d iver se t heir desi gn - are ver y sim ilar in one respect : vi si t ors are supposed to be
able to m ove ar oun d inside t hem .1 The ordered set of objects or i m ages on dis
p l ay encourages the spect at or to en gage in physical act ivit y and w al k around.
The blossom ing of the exhibit ion dur i ng the eight eent h and nineteent h cent u
ries w as indeed inseparable from the developm ent of the w al k —a social pract ice
t hat w as recognised b y the bourgeoisie. But l eavi n g aside the fact that an exhibi
tion n orm ally t akes place inside, it const itutes a special t ype of walk, gi ven that
it m ay offer bot h t he at t ract ion of the spect acle and the cognit ive vir t ue of the
book.
This ph ysi cal and kinet ic com ponent has not al w ays been given the im por
t ance it deserves. Art ist ic exhibit ions in par t icular have long ignored the specific
nat ure of t he visit , the part icular w ay of l ink ing an intellectual or sensory pro
cess w it h t he spect at ors' m ovem ent s t hrough the building. D ur i ng the 19t h and
20t h cent uries, the m ajorit y of exhibit ions cont inued to assign the supposed
force of t heir im pact to a pre-exist ing and self-sufficient object - the w or k of art
—t aking litt le not ice of the effect s produced by the act ual set t ing u p of the space
and the w ay visi t or s' m ovem ent s are organised. They h ave basi cal ly st ayed
close to the principle of the shop in the w ay t hey funct ion - a m anufact urer
m ak es aut onom ous objects over a period of m ont hs or years, and t hey are then
br ough t t oget her and put on sale, si m pl y b y d i splayi n g them as advan t ageously
as possible.
The m ode of product ion of didact ic exhibit ions is a ver y different one. W hat
ever their t heme - si n gi n g the pr ai ses of hygiene, healt h food, leisure act ivit ies
or m odern housing, or set t ing out a polit ical discourse - t hey began to flourish
in the 1920s, par t icular ly in Germ any, and enjoyed great prest ige am ong art istic
and int ellectual circles, w hi ch ident ified t hem as belonging to the new, m odern
m ass m edia, alongside the cinema, r adio and illust rat ed n ew spapers. Even if
t hey are part of the t radit ion of t he ninet eent h cent ury's fai rs and un i versal ex
hibit ions, and oft en include a com m ercial section, t hey nonet heless di ffer on one
im port ant point - exhibit ions w er e less concerned w i t h present ing product s
t han ideas. The t ask of exhibit ion designers w en t beyon d that of si m pl y provi d-

1118 O livie r Lugon
in g a set t ing for pre-exist ing objects. Th ey gen er ally had t o create from scratch
bot h the m at erial and argum ent at ion to be put for w ar d, and t hink out a set of
graphic, t ext ual, phot ographic or m echanical elem ent s that w er e specially m ade
for the dem onst rat ion. These elem ent s w er e t hus irrelevant in an y ot her context
and w er e usu al l y dest royed at t he end of the exhibit ion. A bove all, designers
had to use this specific m at erial to com pose ar gum ent at ive or n arrat ive st ruc
t ures, logical developm en t s or em ot ional sequences in w hich each exhibit had to
find its place, like a sentence in a speech or a chapt er in a book.
A t the end of the 1920s, this n ew r esponsibilit y at tracted m any of the figures
of m odernism - architects such as W alt er Gr opius and L u d w i g M ies van der
Rohe, graphic designer s such as M ax Burchart z, H ans Leist ik ow and Johannes
M olzahn, but also art ist s like El Lissit zky, H erbert Bayer and László M oholy-
N agy, t oget her w i t h ot her Bauh au s m em bers such as Xant i Sch aw in sk y or Joost
Schm idt . Th ey t hem selves adm it t ed t hat the concept ion of like exhibit ions w ent
far beyon d the sim ple bread-and-but t er cont ract, and could even becom e a spe
cial cent re of interest, a source of ent husiasm t hat w as oft en great er t han for
t heir ow n art ist ic present at ions, w hi ch som e of them considered to be obsolete.
In 19 41, at t he end of his life, El Lissit zky, for exam ple, rem em bered such w or k
as his 'm ost im port ant w or k as art ist ', w hi l e H erbert Bayer designat ed the dis
cipline 'as an apex of all m edia and pow er s of com m unicat ion'.2
B e yo n d p a in tin g
The fact is t hat the didact ic exhibit ion cryst allized m an y of the hopes of m od
ernism . It allow ed t hese art ists, w h o cam e from const ruct ivism and w h o w er e
intent on going beyon d art for art 's sake and fost ering a m ore act ive com m it
m ent of t heir pract ice w it hin society, to l eave the w or l d of pure delect at ion for
an act i vi t y t hat w as m ore in phase w i t h the real w or l d and cont em porary issues.
It seem ed, m oreover, to inaugur at e a n ew and essent ially vi sual m ode of com
m unicat ion, w hich w ou l d t hus be m ore efficient, intense and dem ocrat ic than
the writ t en m edium : 'N o longer read! See!' proclaim ed Johannes M oLzahn in
1928.3 The exhibit ion w as supposed to h ave t hat capacit y of put t ing t oget her a
coherent discourse, like the book, w h i l e rem aining gr ounded in the visual. This
is w hat t he art hist orian Franz Roh assert ed in 1930, for w hom 'it is not the book
that offers the m ost fruit ful link bet w een a pur el y sen sory vi su al experience and
a n ecessary abst ract ion - it is the exhibit ion'.4 To t his end, it not on l y m ade the
im m ediacy of the vi su al avai lable for t his n ew t ransm ission of k n ow l edge, but
also accum ulat ed the st rengt hs of a w hol e range of disciplines: architecture,
graphic arts, phot ography, colour, light and m ovem ent , which it w ou ld unit e in

Dynamic Paths o f Thought 119
a new, t otal art of unequalled power. Finally, and above all, it w ou ld al low com
m unicat ion to be freed from the t radit ional support of abst ract ion - paper and
canvas —to m ove into the real space of the spectator, w her e it w ou l d int erpellate
her or him in an alm ost corporeal fashion. Bett er t han an y ot her m edium , the
exhibit ion could t hus bring to fruit ion the m odern idea of ped agogy based on
the union of the bod y and the m ind and, t hanks to the physical im plication,
w ou l d help d r aw spect at ors out of t heir supposedl y passi ve and dist anced con
t em plat ion and turn them into act ive and dyn am ic part icipant s.
Figure l. El Lissitzky, Promt Space, Berlin, 1923
In fact, ever yt hi n g in the inst allat ions of designers such as Lissit zky, Bayer or
M oh ol y-N agy t ended to exalt the m obilit y and physical com m it m ent of the vi si
tor. Since the beginning of the 1920s, El Li ssi t zk y had t aken t radit ionally flat
and static pict orial w or k s and set out to redist ribut e them w i t hin space, shorn
of any hierarchy or perspect ive axis, and t hus m ult idirect ional and dynam ic.
This m eant t hat he first had to create alm ost architectural-like pieces. In 1923,
he t hus realised the Proun Space in Berlin (fig. 1) —the w or k of art covered the
ent ire exhibit ion space, not facing the spect at ors but surrounding them, and
calling on them to m ove bot h t heir eyes and their bodies. The geom et ric shapes
scat t ered over t he w al l s w er e not t here si m pl y to be looked at or to capt ure one's
look - w hi ch m ight seem to be the m inim al funct ion of a w or k of art —but on
t he cont rary to encourage spect at ors t o look even further, to gu i de them con-

120 O livie r Lugon
st ant ly t ow ar ds anot her point in a kind of opt ical m erry-go-round. Sim ilarly, in
his 'dem onst rat ion spaces' in D resden and H an over in 1926 and 1927, the sur
face of t he w al l s w as t reat ed w i t h vert ical, t hree-coloured st rips, so that '[ w ] it h
ever y m ovem ent of the spect at or in the room t he im pression of t he w al l s
changes —w h at w as w hi t e becom es black and vi ce versa. Thus an opt ical d y
nam ic is generat ed as a consequence of the hum an stride. This m akes the spec
t ator act i ve'.5 For Lissit zky, such t echniques had undeniable polit ical connot a
tions - t ransform ing cont em plat ion into a ph ysical process and spect at ors into
'act i ve' part icipant s im plies aw ak i n g t hem as responsible i n di vi duals and
st im ulat ing a m ovem ent wit hin them t hat spr eads beyond the space of art, and
that reflect s and accom panies the m ovem ent of history.
Figure 2. László Moholy-Nagy, Malerei Fotografie Film, 2nd edition, 1927
In the second h alf of the 1920s, anot her field — phot ogr aph y - also began to
t ranscend stat ic paint ing, and di spl ay art istic act ivit y in space and m ovem ent .
A l l t he art ist s m ent ioned above used ph ot ogr aph y at that time. For them, the
cam era w as less a m eans of expression or reproduct ion t han a tool of vision, the
agent of a n ew percept ion of space, which, freed from the straight)acket of Re
naissance-st yle perspect ive, w ou l d be m ult idirect ional and infinit ely m obile.6
This w as, above all, revealed in t he count less t ilted vi ew s, high and low -angle
shot s t hat w er e n ow possible t hanks to sm all-form at cam eras (fig. 2). These

im ages w er e al w ays the result and t he narrat ion of a m ovem ent : w h at ever the
m ot if w as, each one t est ified to the fact of h avin g been created - as in dance - by
the real inscript ion of the subject s in space, by the m obilit y of t heir body, head
and eyes.7
From t his period on w ards, cont ract s for didact ic exhibit ions w ou ld gi ve these
art ist s the possibilit y of bri n gi n g t oget her architecture and phot ography, those
t w o pr evi ou sl y separat ed w ays of m obilizing space, t hus al low in g them t o inte
grat e gr aphi c art and spat ial art w it h in one single dom ain of act ivity. This idea
w as a const ant source of fascinat ion for them, and for Bayer in part icular: 'I n the
case of exhibit ion design the form er borderlines bet ween the graphic arts
(r oughly t ypogr aph i c and adver t i si n g design), a discipline operat ing in t w o d i
m ensions, and archit ect ure - space design in three dim ensions - have been ex
ploded to form a n ew kind, in w h i ch so m an y m edi um s are com bined.'8
Phot ography, nonet heless, belon ged t o print -room art, an d to becom e inte
grat ed into archit ect ure and the t echniques of spat ial and dyn am ic exhibit ion, it
w ou l d first have to un der go som e m et am orphoses in its form s of presentation.
The quest ion t hat concerned t hese art ist s w as h ow to release the phot ographic
m edium from t he t radit ional, front al an d static m ode of cont em plat ion of the
gr aphi c art s to adapt it to the real condit ions of the eye in space - m obile and
m ovi n g from one object t o the next . The didact ic exhibit ions, in t his respect,
w ou l d pr ovide an infinit ely freer field of experim ent at ion t han w as provi ded
b y phot ographic exhibit ions in the strict sense of the term, even by the m ost
i n n ovat ive of them such as Film und Foto in St ut t gart or Fotografie der Gegenwart
(Phot ography of t he Present) in Essen, in 1929, pr ecisely because t hey do not
direct ly depen d on t he dom ain of art and do not h ave to respect its codes.
W hen the sam e art ist s exhibit ed t heir ow n phot ographic w or k s, the m ajorit y of
them cont inued to present them in a sm all form at , w i t h fram es and a light -co
loured cardboard back groun d, each phot o clearly separat ed from the ot hers
and hun g m ore or less at eye-level - in fact, all t he convent ions t hat didact ic
exhibit ions w ou ld seek to becom e free of.
La rg e fo r m a t
The first condit ion of t he m ove to the spat ial and dynam ic exhibit ion of phot o
gr ap h y is, of course, to conquer large dim ensions. This t ook place quit e late.
Unt il 1928, phot ogr aph y only appear ed rar ely in didact ic exhibit ions when
com pared w i t h post ers, graphics, t ext s or m odels, and it rem ained sm all-scale.
The Soviet hall designed by El Li ssi t zk y for the Pressa Exhibit ion in Cologne, a
lar ge exhibit ion on the pr ess in 1928, m ark ed a t urning point. The ent ire propa-

122 O livie r Lugon
gan da pavi l i on creat ed a sensat ion and h ad a m ajor influence on Germ an exhi
bit ion design, part icularly that of Bayer.9 A m on g the m an y innovat ions it intro
duced, spect at ors w er e par t i cul ar l y st ruck b y his enorm ous Photo-Fries, a ph ot o
m ont age m easur i n g 4 met res high b y 23.5 met res long, running the w hole
lengt h of t he end w al l (fig. 3). W hen phot ography t akes on such dim ensions, its
essent ial nat ure is m odified. It becom es an architectural elem ent in its ow n
right; it is t ransform ed into a verit able m ass im age, in t hat a lar ge cr ow d of
people can look at it at t he sam e time, like in the cinem a; finally, and above all,
it doubl y encourages the m obilit y of percept ion. N ot on ly can it be seen w hile
w al k i n g around t he exhibit ion, but its size int ensified the spect at ors' eye-m ove-
ments w it hin its area, causing t he eye to flit from one sect ion to the next, as it
cannot rem ain st ill - an im pression that is st rengt hened even m ore by the prin
ciple of the m ont age and its const ant br eak s.10
This last aspect gave rise to num erous crit icism s, highlight ing the confusion
of t he w hol e pavilion . Bayer, for exam ple, w ou l d say t hat he regret t ed the 'chao
tic' aspect of the exhibit ion, despit e h i s en t h usi asm .11 In the follow in g years, as
Figure 3. El Lissitzki/ and Sergei Senkin, " Photo-Fries ", Pressa, Cologne, 1928

the size of t hese phot ographic w al l s increased t hanks t o progress in r eproduc

t ion t echniques, effort s w er e m ade to si m pl i fy in like proport ion the im ages that
const it ut ed t hem. One exam ple a year lat er could be seen at the Pavilion der
Deutschen Elektrizitàts-Lieferungsindustrie (Pavilion of the Germ an Elect ricit y
Su ppl y I ndust ry) at the Barcelona U n i ver sal Exhibit ion of 1929, w here the archi
tect w as L u d w i g M ies van der Rohe and the phot om ont age w as creat ed by
Eduar d Blum (fig. 4). The inst allat ion w as pared d ow n to a vast em pt y cube in
which the phot om ont age t ook over the four 8-m et re-high w al ls in the room.
Consequent ly, to avoi d the vi su al di sor der that such a phot ographic cube m ight
produce, t hey t ried to reduce t he fr agm en t ar y aspect of the m ont age, to negate
the int errupt ions b y creat ing blends bet w een it s var i ous part s. It thus resem bled
a giant single im age, im posing in its monum ent ality.
Figure 4. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eduard Blum, Pavilion o f German
Electricity Supplying, Barcelona Universal Exhibition, 1929
This t rend reached it s apogee in the pr opagan da exhibit ions of the nat ional-
socialist s. The Third Reich appr opr iat ed m an y of the t echniques devel oped by
m odernism - w h i ch it claim ed to h ave abolished — w hi l e m onum ent alising
them in its search for a Germ an pr opagan da that w as 'peaceful', 'm agnificent ',
fashioned out of 'i m m edi acy' and 'clean liness' —as opposed to the supposed
Russian 'ch aos'.12 This race t ow ar d m onum ent alit y built up w it h Die Katnera in

124 O livie r Lugon
1933, Deutsches Volk —Deutsche Arbeit in 1934 and Deutschland in 1936, and final
l y culm inat ed w it h the 19 37 Berlin exhibit ion ent it led Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit
(Give M e Four Years). Recor d form at s w er e achieved, such as the nine eight-
metre high phot ographic book s t hat w er e aut om at ically l eafed t hrough in the
ent rance, or the gi an t panel of H all II, and, in part icular, a 20-m et re-high por
trait of H it ler (fig. 5). This w as a far cry from the dynam ism sought by Lissit zky.
M on um ent alit y act ually ended u p b y pr oducing exact ly the opposit e effect
from the one t hat Li ssi t zk y aim ed to achieve w hen he adopt ed the large format.
These giant im ages w er e m eant to im press vi sit ors, w hi ch m eans t hat t hey en
cour aged people to st op and st are from a respect ful dist ance.
Figure 5. Egon Eiermann, Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit, Berlin, 1937
Lar ge form at is t hus not in it self sufficient to st im ulat e the m obilit y of percep
tion. In fact, in his Die Pressa frieze, Li ssi t zk y had pr ovi ded an addit ional device
to pr event spect at ors from rem aining im m obile in front of it. The w hol e length
of the im age w as m ark ed off by can vas t riangles that prevent ed the ent ire piece
from bein g seen from one fixed point, t hus forcing visit or s to w al k i f t hey
want ed to see the ent ire piece, h i subsequent year s, ot her t echniques w er e de
vel oped to break d ow n the front al perspect ive and prevent the fixed vi ew i n g of
im ages. This w as t he case for H erbert Bayer 's t hree-dim ensional h angi n g tech-

nique, w h er e phot os leave t he w al l and spread out into space. H e first used this
t echnique in the Ger m an sect ion of the Paris Exhibit ion of Art i st D ecorat ors in
1.930 - the print s w er e hun g in front of a w all, from floor to ceiling, w it h each
one set at a different angle in order to accom m odat e the vi ew er s' angle of vision,
al w ays appear i n g per pendicular to t heir gaze (fig. 6). This is w h at Bayer called
the principle of 'ext ended vi si on ', in t hat the field of vision is broadened beyond
the horizont al axi s alone in which the exhibit ion is t radit ionally confined, w it h
visi t or s invit ed to m ove t heir heads from the floor to the ceiling or, in a later
developm ent of t his syst em , in all possible direct ions (fig. 7).
Figure 6. Herbert Bayer, German section, Exposition des artistes décorateurs,

Paris, 1930
A n d yet, despit e it s creat or's intent ions, m obilit y w as ver y relat ive here or to be
m ore precise, paradoxical. In order for the syst em to funct ion perfectly, i.e., for
t he eyes to fall per pen di cul ar l y on each one of the im ages, the spect at or m ay
on l y st and at a certain dist ance from the arc of the circle. In ot her w ords, the
fact that the im ages w er e h un g ver y freely in the exhibit ion space did not neces
sar i l y m ean t hat visit ors could act ually m ove freely because t hey had to st and in
a precise place to m ak e the m ost of a par t icular phot o. This cont radict ion be
t ween the freedom of the eye and the const raint of the pat h w ould pr ove to be a
cent ral t rait of Bayer 's w or k .

126 O livie r Lugon
Figure 7. Herbert Bayer, diagram o f "extended vision", en. 1935
H e did, however, devel op ot her t echniques, w hich in real t erm s t ranscended the
fixed percept ion of im ages an d pr ovok ed a kind of perm anent inst abilit y in the
percept ion of phot ography, such as the present at ion of print s on vert ical st rips
(fig. 8). This t echnique w as used in the Bui ldi ng U nions' H all at the Deutsche
Bauausstellung in Berlin in 19 31 t hat he creat ed t oget her w it h W alt er Gr opius
and Laszlo M oholy-N agy. Three different phot ographs w ere m ount ed t oget her
in such a w ay as to successively appear and disappear as the visit ors m oved
past . This w as done b y affi xi n g the first phot o to a panel, and by inst alling a
series of vert ical st rips per pen di cul ar to the panel. The t wo ot her phot ographs
w er e m ount ed on eit her side of t he st rips. Visit ors w er e t hus obliged to perm a
nent ly 'const ruct ' the im ages t hem selves, b y m ovi n g in order to find an ade
quat e point from w hich to view , to m ake the i m age appear and then disappear

in front of t heir eyes t hanks to t he m ovem ent s t hey m ade. Vision really becam e
an act ion, and vi si t i n g an exhibit ion a 'per form ance', to use the expression
coined in 1929 by Frit z Coerper, a t heoret ician of the discipline.13 In t his m an
ner, Bayer ext ended the w or k of phot o product ion - adjust ing an d fr am in g - to
the recept ion of the phot os t hem selves - t he w ay of const ruct ing the im age by
m ovi n g bot h eye and bod y w it hin the space, of looking and, as it wer e, com pos
in g w i t h the legs, in the m anner of the figur e he oft en used in his explanat ory
dr aw i n gs. M obilit y - ext olled to such ext ent in the m odernist tilted vi ew s - w as
no longer just illustrated in i m ages which, w h en all is said and done, rem ained
stat ic for t he spect ator, but w as practised in the ver y percept ion of them.
Figure 8. Herbert Bayer, Building Unions' Hall, Deutsche Bauausstellung,

Berlin, 1931
This t ype of fr am ing w or k w as to be seen in anot her di spl ay device set up for
the sam e U nions' hall (fig. 9). This t ime the pict ure w as placed inside the wall, in
a cut -out section, w i t h t he result that, as w it h the vi ew fi n der in phot ography,
the lim it s of the i m age change sli gh t ly w it h t he point of the obser ver 's eye, w h o
is agai n m ade aw ar e of mobilit y. The an alogy w it h ph ot ogr aph y here is all the
m ore m anifest as t he circular cut -out w as oft en used as a sym bol of the m ed
ium , represent ing the shape of the lens, as seen on the fam ous cover of W erner
Gr aff's Es kommt der neue Fotograf! (H ere Com es the N ew Phot ographer!, 1929),
one of t he m ajor m anifest os of the N ew Vision.

128 O livie r Lugon
Figure 9. Herbert Bayer and Ldszlo Moholy-Nagy, Building Unions' Hall,

Deutsche Bauausstellung, Berlin, 1931
T h e c in e m a to g ra p h ic m o d e l
D i sposi t i ves of t his sort t hus pl ayed w it h the t em poral and dynam ic dim ension
of vi si on in such a w ay t hat the i m ages appear before the eyes over a span of
time. This al low ed exhibit ion art not on l y to parallel phot o shoots but also cine
m at ographic vi si on —the resem blance bein g em phasised by m any com m ent a
t ors at the t im e.14 Cinem a at t hat t ime w as not on l y the prim e exam ple of a n ew
art form for the m asses t hat w as supposed to be m ore pow er ful and dem ocrat ic,
but also the ver y incarnat ion of m odern percept ion charact erised by m obilit y
and dynam ism . The exhibit ion ought thus to t ake it as a m odel and incorporat e
a verit able kinet ic dim ension. This is w h at Siegfried Kr acauer hinted at in 1932,
in his crit icism of a phot o di spl ay t hat for him w as too convent ional:
They [the photos] are glued on modest white cards ... The fact that they seem a little
stiff, as if brought to a halt, can doubtless be explained by the fact that our way of

seeing has been changed by cinema. Films have accustomed us no longer to look at
objects from a fixed viewpoint, but to turn around them and freely choose our per
spectives. What cinema is capable of - fixing things in movement - remains denied to
photography. This is why photography, when it still claims autonomy, is on the way
to becoming a historical form. It is gradually leaving the present and already is taking
on an old-fashioned air. In this it resembles the railway, which is to the aeroplane
what photography is to film. Railways and photography - both are contemporary
and related in that their development is complete, and both have long served as the
basis for new developments. Today we have freed ourselves from the rails in the
same way that we have freed ourselves from the immobility that previously was in-
dispensible for the camera.15
To st ay m odern, the present at ion of ph ot ogr aph y should in it s t urn 'fr ee [itself]
from t he rails' and base it self on cinem at ographic percept ion. This point of vi ew
w as also put for w ar d by Frit z Coer per in 1929, w h o stated: 't he dyn am i c form
of the exhibit ion is a field of forces and polit ical en er gy - swit ched to m axim um
p ow er ' - it should t hus seek 'not rest, but m ovem ent ', i.e., 'not the i m age and
im ages, but film w it h accelerated and slow m ot ion '.16
Figure 10. Xanti Schawinsky, Die Schule, Magdeburg , 1930

no O livie r Lugon
Figure 11. Herbert Bayer and Ldszlo Moholy-Nagy, Building Unions' Hall,
Deutsche Bauausstellung, Berlin, 1931
The st rengt h of this cinem at ographic m odel can be felt at several levels. First, it
gi ves rise to pure, form al im it at ions, like the series of im ages m ount ed in suc
cession, as i f un fol di n g before the spect at ors' eyes. To st rengt hen t his sugges
tion, t hese series oft en set out to m im e explicit ly a roll of film, im it at ing it s char
act erist ic perforat ions in decorat ive fashion. Xant i Schawinsky, a close friend of
Bayer 's, m ade t his one of his specialit ies (fig. 10). Som e disposit ives set out to
act ually anim at e t hese sequences, to h ave t hem pass in front of the visit or 's eyes
according to the principle of m ovi n g panoram as. For exam ple, in 19 31, Ella
Br iggs, an exhibit ion designer in Berlin, pr oposed a syst em w h er eby a r ow of
im ages w as set u p in a dark, circular space and sl ow l y lit up by a project or
m ovi n g across it, light ing up the i m ages one b y one. The point once again w as
to gi ve a dyn am ic dim ension to phot om ont age so that spect at ors had the im
pression t hat the i m ages w er e t aking shape in front of t heir eyes, t hus boost ing
t heir feeling of part icipat ion.17 A sim ilar result , st rengt hened even m ore by the
vi si t or s' physi cal involvem ent , w as achieved by w i n d i n g syst em s usi n g a han
dle, such as in the Bui ldi ng U nion s' hall in t he 19 31 Bauausstellung (fig. 11) .

This ver y m uch resem bles film, and, in fact, m ost large exhibit ions sought to
associat e the t w o art s by in cluding an act ual project ion room. It w as, nonet he
less, a problem at ical associat ion as it w as based on a fundam ent al hiatus. Cin
em at ic i m ages are m obile, but seeing t hem im poses a static act ivity. That is the
opposit e of the exhibit ion's aim - static i m ages that st im ulat e m obile percept ion
- circulat ion. There were, of course, som e i n divi dual at t em pt s to adapt cinema
to a m ovi n g audience. On the one hand, the project ion space could be reduced
to a sm all piece of furnit ure, the 'cinem a cabinet' (Kinoschrank), w hi ch could be
inst alled in the act ual exhibit ion room s w i t h out h avi n g to block out the light.
This is w h at El Li ssi t zk y chose to do in the Soviet H all of Film und Foto in Stutt
gar t in 1929. A project ion can t hen be di vi ded up into sever al short, const ant ly
project ed sequences, t hus no longer int errupt ing the visit for ext ended periods.
Ot hers, on the cont rary, sought to convert the cinem a hall it self into a place of
perm anent circulat ion. It w as kept as open as possible, on ly par t ially darkened,
w i t h people able t o com e in and out du r i n g project ions and even w at ch st and
in g up, t hanks to the ver y w i d e r ow s of seat s and the high posit ion of the
screen. M oh oly-N agy did t his at the Paris Exhibit ion of Ar t i st D ecorat ors in
1930, and t he architect Egon Eierm ann w en t t o ext rem es in the cinem a built for
2,000 m obile people at the 19 37 Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit exhibit ion.
Such en deavour s were, however, few and far bet ween, and before the 1960s,
the cinem a hall w as som et hing of a foreign bod y in t hese large event s based on
the circulat ion of people. The cinem at ographic m odel t hus left a profound m ark
on t hese exhibit ions in a more indirect m anner. W hat designers envied m ost
about film w as t he possibilit y of cont rolling a sequence of im ages, of im posing
on the visit or a planned pr ogr ession of pict ures, im pressions an d inform at ion.
H ence the fol low i n g challenge: h ow to ext end t his principle of un fol din g to a
t hree-dim ensional space, h ow to organise i m ages and ideas as a flow and the
argum ent and persuasion as a w alk?
‘ T ra ffic c o n t r o l’
W hen designer s t hought of the m odern exhibit ion as a dyn am ic pat h, t hey r evi
t alised the old m et aphor of t he pat h designat ing bot h the process of learning
and the linear advan ci n g of t hought . Som e present at ions pur posel y echoed this
idea. By explicit ly announcing a 'pat h ' or a 'r out e' in t heir titles, t hey ident ified a
ver y real it inerary and the process of i n di vi dual t ransform at ion or collective
pr ogression that w as orchest rat ed al on g the circuit, in the t radit ion of the w ay
of t he cross and the sacri tnonti. It could, for exam ple, be 'The Pat h to the N ew

132 O livie r Lugon
Li fe' ( Der Weg zum neuen Leben) of Berlin's n ew real est at e ow ners (1932) or the
'Road to Vi ct or y' of Am er ica at w ar (N ew York , 1942).
The archit ect ure critic, A d ol f Behne, underlined t his definit ion of the t rans
m ission of i deas as the desi gn of m ovem ent as ear l y as 1928, w h en he com m ent
ed on a Berlin housing present at ion b y M oh ol y-N agy under the direct ion of
W alt er Gr opi us, ent itled Bauen und Wohnen (Building and Living), in w hich he
celebrat ed:
a new type of exhibition. Here it is not just any material piled up anyhow in a suffi
ciently large hall and anywhere in front of which the visitor is placed ... here, rather,
the exhibition signifies the organised path of the attentive visitor. And this path
alongside particular objects, following a determined and clear direction and order, is
identical to the path of the exhibitor's thoughts. The principles of the modern book
layout are here applied for the first time to an exhibition ... [t]he visitor has the feeling
of being engaged in a leisurely stroll while remaining aware that there is an aim. As
he moves forward, he sees things from various sides - in a word, he follows the dy
namic path of thought in its logical twists and t urns.18
Tw o year s later, at t he Par is Exhibit ion of A r t i st Decorat ors, Gropius, M oholy-

N agy and Bayer furt her devel oped t his principle of the 'dyn am i c pat h of
t hought '. Bayer lat er even claim ed that t his present at ion w as 'on e of the first
at t em pt s k n ow n to me to organise an exhibit ion according t o an organic flow
and sequence of exhibit s', 'one of the first w it h planned circulat ion'.19 The press
expr essed ast onishm ent at the un usual r i gi di t y of t he route. It w as charact erised
as a form of 'dogm at i sm ' and 'passionat e didact icism ' t inged w i t h doct rinairism
- the m om ent the forced it inerary is a 'circulation, not on ly for the feet but for the
m in d', as one Par i s critic put it.20 I n order to direct the spect at ors' st eps in a
rigorous m anner and above all m ake people underst and t he im port ance of a
logical and linear r eadi ng of the exhibit ion, desi gners di d not si m pl y organise
room s in the clearest w ay possible. The cat alogue, w i t h a l ayout by Bayer, indi
cat ed t he vi si t or 's pat h u si n g a thin, cont inuous, w i n d i n g line m ark ed w i t h ar
row s, indicat ing one and only one rout e t hrough the room s - a graphical pract ice
that w ou l d soon becom e ver y com m on. The rout e in the exhibit ion it self w as
designat ed in a clear-cut fashion b y 'com m an din g ar r ow s' t hat w er e bot h an i
m at ed and lit up - light ing u p w h en t hey m oved for w ar d, going out w h en t hey
m oved back w ar ds — and w i t h sound, pr oduci ng 'cr ack i n g' and 'buzzi n g'
so u n d s/ 1 curiously blending t oget her didact icism w i t h bor r ow i n gs from urban
com m ercial publicit y.
M ore t han an y ot her designer, Bayer ensured that cont rol over circulat ion
w as at the cent re of his pract ice. W hile Li ssi t zk y conceived of his exhibit ions as
the sum of it s independent di splays, w i t h no part icular vi ew i n g order, Bayer
w as fascinat ed by the idea t hat one can devel op a line of t hought b y set t ing up

an it inerary - i.e., gui di n g people's st eps to guide their m inds. H e believed t hat
exhibit ion design w as not so m uch an int egral part of decorat ion or interior
archit ect ure, as w as t hought in the 19t h cent ury; nor w as it even part of the
m ult iple t echniques of publicit y present at ion and graphic visualisat ion t hat had
becom e i n cr easin gly im port ant since t he 1920s; it w as above all a science of t raf
fic. In t his cont ext he speak s deliberat ely of 't raffic cont rol',22 a not ion borrow ed
from t raffic engineering, a discipline t hat w as also devel opin g during the first
h alf of t he 20t h cent ury in response to increases in aut om ot ive t raffic, the spread
of w h i ch at t hat t ime un doubt edl y also h ad an influence on the cont rol of pedes
t rian flow —from exhibit ion desi gn to the first superm arket s. Bayer liked to refer
to t his by pl ayi n g not only w it h count less ar r ow s, but also w i t h floor m arkings,
as in his first exhibit ion in Am erica, the Bauhaus 19 19-1928 ret rospect ive at the
M oM A in N ew Yor k in 1938, the year that he em igrat ed to the US.
T h e c i n e m a in r e v e r s e
Bayer 's w or k on circulat ion w as to com e to a head in 1942 w i t h his second large
inst allat ion at the M oM A , t he Road to Victory exhibit ion.23 This pr opagan da ex
hibit ion, direct ed b y the phot ogr apher Edw ar d Steichen, w as aim ed at influenc
in g public opinion in defence of t he U S's ent ering the w ar a year earlier, aft er the
at t ack on Pearl H arbour. St eichen's first idea w as to m ake a large phot ographic
port rait of Am er ica and it s arm y. The m ain w or k i n g title used for t he exhibit ion
w as Panorama o f Defence. M ore precisely, t he exhibit ion w ou l d have been dom i
nat ed b y a m odern form of the panoram a, the giant phot om ural, a t echnique
that, in the 1930s, w as even m ore popul ar in Am erica t han in Germ any. It w as a
t echnique t hat had w on St eichen m uch renown dur in g that period. The exhibi
tion w ou l d have consist ed of a m onum ent al com posit e i m age in front of which
spect at ors w ou ld stand an d stare, as t hey w ou l d be able t o see the ent ire piece
from a single vi ew poi n t . Bayer w as recruit ed late on to gi ve shape t o the whole
and t ransform the project. H e beli eved that the pan oram ic vi ew from a single
cent ral point , bot h all en com passin g and om niscient, no longer corresponded to
the m ode of t hinking of t he 20t h cen t ur y The t imes for him w ere charact erised
b y relat ivit y, m obilit y, and t he perm anent quest ioning of acquired cert aint ies
t hat are const ant ly and deliberat ely bein g confront ed by n ew approaches and
changing perspect ives. Bayer believed t hat t his philosophy also required m ult i
ple view poi n t s, a dyn am i c and open set of elements:
The consciousness of the relativity and the dynamic interrelation of phenomena

teaches us that we cannot approach the known as well as the unknown from a fixed
point of view. It teaches us that we must look at things from many standpoints ... The

134 O livie r Lugon
idea of panoramic point of view has disappeared, because we dissect and put to
gether again. Thus we have conceived a new view which is super-dimensional: the
montage.24
Figure 12. Herbert Bayer, model fo r Road to Victory, New York, 294 2
The w h ole of the Road to Victon/ project - and its im port ance - w ou ld t hus de
pend on the m eet ing of t w o 20t h-cent ury m yt hs - the obsession w it h circulat ion
and the m ont age m odel, t w o t hemes that Bayer at tem pt ed to link together,
m ak ing ever y effort to t urn the dyn am i c pat h into a form of m ont age. In order
to achieve this, he im posed the idea of a spat iot em poral experience based on the
perm anent displacem ent of the point of view. In ot her w ords, he deconst ruct ed
the phot om ont age —the rigid assem bly of i m ages on the w al l - in order to un
furl it in space and invit e spect at ors to 'w al k within the com posit ion',25 in accor
dance w it h an it inerary devel oped in advan ce, along w hich visit or s w er e strict ly
guided b y m eans of a w i n d i n g r am p prot ected by barr i ers (fig. 12). The exhibi
tion t hus becam e a 'procession of phot ographs', reflected in the subt it le t hat w as
ult im at ely chosen: A Procession o f Photographs o f the Nation at War, w it h all the
r eligious connot at ions of a cerem ony of collect ive regenerat ion. A s t his un fur l
in g of i m ages occurred bot h in t im e and dept h, Bayer hi m self described it as a
sort of ext ension of cinem a to the sur r oun di n g space, or m ore precisely, as a

form of film in reverse: 'T o tell the st ory dram at ically, I w ant ed to reverse the
pr ocedure of look in g at the film w here the public is static and the film m oves.
Therefore, in t his case, I had the public m ove t hrough the exhibit ion.'26 Steichen
lost no t ime in adopt i n g the idea and sum m ar ised it even better: 'The sh ow is a
m ovi n g pict ure ... w h er e you do the m ovi n g and the pict ures st and st ill'.27
W it h t his r eversal, Bayer gave the spect at or the role of the film st rip in cinema.
The w ay he gr aph i cal ly represent ed the rout e t hrough his exhibit ions, w it h the
fluid and m eandering lines fl ow i n g unint errupt ed w i t hi n the com plex and an
gu l ar t wist s and t urns of t he archit ect ure, in a cert ain w ay recalls t he t ort uous
jour n ey of the cinem at ographic film t hrough the projector. This reasoning al
l ow s the spect at ors' bod y m ovem ent s to pr oduce the m ont age live; w h er eas a
film direct or or phot om ont age specialist com bines the im ages by m eans of p h y
sically gl u i n g them toget her, Bayer cont rolled the spect at ors t hem selves in order
to produce t hese associat ions and links. The spect at ors' m ovem ent s becam e the
ver y r aw m at erial of his art, his inst rum ent and weapon, on a par w i t h the
i m ages t hem selves.
Road to Victory t hus achieves a genuine dr am at ur gy of m ovem ent , w here the
physi ologi cal experience of w al k i n g and each change of level and direct ion be
com e a series of dram at ic and em ot ional vect ors. This is borne out by the fact
t hat t he psychological highpoint of the st or y and t urning-point in the narration,
the at t ack on Pearl H arbour, corresponds to one of the m ajor m om ent s of dis
rupt ion in the vi si t or s' spat ial m ovem ent s. It w as the precise m om ent w h en the
ram p t hat t hey w er e clim bing 'm or e and m ore steeply, t ho' you are h ar dly
aw ar e of it consciously' - w h i l e bein g inform ed about the isolat ionist m ovem ent
of the pr evi ou s year s - ar r i ved at t he sum m it and sim ult aneously did a 180-
degree turn. The t w o corner-piece panel s in the centre of the m odel could not
be seen in advan ce and brought about a shock that im itated the hist orical event .
'A ft er t hat you are led dow n hi l l in the ever-increasing m om ent um of Am erica's
w ar effor t ';28 t he m ore convinced one becom es about the inevit abilit y of vict ory,
the easier t he pace becom es.
By exploit in g m ovem ent as a rhetorical and dram at urgi cal tool, Bayer forged
a closer link bet w een t he com m unicat ion of i deas an d the visit or s' physical ex
perience t han in an y of his pr evi ou s exhibit ions. In som e w ays, it could be said
t hat he t ook the 1920s' vi si on of com m unicat ion based on the union of m ind
and body to its apot heosis. H ow ever, his pur pose at this t ime w as a ver y di ffer
ent one. W hereas fift een year s previously, t he appeal to the spect at ors' physical
and dyn am i c experience w as supposed to free t hem from their supposed pas
sivit y, t his w as no longer the case. H ow ever vi gor ou sl y visit or s w er e able to
m ove about in the t hree dim ensions, crossing the exhibit ion space in all direc
tions, t heir eyes dar t in g left and right t hrough the phot ographs, t hey w ere
neit her m ore act ive nor m ore free. Since t he phot os w er e explicit ly hun g using

m O livie r Lugon
a flexible approach t hroughout the exhibit ion space, in accordance w it h the pr e

cept s of 'ext en ded vi si on ' and a cert ain image of m odern flexibility, it w as pre
cisely in the dyn am i c pat h that led one t hrough the exhibit ion space that the
necessary r i gi di t y of a pr opagan da discourse w as present ed, w i t h the const rain
in g l inearit y of an ar gum en t at ive and em ot ional sequence t hat w as det erm ined
in advance, gi vi n g vi si t or s no room t o m anoeuvre. Far from being the inst ru
m ent of t heir liberat ion, the hold of pr opagan da and the handling of the vi si
t ors' psych ol ogy w er e n ow concent rat ed in t heir ver y mobility.
This point s t o a second, m ore general cont radict ion l ur k in g in the ver y dream
of a n ew vi su al l an guage, w h i ch w ou l d be bot h liberat ing and m ore efficient.
Clearly, i f Bayer sought so ardent ly t o solicit the physical part icipat ion of the
spect at ors, it w er e to m ake com m unicat ion m ore efficient to ensure great er p sy
chological cont rol over t hem. In 1939, he point ed out that an exhibit ion should
'penet rat e and l eave an im pression on [them], should explain, dem onst rat e, and
even per suade and lead [them] to a planned and direct react ion'29. Ten year s
later in 1947, the art hist orian A l exan der D orner w r ot e his book on Bayer en
titled The Wfly Beyond 'A r t ' and even spoke of the exhibit ion as 'an aggr essi ve
en er gy seeking to t ransform the vi si t or '.30 In a w or d: t aking such pains to set
spect at ors free m eans, par adoxi call y enough, bein g able to cont rol them better.
M o v in g w a lk w a y s a n d m o t o r w a y s
Bayer 's obst inat e desire to control m ovem ent s for a t im e led him to en vi sage
pur el y and si m pl y aut om at ing t hem b y m echanical m eans. H e t hus planned to
use the m ovin g w al k w ay t hanks to w h i ch the visit or should 'perfor ce subm it to
direct ion', as he explained in 1939.31 The syst em w ou ld not on ly have the ad
van t age of en sur in g the direct ion of the vi si t m ore efficient ly t han bar ri ers and
ram ps, but w ou l d also do w h at no exhibit ion had pr evi ou sl y done: dict at e the
t em po an d rhyt hm of the visit , sim ilar to the film s that Bayer w as so en vious of.
By the end of t he 1920s, som e t heorist s had al r eady developed the an alogy
w i t h cinem a sufficient ly far as to dr eam of m ast ering the t em po of the visit.
Consider ing t he exhibit ion as a dyn am i c experience m eant defi ni ng it as an art
form t hat w as as t im e-orient ed as it w as vi su all y based, like cinem a - and also
m usic or dance —i.e., based on control over cadence and rhyt hm . This, as w as
not ed above, w as Frit z Coer per 's view . H e en visaged the 'dyn am i c form of the
exhibit ion' as a 'fil m w i t h it s accelerat ed and slow m ot ion', but also as 'r h yt h
m ics'.32 W ilhelm Lot z also conceived of 't he exhibit ion as a space-t im e exper i
ence', w h i ch m eant not on l y st ruct uring space and fixin g an it inerary but,
t hrough them, regul at i ng the t ime and rhyt hm of the exhibit ion, in ot her w or ds,

'or gan i si n g it like t he pr ogr ession of a film ' and reaching 't he inevit able charac
ter of the t em poral experience of space'.33
A lt h ough Bayer di d not succeed in i m posing t em po on vi si t ors b y elect rom e
chanical m eans, the year in w hich he published his art icle saw the idea take
concrete shape in one of the m ost popul ar didact ic present at ions of the cent ury
- N orm an Bel Gedd es's Futurama exhibit in the General M ot ors Pavi lion of the
N ew Yor k W orld's Fai r in 1939/ 1940.34 Lik e m an y ot her present at ions at the fair,
the t hem e of the Futurama w as t raffic cont rol, aut om obile t raffic in t his case. It
present ed a vi si on of a fut ure Am er ica - t hat of i960 - w her e t raffic congest ion
problem s w ou l d by sol ved b y a com plet ely n ew syst em of radio-cont rolled m o
t or w ays, al low in g for fluid t raffic pat t erns. Flui dit y w as considered a k ey con
dit ion of pr osper it y and, hence, as a rem edy for the nat ion's principal economic,
ur ban and social problem s.
In order to present his fairyt ale-like vi si on of circulat ion, Bel Geddes con
ceived a series of giant m odels above w hich spect at ors are conduct ed, sit t ing in
a kind of endless t rain, a procession of 500 aligned seat s along a long, w i n di n g
track, w h i ch t ransport ed m ore t han 2,000 people per hour in t wo-seat ers pr o
vi d ed w i t h separat e recorded com m ent s (fig. 13). For these spectators, the route
t hrough the exhibit ion t ook on som et hing of t he quali t y of the t raffic present ed
in the m odels — perfect ly fluid t raffic in w hich in di vi duals were, so to speak,
t aken al on g b y an invisible current det erm ining t heir direct ion and speed w i t h
out leavi n g t hem the slight est room for m an oeuvr e nor the slight est w or r y
about dealing w i t h the it inerary - Lew i s M um for d m ade ironical rem arks about
the fact t hat Gener al M ot ors w as above al l advert isi n g for the r ailw ay.35 M e
chanical spect at ors could enjoy the t rip as pur e spectacle, and for them, the pr o
m enade t hrough the exhibit ion t akes on the charact erist ics of an out ing to the
cinem a. Com for t ably sit t ing in t heir seat s in n ear darkness, t heir eyes fixed on
the source of light , t heir attent ion t aken b y a 'soun dt r ack ' that has been synchro
nised w i t h the im ages, t hey al l ow t hem selves to be t aken on a pur el y fictional
journey, carried al on g —a pr oper ly cinem at ographic facult y - t hrough changes
of scales and angles of vi si on t hat h ave no link w i t h t heir act ual size or position.
A b ove all, t he it inerary t hey w er e invit ed to fol low w as t im ed like a film, un
vei l i n g the General M ot ors m essage in a sequence program m ed dow n to the
sm allest det ails. Such precision w as n at ur all y no longer able to support random
st rolling from the m om ent w h en —like the ghost t rain —the visi t or s' m ovem ent s
and t he unfur l i n g of the spect acle becam e linked together, the first causing the
second to m ove for w ar d. The success of the Futurama exhibit w as predicat ed on
the p assi vi t y of the vi si t or —a kind of r ever sal of the first principles of the m od
ern exhibit ion - m ovi n g w it h out physical effort , w it hout the bod y part icipat ing,
w i t h out i n divi dual mobilit y.

O livie r Lugon
Figure 13. Norman Bel Geddes, Futuram a, New York, 1939
P o s te r ity and p o s t- w a r d e b a te s
A ft er the war, t his kind of research on perfect ly cont rolled spect at or m ovem ent
t ended to decline in the area of didact ic exhibit ion design. Specialised publi ca
tions on the subject from the 1950s and 1960s not ed that people t ended to be
increasin gly suspicious of im posed it ineraries, the 'forced intest inal circulat ion'
based on an aut horit arian channelling of spect ators, in w h ich the i n divi dual felt
'disci pl i n ed' and 'com pul sor i ly i n st ruct ed'.36 Inst ead of basing m odern com m u
nicat ion on the const raint s of pedest rian freedom , m any designers t ried to find
non-linear form s of didact ic present at ions that w ou ld gi ve visit or s a great er
sense of liberty.

Figure 14. Charles and Ray Fames, "history wall", A Com puter Perspective,
New York, 1971
Ch ar l es and Ray Eam es pr ovi de exam ples of t his effort . From the 1950s to the
1970s, t hey devel oped a definit ion of m ont age in exhibit ion spaces that w as
ver y different from Bayer's. W hile he considered it an art of succession, the
regulat ed sequencing of im ages and idea, Charles and Ray Eam es saw it m ore
as a kaleidoscopic form based on the principle of 'inform at ion over l oad'. In
t heir didact ic present at ions and m ult i-screen project ions, t hey set out to pr ovide
vi si t or s w i t h a deliberat ely uncont rollable profusion of elem ents, im ages or text,
into w hich spect at ors w ere necessarily led to dip, as the spirit —or the random
roam i ng of t heir eyes or feet —m oved them (fig. 14). Rat her t han a linear con
st ruct ion that had been fixed in advan ce b y it s designer, m ont age l ar gely de
pended on the spect at ors t hem selves. The com binat ion of inform at ion w as

140 O livie r Lugon
open and random , and percept ion deliberat ely fragm ent ed and roam ing. The
cinem at ographic m odel had clearly been left behind in preference for w h at
w ou l d becom e t elevision zappi n g or Int ernet surfin g (Charles and Ray Eam es
w or k ed r egul ar l y for IBM ). Spect at ors' pow er s of concent rat ion w er e t ested by
the m ult iplicit y of opt ions, n ew dist ract ions and variat ions, w hi ch at the end
part ly underm ined the relevance and m eaning of t heir choices.
This oscillat ion bet w een freedom and const raint rem ained the subject of de
bat es bet ween specialist s of the exhibit ion for a long t ime to come. Typi cal ques
tions were: w hat proport ion of indet erm inat ion is com pat ible w it h the int ellig
ibilit y of a present at ion? H ow can one develop a coherent m essage while
al l ow i n g visit or s t o create t heir ow n sequences? D oes not const ruct ing a di s
course necessarily m ean defining a regulat ed and fixed organisat ion of ele
ments, as for the film or the book? In cont rast, does absolut e freedom of m ove
m ent and vi si on r eall y guarant ee the spect at ors' em ancipat ion? W hat is the
point of one bein g able t o m ove around as one wishes, w it hin a syst em that,
despit e everyt hing, rem ains codified and circum scribed by som eone else? D oes
t his not lead to ever m ore vi si t or passivit y, m ore inert ia w it hin the predet er
m ined syst em ?
Put anot her way, it w ou l d be w r on g to w i sh to est ablish a m an dat or y correla
tion bet w een di sposi t i ves cont rolling m ovem ent , w hich by nat ure are m an ipu
lat ive and dict at orial, and free it ineraries, w hich are necessarily em ancipat ing
and dem ocrat ic. It is par adoxi cal t hat it w as the dem ocracies that w er e to m ake
im posed m ovem ent a pr i vi leged m ode of their represent at ions, w her eas from
the end of the 1930s, t ot alit arian regim es w ou l d m ost oft en com e back to m uch
m ore convent ional form ulas of the expr ession of pow er - m onum ent al m a
chines, pom pous, axi al st agi n gs which, t hrough t heir ver y rigidit y, pr eclude the
cont rol of com plex m ovem ent s. Such w as the par adoxi cal rule of m ovem ent
w it hin the exhibit ion per ceived b y Bayer (fig. 15) .37 A sym bolically aut horit ar
ian, axi al and sym m et ric organisat ion of space, such as w as favour ed by dict a
t orships, act ually led to uncont rolled it ineraries, w i t h visit or s w an der i n g from
d i splay t o di splay w i t h neit her their order nor the direct ion t aken decided in
advan ce; a m ore flexible, m ult idirect ional and cont rast ed di vi di n g-up of exhibi
tion space, such as foun d favou r in dem ocracies, const ituted the best m eans of
cont rolling vi si t or s' pat hs. For exam ple, at the Par is U n iver sal Exhibit ion of
1937, a cont em porary com m ent at or not ed that of all the pavilions, it w as fi nall y
the int im idat ing pavi l i on of H it ler's Ger m an y w hich - w it h the Soviet pavil ion -
w as the one w her e m ovem ent w as the least cont rolled. Once the m onum ent al
ent rance h ad been passed t hrough, vi si t or s w ere left to t heir ow n devices.38
Such a dict at orship si m pl y h as no use for an it inerary of persuasion — rat her
t han convince, it set s out to subjugat e, and to at t ain t his end prefers to sw ap the
rat ionale gover n i ng the cinem at ographic m ont age for the set t ing of the theatre.

Figur e 15. H erbert Bayer, [ 1936]
d i so r d er i n f l oor pl an in r el at i on to
di r ect i o n
o r gan i zed di r ect i on
N o te s
1. This article combines two published texts: 'La photographie mise en espace. Les
expositions didactiques allemandes (1925-1945)' (études photographiques, no. 5, No
vember 1998) and 'Des cheminements de pensée. La gestion de la circulation dans
les expositions didactiques' (Art Press, special issue 'Oublier l'exposition', October
2000).
2. El Lissitzky, 'Autobiography', 1941, in El Lissitzky 1890-1941: Architect, Painter,
Photographer, Typographer, cat. expo., Eindhoven: Municipal Van Abbemuseum,
1990, p. 8; Herbert Bayer, 'Aspects of Design of Exhibitions and Museums', Curator,
vol. 4, no. 3, 1961, pp. 257-258.
3. Johannes Molzahn, 'Nicht mehr lesen ! Sehen !', Das Kunstblatt, vol. 12, March 1928,
p. 78.
4. Franz Roh, 'Ausstellungen von heute', Das neue Frankfurt, vol. 4, no. 6, June 1930,
P*145-
5. El Lissitzky, 'Exhibitions rooms', [date unknown], in El Lissitzky: Life, Letters, Texts,
ed. Sophie Lissitzky-Kiippers, Thames & Hudson, 1980 (1968), p. 366.

6. 'Through photography (and even more through film) we have acquired new experi
ences of space, and with their help and that of the new schools of architecture we
have achieved the widening and sublimation of our appreciation of space. Through
its comprehension of the new culture of space - thanks to photographers - human
ity has acquired the power to perceive its surroundings and true existence with a
new eye', Telehor, no. 1-2, 1936, reprinted in László Moholy-Nagy. Peinture Photogra
phie Film et autres écrits sur la photographie, Nîmes: Ed. Jacqueline Chambon, 1993,
p. 195.
7. On the theoretical importance of dance for German modernism in the 1920s, one can
consider, for example, the following comment by M oholy-Nagy in Von Material :u
Architektur (Munich: Albert Langen Verlag Bauhausbücher no. 14, 1929, p. 195), re
printed in The New Vision, Mineola and New York: Dover Publications, 2005 (1938),
p. 163: 'From the point of view of the subject, space is naturally to be experienced
most directly by movement; on a higher level, by the dance. The dance is at the
same time an elemental means for realization of space-creative impulses. It can ar
ticulate space, order it.'
8. Herbert Bayer, preface to Erberto Carboni. Exhibitions and Displays, Milan: Silvana,
1957, P- 9
9. Herbert Bayer was to remember his visit as an essential experience for his own re
search in the field (interview with Arthur A. Cohen, 1981, quoted by Gwen Finkel
Chanzit, Herbert Bayer and Modernist Design in America, Ann Arbor and London:
UM 1 Research Press, Studies in the Fine Arts. The Avant-Garde no. 58, 1987, p. 118).
10. These break-up effects here were all the stronger as the photographic fragments
were not glued up against the wall over a single surface, but hung in front of a
transparent cloth with gaps between the images or with some images partially cov
ering others.
ix. From this point on, Bayer insisted on ordering and systematising the techniques
invented here (Herbert Bayer, in Chanzit, op. cit., p. 118).
12. Wilhelm Lotz, 'Zur Ausstellung "Die Kamera'", Die Form, vol. 8, no. 11, November
1933, p. 325.
13. Fritz Coerper, 'Die Deutsche Bauausstellung Berlin 1931 als Ausstellungsreform',
Bauwelt, vol. 20, no. 5, 31 January 1929, p. 91.
14. See, in particular, Herbert Starke, 'Neue Wege zum monumentalen Photo',
Deutscher Kamera Almanach, vol. 28: 1938 (1937), French translation in Olivier Lugon
(ed.), La Photographie en Allemagne. Anthologie de textes 1919-1939, Nîmes: Ed. Jacque
line Chambon, 1997, pp. 427-430.
15. Siegfried Kracauer, 'Photographiertes Berlin', Frankfurter Zeitung, 15 December
1932, reprinted in Siegfried Kracauer. Schriften 5.3. Aufsätze 1932-1965, ed. Inka
Mülder-Bach, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1990, pp. 168-169.
16. Fritz Coerper, op. cit., p. 91.
17. 'The fact that spectators follow the creation of the images gives them the psycholo
gical impression of participating, and thus brings about increased interest for the
theme represented' (Ella Briggs, 'Ausstellungs-Gestaltungen', Bauwelt, vol. 22, no.
19, 7 M ay 1931, p. 650).
18. Adolf Behne, 'AH AG-Ausstellung', iio, vol. 12, no. 17-18,1928, p. 94.
19. Herbert Bayer, 1961, op. cit., p. 260, and 'Principles of Exhibition Design', list of
transparencies presented at the lecture held at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Pat-

terson, Dayton, Ohio, 13 October i960 (Herbert Bayer Archive, Denver Art M u
seum, Denver).
20. Jean Gallotti, 'L ’Architecture au Salon', Travaux publics, 17 July 1930; B.R., 'Der
Werkbund in Paris', Frankfurter Zeitung, 20 M ay 1930; Paul Werrie, 'Les Allemands
à Paris', Le Vingtième Siècle, 17 July 1930 (Bauhaus Archiv, Berlin).
21. Jean Gallotti, ' A propos du Salon des Décorateurs', Revue hebdomadaire, 12 July 1930,
p. 208; Julius Posener, 'Die Deutsche Abteilung in der Ausstellung der Société des
artistes décoratifs français', Die Baugilde, no. 11, 1930; B.E. Werner, 'Der summende
Pfeil. Der deutsche Werkbund in Paris', Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 12 June 1930
(Bauhaus Archiv, Berlin).
22. Herbert Bayer, 1961, op. cit., p. 260.
23. On the Road to Victory, see the founding articles by Christopher Phillips, 'Steichen’s
Road to Victory', Exposure, vol. 18, no. 2, 1981, and 'The Judgement Seat of Photogra
phy', October, no. 22, autumn 1982, and M ary Anne Staniszewski, The Power of Dis
play: A History of Exhibition Installations at the Museum of Modern Art, Cambridge and
London: MIT Press, 1998, pp. 209-224.
24. Herbert Bayer, 'Presentation and Display', lecture given at New York University, 5
December 1940, typed manuscript, p. 16 (Herbert Bayer Archive, Denver Art M u
seum, Denver).
25. Barbara Morgan, 'Photomontage', The Complete Photographer, ed. Willard D. Mor
gan, 1942-1943, p. 2863.
26. Herbert Bayer, 'Notes given to Alexander Dorner for his writings about Bayer's ex
hibition design', c. 1940, n.p. (Herbert Bayer Archive, Denver Art Museum, Denver).
27. Edward Steichen, quoted in anonymous, 'Photo Exhibit Shows Drama of US at
W ar', Illinois News, 31 March 1943 (Museum of Modern Art Archives, M oM A, New
York).
28. William Hickey, 'Self-portrait of America', Daily Express, 9 October 1942 (Public In
formation Scrapbook, MoM A, New York).
29. Herbert Bayer, 'Fundamentals of Exhibition Design', PM, vol. 6, no. 2, December-
January 1939-1940, p. 17.
30. Alexander Dorner, The Way Beyorid "Art ”. The Work of Herbert Bayer, New York: Wit
tenborn, Schultz, 1947, p. 198.
31. Herbert Bayer, 1939-1940, op. cit., p. 20.
32. Fritz Coerper, op. cit., p. 91.
33. [Wilhelm] Lotz, '1932', Die Form, vol. 4, no. 16,1929, p. 440.
34. On the Futurama, see Norman Bel Geddes, Magic Motorways, New York: American
Book-Stratford Press, 1940; Roland Marchand, 'The Designers go to the Fair II: Nor
man Bel Geddes, The General Motors "Futurama", and the Visit to the Factory
Transformed', Design Issues, vol. 8, no. 2, spring 1992, p. 23-40; Barbara Hauss-Fit-
ton, 'Futurama, New York World's Fair 1939-40', Rassegna, vol. 16, no. 60, 1994,
pp. 55-68,
35. Lewis Mumford, 'Genuine Bootleg', Nezv Yorker, 29 July 1939, reprinted in Sidewalk
Critic: Lewis Mumford's Writings On New York, ed. Robert Wojtowicz, New York:
Princeton Architectural Press, 1998, pp. 245-246.
36. Misha Black, Exhibition Design, London: Architectural Press, 1950, p. 31; Horst Döh-
nert, Messe- und Ausstellungsbauten, Munich: Verlag Georg D.W. Callwey, 1961, p. 9;

144 O livie r Lugon
Hans Neuburg, Internationale Ausstellungs-Gestaltung. Conception internationale d'ex

positions. Conceptions of International Exhibitions, Zurich: ABC Verlag, 1969, p. 14.
37. See Herbert Bayer, 1939-1940, op. cit., p. 18.
38. Serge Chermayeff, 'Circulation: Design: Display. The Architect at the Exhibition',
The Architectural Review, vol. 82, no. 490, September 1937, p. 93.

T he L e ctu re
L e C o r b u s i e r ’s U s e o f t h e W o r d , D r a w i n g a n d P r o j e c t i o n
Olivier Lugon
For t he last fift een year s or so, hist orians h ave been underlining h ow m odern
archit ect ure has t aken on a life of its ow n in t he m edia and been gi ven consider
able publicit y t hrough phot ographs, books, revi ew s, exhibit ions an d film s.1
H ow ever , scant at tent ion has been pai d to t he lecture, w hi ch is one of t he m ajor
vehicles of such publicit y. Leavi n g asi de h ow hard it is to reconst itute a lecture,
gi ven the sm all quant it y of inform at ion avai lable and it s fragm ent ary nat ure,
the m ajor cause of indifference is un doubt edly that, for hist orians of art and
archit ect ure, t he lecture is si m pl y a habit ual exercise. M oreover, as it is based
on the spoken w or d, it seem s more appropriat e to st udy it as discourse rat her
t han as form .2 W hen scholars h ave looked at the lecture, it has been as a t ext ual
source, and seldom as a disposit ive. H ow ever , hist orians k n ow ver y w el l —par
t icularly aft er the advent of di git al m edia - to w h at ext ent a lecture cannot be
reduced to w or d s alone, but presupposes a considerable t echnical, vi sual and
st age di sposi t i ve which, from the 19t h cent ury onw ards, led cult ural and scien
tific com m unicat ion t o cross pat hs w it h t he developm ent of the opt ical spectacle
and the popular projection.
For architects, it is vi t al to m ast er lect uring techniques. Their w or k i n volves
lar ge sum s of money, and yet , t hey cannot use t radit ional adver t isi n g m et hods
and t hus t hey h ave to r el y m ore on academ ic channels to prom ot e t heir wor k.
WTien t hey lect ure, t hey do so not on l y to educat e, ed i fy and defend ideas, but
also to w i n over an audience, w i n cont ract s, w i n over invest ors, local authorit ies
or states. M oreover, for t he avant -garde m ovem ent , the lecture is m ore efficient
t han a text for im posi n g the figur e of the art ist as a guide, a precursor w h o has
to m ak e great effort s to w i n over his cont em poraries, w h o are al w ays presum ed
to be host ile because t hey l ag behind the master. The m odern art ist 's perfor
m ance in pedagogi cal t erm s is par t an d parcel of the recognit ion he seeks as a
pioneer.
The m ajor pl ayer s of the m odern m ovem ent ow e m uch t o such act ivit ies.
W alt er Gr opi u s is an exam ple of som eone w ho, as an expert in prom ot ing, re
lied h eavi ly on the lecture. One can even say t hat it is as a speaker and lant ern
operat or that he est ablished his aut horit y as an architect. In 19 11, aft er he had
br ok en off his st udies w i t h out receiving a diplom a and had built not hing of any
not e, he w as in vit ed by a pat ron of the art s, Kar l Ernst Ost haus, to gi ve an illu-

146 O livie r Lugon
st rat ed lect ure at the Fol k w an g M useum in H agen. Gropi us pr epared the visual
part of his t alk w i t h par t icular care, en gagi n g in correspondence over a period
of m ore t han one year in order to get hold of the sevent y or so slides, am ong
w h i ch w er e the fam ous i m ages of Am er ican silos. Seat ed am ong the audience of
indust rialist s w as the ow n er of the Fagu s fact ories, w h o w as sufficient ly con
vi nced to order the bui ldi n g w hich w as to launch Gr opi us's career.3 Sim ilarly,
Erich M endelsohn w on over t he great er m ajorit y of his clients in the 1920s du r
in g a series of eight lect ure-project ions organised in a salon of Berlin's high so
ciet y in 19 19 .4
This st rat egy t ook on a n ew dim ension in bot h quant it at ive and qualit at ive
t erm s w i t h Le Cor busi er - sever al Le Cor busi er scholars h ave d r aw n at tent ion
to this, including Jean-Louis Cohen, M ar dges Bacon, Yan n is Tsiom is, and more
recent ly Tim Bent on.3 First ly, from the end of the 1920s, he gave a global dim en
sion to the pract ice of lect uring, t hanks to lect ure t ours t hat last ed up to several
w eek s at a t ime and began at t ract ing lar ger and larger audiences (in the 1930s,
he boast ed t hat he had al r eady w on over som e hun dred t housand people by
w or d alone).6 Secondly, he i nvest ed an un u sual am ount of en ergy and attention
in the t ask, in a fl ur r y of persuasion ak in t o preaching. H e gave m arat hon talks,
som et im es last ing t hree or four hours. H ere he di spl ayed —i f one is to believe
the account s —a gr eat t alent as a speak er ('W hat m agic w or ds w hen spoken by
Le Corbusier!').7 M oreover, w h at ever his rhet orical t alent s and w h at ever plea
sure he t ook in public speaking, he w as not content w i t h r elyin g on the force of
w or d s alone, as m ost of his colleagues did, by sim ply perpet uat ing the codes of
the ninet eent h-cent ury pedagogi cal present at ion and lantern project ion. H e
t urned his t alks into genuine m ult im edia spect acles w h ose form and content he
w ou ld const ant ly rew ork. In a period of 40 years, from 1920 to the beginning of
the 1960s, he unt i r i n gly perfect ed his persuasion st rat egies and tried out n ew
associat ions bet ween the w or d, dr aw i n g and project ion.
Le Cor busi er seem s to h ave acquired t his fait h in the im port ance of the lec
t ure ver y ear l y on, w hen in 19 10 - 19 11, aged 23, he w en t on a st udy-t rip to Ger
m an y to research into the vi t ali t y of Ger m an decorat ive art s. One of the un der
t aki n gs t hat m ade a st rong im pression on the youn g Jeanneret w as Kar l Ernst
O st haus's Ger m an M useum for art in t rade and crafts. This m useum w i t h out a
bu ildi n g aim ed t o reform the count ry's appli ed art s and architecture: beside
ready-t o-visit exhibit ions, it bank ed on the sust ained act ivit ies of lect ure-projec
tions (O st haus him self gave som e 30 per year) and a syst em of loans of t rans
parencies m ade avai lable to speak er s t hroughout the country. In the report on
his journey, in w hich he set out to define t he 'fact ors gi vi n g Ger m an y its pow er ',
the fut ure Le Cor busi er point ed to 'pr opagan d a b y m eans of lect ures' as 'on e of
the efficient w eapon s' of the Ger m an m ovement.^ H e w as then ver y st ruck by
O st haus,9 w h o invit ed him to his house in H agen in the spri ng of 19 11, a few

The Lecture 147
w eek s aft er W alt er Gr opi us's lecture, w hose success w as cert ainly m entioned to
Jeanneret .
N ot hing, however , point s to Jeanneret him self lect uring in an y form during
t hose years, and t here is unfort unat ely no record of the first k n ow n lectures
gi ven at the beginning of t he 1920s. The first disposit ive that can be reconst i
t ut ed dat es from 1924 and w as t ried an d t est ed in Lausan n e before the first pr e
sent at ion at the Sorbonne in Paris, w h i ch w as fol low ed by a series of ident ical
present at ions dur i n g the fol low i n g m ont hs. Like Gropius, he gave prim e im por
t ance to the project ion of plates, but w i t h revit alized st aging.
P ro je c tio n
D ur i n g t he w h ol e of the period bet ween the wars, project ion w as one of the
m ajor w ays in w hi ch Le Cor busi er present ed his w ork , even in pr ivat e sh ow
ings (fig. 1). H e had a professional qual i t y project or in his w or k sh op,10 and a
room reser ved for t hat pur pose w her e he l iked to brin g his guest s, rat her t han
sh ow t hem his bui ldi n gs or his books. D ur i n g the 1930s, w hen he w as t ryi n g to
set up cont act s w i t h M ussolini, he t ried t o m ake his case for privat e lant ern
project ion: 'A n adm irable w ay of or gan i si n g the sym posium w it h M . w ou l d be
to be received som ew here one evening, w i t h a project ion lantern, and to project
som e phot ographs. That w ou l d replace the Exhibit ion and al low there to be
m ore subst ant ial and m ore object ive expl an at ion s.'11 There seem to be several
fact ors behind t he unequalled pow er of project ion in the com m unicat ion of
ideas and form s. On t he one hand, it is possible to br in g t oget her in one hom o
geneous present at ion the m ost het erogeneous objects, w h ose differences are
harm onised b y the sam e form at and the sam e im m at erial qualit y, and t hus un
derline t he coherence of the architect 's w or k , whet her it be furnit ure or t own
plann i n g.12 O n the ot her hand, the m om ent t he speak er him self handles the
equipm ent , it is bet t er t han a book, in t hat he is able in part to im provise and to
respond to the expect at ions and m oods of the list ener, and t hus t o balance con
t rol and spont aneit y, w hich w as a m ajor aspect of Le Corbusier 's pract ice. Fi n al
ly, it al low s one to t ake advan t age of the pot ent ial to fascinat e t hat the m on u
m ent al, yet ephem eral, lum in ous i m age has, w it h that alm ost m agical
charact erist ic of appear i n g and then di sappear in g just w h en one looks at it, as
t hough it w er e const ant ly act ive and alive. Thus, it gi ves the phot ographic
docum ent t he qualit y of an event t hat is closer to a l i ve dr aw i n g t han a book.
N at ur all y enough, Le Cor busi er com bined both.

148 O livie r Lugon
Figure î. Kenjy Imai, Le Corbusier, Paris, 1926
This w as t he case in 1924, w h en he devel oped a n ovel version of the lecture-

project ion for the Sorbonne. Le Cor busi er w as aw ar e of the im pact that a rapid
succession of lum inous i m ages could produce in a darkened room, and thus,
aft er a short pream ble, show ed w h at he called his 'fi l m ' in a com plet ely silent
hall, w i t h out an y com m ent ary w hat soever. It w as a rapid series of about one
hundred slides, w i t h a series of intertit les sh ow in g argum ent s or slogan s like a
silent film m ight have (fig. 2). There w as no doubt as to the surprise produced:
the em bar r assin g st rangeness of a pr ol on ged silence w as not on ly unexpect ed at
a lecture, but also not habit ual in t he cinem a w here, even during the silent film
period, t here w ou l d al w ays be som e form of accom panim ent , whet her it be
sound effect s, com m ent ary or m usic.
Le Cor busier 's 'cinem a' w as also un usual in that he w as deliberat ely t ryi n g to
produce clashes and jerkiness at a t ime w h en the idea of edit ing had not yet
acquired the aur a t hat it w as to h ave by t he end of the decade. In an y case, he
him self di d not use the w or d 'm on t age'. H e w as cert ainly aw ar e of cert ain ex
perim ent s carried out by the French avant -garde m ovem ent , such as his friend
Fernand Leger 's Ballet mecanique, com plet ed that sam e year. H ow ever, he did
not k n ow the w or k and w r i t i n gs of Eisenst ein, w it h w hom he w as to spend
t ime in M oscow four year s later. These ver y 'm oder n ' effect s of collisions and

The Lecture 149
jer k in ess w er e produced here b y using the old t echnique of the lantern, exploit
in g the const raint of h avi n g to w or k w i t h disconnect ed elem ents, from w hich he
beli eved he could pr oduce a 'shock i n g' im pact :
For the Sorbonne I put together a series of projections whose aim was to put the audi
ence into a shocked mental state. Shocked by the rapid succession of heterogeneous
images, events from the past and present, in contrast and opposition but also in har
mony. Creating unexpected and dazzling relationships, which, in fact, were only the
projection of existing facts. Dislocated relationships because our society is itself dislo
cated, at odds with its tradition, a period that creates suffering and grimaces.13
Figure 2. Le Corbusier, publication o f the lecture «L'Esprit Nouveau en

architecture» in Alm anach d'architecture moderne, 1926
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This use of breaks and shocks seem s to have m ade a st rong im pact on audi
ences, not on l y in cont rast to the t radit ional and oft en st aid lant ern project ions,
but, above all, w it hin the cont ext of the scholar ly paper, w hich is t heoret ically
m eant to advan ce by usi n g a logical and cont inuous progression of its ar gu
m ents. This w as em phasised in an account published in Paris-Jourtial, w her e the
form of t he lect ure w as at t acked as ferociously as it s content. The aut hor of the
art icle, Leandr e Vincent, t hought Le Cor busi er's 'fi l m ' belonged to the aggres-

150 O livie r Lugon
sive l ayout s t hat had al r eady been devel oped in L'Esprit nouveau, w i t h the harsh
succession of plat es replacing t he cont rast ing effect s produced b y juxt aposit ion
on the print ed page. In t his respect , Le Cor busi er w as crit icised for act ing 'usi n g
harsh suggest i on rat her t han logic. H e does not prove, he punches'; his only
m eans of w or k i n g w as said to be b y ant ithesis, whet her by bi n ar y opposit ions -
'i m age against im age' — or by t he const ruct ion of a coherent series that w as
br ut ally int errupt ed by som e incongruous element: 'a succession of i m ages of
the sam e t ype, three or four of t hem, a ship, an aeroplane or an engine, is su d
denly fol low ed by an isolat ed and different im age: the gall er y of the chat eau of
Font ainebleau. The audience im m ediat ely sn i gger s'. Vincent considered the
m et hod sim ilar to m anipulat ion:
It's a nervous reflex resulting from a psychological calculation that if need be can be
applied to prove the opposite. When, after projecting five or six female monkeys ta
ken from the Jardin des Plantes, one shows a Maillol figurine, or after a number of
chamber pots, one shows the Egyptian bread-carrier from the Louvre, the surprise
will make people laugh. You create an association for the audience by a series of
analogous perceptions, this produces inertia and then you interrupt the series, and
before the mind frees itself and takes in the unexpected, laughter breaks out! Another
means of suggestion.14
Le Corbusier did indeed bank on his audiences react ing in predict able w ays,
because the w h ol e developm en t of his lect ure depen ded on these reactions. A t
the end of t he long silent pr ologue t hat w as int ended to shake up the audience,
he fi nall y began t o speak an d to evok e the supposed shocks or ast onishm ent, in
order to dr aw general conclusions about the st ate of cont em porary t hinking. Le
Cor busier w ou l d then begin a m ore t radit ional lecture, present ing his i deas vi a
a series of connect ed argum ent s, back ed b y d r aw i n gs on the black board. H ow
ever, at t he end, he w ou l d com e back to anot her project ion, and a n ew 'fi l m ' of
slides, but inst ead of a silent project ion, he w ou l d t his t ime com m ent on the
slides.15 H e finished his dem onst rat ion b y sh ow in g his ow n works, and there
w as clearly no quest ion of pr oduci ng shock effect s or a suggest ion of disorder.
On the cont rary, by speak i n g he w ou l d ensure t he great est possible continuity,
and pr ovi de t he i m ages w i t h a coherent ly t hought -out fr am ew or k . The m ost
var i ed project s (i.e., urbanism , villas, furnit ure) and the m ost het erogeneous
t ypes of represent at ions (i.e., reproduct ions of m odels and dr aw in gs, phot o
gr aph s of buildings) w er e present ed as elem ent s in a hom ogeneous series of
argum ent s that w er e t he result of an overarching logic. Thus, a st rong effect of
sym m et r y w as created bet w een the pr ol ogue and the epilogue. The inst abilit y
of the first lant ern sequence w as balanced by the order and intelligence of the
final sequence, and t he var i ou s elem ent s t hat w er e init ially used to represent the
harsh condit ions of the period w er e brought t oget her harm on iously at the end.

The Lecture 151
D ra w in g
Thus from 1924 on w ar ds, Le Cor busi er 's m et hod w as to alternate project ion
and d r aw i n g —a m et hod he cont inued t o use t hroughout his life. It w as a w ay
of reconciling the m achine w i t h t he hand, of com bining a carefully planned v i
sual dem onst rat ion and t he i m provi sed, spont aneous and alm ost physical pr o
duct ion of ideas put over b y the m ovem ent s of the speaker dr aw i n g on the
black board. T w o ant it het ical m odels of m odernit y w er e t hus br ough t t oget her
in t he ver y form of h i s lectures, t w o m odels that w ere equall y present in the
ideas t hat he developed: plann ing and st an dardisin g on the one hand, and the
creat ive burst and spont aneous inspirat ion on the ot her hand. The tension be
t ween t he t w o m odels —ext rem e rat ionalit y and planning ver su s the sust ained
m yt h ology of intuit ion - deepl y affect ed his t hinking and result ed in his being
at t acked on the right as the apost le of out -and-out m echanisat ion and deni
grat ed on the left as an old-fashioned rom ant ic. But for him there w as no cont ra
dict ion. The m eet ing of the t w o posit ions could even be seen as fundam ent al to
one of the pr im or dial form s of the m odem art s - jazz. Le Corbusier considered
t hat jazz succeeded in joinin g the 'i m pl acabl e exact ness' of a 'm at hem at ical' art
and a 'r eper cussion of the m achine', w i t h the cry, the effusion, the 'fl ash of light
en ing', as he not ed in 1935 w h en com m ent ing on one of Louis Arm st r ong's con
cert s in N ew Yor k w h en he him self w as lect uring in Am er ica.16
From t he second h al f of the 1920s, Le Corbusier devot ed great er en er gy to
im pr ovi sat i on - or, to be m ore precise, it s st agin g - by usin g dr aw i n g, in part i
cular begin ni n g w i t h the first lecture t our he gave in Sout h Am er ica in 1929. For
t his tour, he redesigned h i s disposit ive, ad di n g a genuine staging of the d r aw
ings to the dr am a of the projection. The descript ion he gi ves in his book Preci
sions, w hich br i n gs t oget her the Lat in-Am erican t alks, sh ow s how proud he w as
of t his (fig. 3 ):
I managed to keep the audience on the edge of their seats for two, three or four hours
- they were following the breathtaking logical sequence flowing from my crayon and
coloured chalks. A lecture technique had occurred to me. I installed my trestle: ten or
twelve large sheets of paper on which I draw in black and in colour; a piece of string
stretched from one end of the rostrum to the other, behind me, where I put up the
sheets of paper one after the other, as soon as they are covered with drawings. Thus
they see before their eyes the complete development of the idea. Finally, a screen for a
hundred or so projections which materialise the preceding arguments.17
By this st age, Le Cor busi er had gi ven up d r aw i n g on the blackboard, as he had

to erase each dem onst rat ion t o m ake w ay for n ew dr aw i n gs; it w as replaced by
sheets of paper, t hus m ak i ng the sket ches perm anent , so he could use t hem dur-

IS2 O livie r Lugon
in g the lect ure proper. H e w as t herefore able to com bine t w o different w ays of
relat ing im ages: b y juxt aposit ion (the cont inuous frieze of sheets that w as vi si
ble behind him) and by succession (either the sequence of slides or the new
dr aw i n gs he w as cont inually m aking), h i a sense, t hey brought t oget her the
advan t ages of the book - one can al w ays go back over a pr evi ou s st age of the
argum ent - and t hose of the cinem a, w i t h its perm anent renewal of visual
st im uli. It guarant eed that spect at ors could bot h h ave a perfect over vi ew of the
reasoning, 't h e com plet e developm ent of the i dea', and yet have their attention
const ant ly st im ulat ed. Ever yt h i n g is gi ven an d yet changes. Once again, Le Cor
busier adapt ed for the rost rum w h at had been the strength of his publicat ions: a
line of argum ent that w as supposedl y laid dow n w it h im peccable logic, far
from pur e vociferat ion, and yet wit h shocks r egularl y int roduced into the line
of the argum ent , each like a 'pun ch in t he face', as he him self said of the cin-
lS
Figure 3. Le Corbusier, Précisions, 1930
The sheet s of paper d r aw n l i ve becam e the graphical equivalent of t hought , the

double incarnat ion of t he cont inuous developm ent of an argum ent and the per
m anent erupt ion of ideas. For Le Cor busi er him self, the lecture deliver ed w i t h a
crayon in the hand m ust i ndeed h ave represent ed a space in w hi ch t hought

The Lecture 153
could em erge an d be st ruct ured, as m uch an inst rum ent of reflect ion as a m ed
ium of com m unicat ion:
During the lectures I adopted my own technique which is fairly special. I never pre
pared the lectures. There was a little card, about twice the size of a visiting card, with
four or five lines on it from which I improvised. Improvising is an amazing thing: I
would draw ... And when one draws around one's words, one draws with the useful
words, one creates something. And the whole of my theory - my introspection and
retrospection on the phenomenon of Architecture and Urbanism - comes from these
improvised and drawn lectures.19
Even i f it is necessary to put the use of im pr ovisat ion into perspect ive, the fact
rem ains that Le Cor busi er w as seek ing to st age t hought in action. The 'd r aw i n g
ar oun d w or d s' m ust have been seen by audiences not just as a dem onst rat ion,
but also as an action, a m om ent ary and si n gul ar out flow in g of t hought and crea
t ive energy, an even t w hich just ifies it s bein g perform ed in front of people rat her
t han explained b y m eans of sheet s that had been pr epar ed in advance (fig. 4).
There is a gest ure, a resolution w hich carries w it hin the i m pulsion that it gi ves a
pot ent ial effect on t he real w orld.
Figure 4. Le Corbusier at the Sorbonne, i960

154 O livie r Lugon
D ur i n g the lect ures, t his act ive pow er of the gest ure w as underlined by Le Cor
busi er 's com m ent aries. Accor di n g to the short hand not es t hat have been kept,
he w ou l d punct uat e the flow of his speech b y sayi n g 'I d r aw ', 'I not e', 'I w ri t e',
t oget her w it h a lar ge quant it y of 'I put ' - and it i s not al w ays easy to k n ow
whet her t his refers to the gest ure of put t ing on the paper or the act ion on the
real w or l d that this is supposed to represent : 'I put : The m iracle of n ew densi
t ies'; 'I put a lot of people in the sam e place'; 'I put four t imes m ore or ten t imes
m ore inhabit ant s per square m ile'; 'I put : Air, light and sound'.20 Like a m at he
m at ician w h o com plet es his w h ol e t ask b y un fur l i n g his equat ion on the bl ack
board, Le Cor busi er seem ed to m ak e no dist inct ion bet ween the m ovem ent of
the crayon and the solut ion to t he problem s proposed by t his gest ure: 'I finish
m y d r aw i n g by plant ing t rees'.21 In the first film he cont ribut ed to, A r c h i t e c
t u r e s d ' a u j o u r d ' h u i b y Pierre Chenal (1930), t his act ive force of d r aw i n g t akes
on an alm ost brut al dim ension. A sequence sh ow s the architect from behind,
st an di ng in front of a m ap of Paris that t akes up the w h ol e fram e. M ovi n g his
hand at a st r an gely sl ow speed, rat her as i f m ak ing a delicat e and alm ost cere
m onial incision, he d r aw s a bi g line from left to right and then adds a central
rect angle, w hich ever yon e underst an ds t o be a dem olit ion: the hand becom es a
bulldozer.
W rit ing and d r aw i n g before an audience w as t hus the beginning of solut ions
to problem s - and precisely because t hey w er e done before an audience. If Le
Cor busier beli eved t hat a d r aw i n g m ade in public w as capable of h avi n g an
effect on t he real w or l d, it w as because t he perform ance carries w it h it an en
er gy and a dr i vi n g force t hat are capable of car r yin g people along w it h him,
even once t he lecture has ended. Aft er t he event , the sket ches realised in the
heat of the m om ent m ay be said to pr eser ve t he i m pulsive force of the gest ure
that creat ed t hem on paper. W hen he published his lectures, Le Cor busier w as
at pains to include the sheets he had scraw l ed as he spoke rat her t han bet t er
dr aw i n gs perfect ed in calm er condit ions. This is t rue of the Sout h Am erican
lect ures in Précisions, w her e the illust rat ions reproduce the sheet s d r aw n on the
rost rum , w her eas he could easi l y h ave produced im proved versions, eit her by
copyi n g the originals or b y recreat ing t hem from the little sket ches on cards,
w h i ch ser ved as m odels. On his ret urn to France, the roll cont aining the hun
dr ed or so sheets d r aw n in public w as lost bet ween Bordeaux and Paris. Le
Cor busier em phasi zed t he seriousness of t his loss to the t ransport er.22 Even if
he could h ave done t hem over again, som et hing fundam ent al - that qualit y of
the event , the charge of en ergy com ing from the ver y m om ent of t heir com ing
into being - w ou l d h ave been lost forever.
The desire to be r i gorous in t his respect led him to cheat a little in anot her
respect . W hile he liked to st ress t he im pr ovi sed charact er of his perform ances
('good lect ures are i m pr ovi sed'),23 not on l y did he have sket ches in his hand

The Lecture 155
t hat w er e ver y close to t he dr aw i n gs fi n all y produced, but above all som e of the
original sheets r eveal t hat under the st rokes of the crayon there w ere fine pencil
sket ches t hat t he audience could not see, but that the speaker could si m pl y fol
low. This unt rut h w as, however , there to guarant ee the t rut h that w as to come,
the use of the dr aw i n gs act ually m ade on st age. H e said the sam e t hing about
the spoken w or d. W hen it w as suggest ed that a record be m ade of his lectures,
he insist ed on not rereadin g his t ext in a recording st udio, as he w i shed to m ake
avai lable the ephem eral w or d t hat had been spoken at a precise m om ent in
t im e,54
From the 1930s on w ar ds, Le Cor busi er w or k ed on the idea of perpet uat ing
the effect of his dr aw i n gs not on l y b y repr oducing them in print , but also by
exhibit ing the originals. Their size w as t hus considerably enlarged. In Rio in
1936, du r i n g the second series of Sout h-Am erican lectures, t hey t ook on the d i
m ensions of hist orical paint ings, and in the Unit ed St at es one year earlier w ere
u p to 6 m et res lon g.25 The idea w as to guarant ee m axim um legibilit y for larger
and lar ger halls, but also a possible public exhibit ion at a lat er dat e. Gr aph i c
dem onst rat ion had becom e a composition - t he com plex com binat ion of sket ches
in perspect ive, plans, m aps, di agr am s, calculat ions, statistics, capt ions and key
w or d s t ook on t he st at us of a 'fresco', as Le Corbusier hi m sel f called it ,26 and
w h i ch from t ime to t ime he w ould sign. In Brussels in 1958, Le Corbusier ended
his lect ure in the fol low i n g w ay:
I have drawn in front of you four large drawings in black and white and colour. They
contain the substance of possible and appropriate decisions.... These large drawings
may decorate the walls of administrations, where from time to time men's destinies
and the destinies of societies are forged, thus emulating Gobelins or Aubusson tapes
tries made on drawing paper 27
From his perspect ive then, a d r aw i n g could be conceived as an enduri ng form

of lecture, the m em or y of a gest ure t hat cont inues to develop its force of in voca
tion a posteriori, and that is capable of set t ing a w h ol e societ y in m ot ion. This
definit ion heralds Joseph Beuys's black boards, and the art of perform ance that
is based on the sam e beli ef t hat the 'r em ai n der ' has t he capacit y of devel opi n g
the en er gy of t he init ial act ion.
P u b li s h in g t h e w o r d
Just as he sought to perpet uat e his dr aw i n g, Le Cor busier w as also intent on

perpet uat ing h is spoken w or d s in print ed form. A t first sight he w as sim ply
fol low i n g in t he foot st eps of int ellect uals and academ ics, w h o use the lect ure as

156 O livie r Lugon
the first ver si on of w h at from the out set is int ended to be a publicat ion, where
speak i n g is a form of w rit in g. But for him , speakin g is not a m ere rehearsal, i.e. a
pr epar at or y st age t hat is forgot t en once the 'r eal' t ext h as been published. In
fact, it w as the ot her w ay round. By the choice of layout , Le Corbusier al w ays
t ook gr eat care to recall the oral an d scenic or i gi n of the text. Yan n i s Tsiom is has
show n that for t he project ed published ver sion of the 1936 Brazilian lectures, he
w as considering r em ovi n g t he full st ops and com m as in order to gi ve the im
pression of a cont inuously speak i n g voice, just as, according to Tsiom is, he
w ou l d have referred to the process of the lect ure t akin g place by publi shin g his
pr epar at or y not es and st age cards, in addit ion to the t ranscript of the spoken
t ext and the dr aw i n gs done on t he rost rum .28
Som e of his t ypogr aphi c innovat ions are the direct result of his w i sh to print
the spoken w or d and int roduce a gr aphi c equivalent of his st age design into the
page layout .29 The book Une M aison - un Palais in 1928, for instance, begins wit h
the follow in g forew ord:
The reader may imagine that he is in a lecture hall - the Auditorium Maximum of the
Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich or the Salle de la Residencia in Madrid. It is
dark. Images are projected on the screen, appearing at exactly the right moment. The
speaker develops his idea, which is directly linked with the images. ... Thanks to the
typography of this book, the reader will find himself in the same situation as that of
the audience for whom this conference was written.30
There fol low s on the left -hand pages short fragm ent s of t ext placed opposit e the
phot ographs, w hich st and alone on the right -hand pages, t hus m at erializing the
int erdependence of the 'soun d t rack' and the 'i m age t rack'. N ot on l y is the text
short, but m ore oft en t han not cut in m id-sentence, in order to st rengt hen the
idea of the 'exact ' slide changes. Le Corbusier devel oped here anot her t ype of
int er play bet ween the hand and the machine, t he m inim al gest ure of r eading -
t urning the pages - bein g exploit ed like a kind of argum ent at ive flip-book, to
evok e the audit ory and opt ical experience of the spect at or w i t n essi n g the jerk y
progr ession of a com m ent ed project ion.
The im pact of the lecture w ou l d t hus not end w it h the lecture itself. Con se
quent ly, speaki n g does not si m pl y m ean convincing the present audience, but
also planning for an efficient cont inuat ion - by publishing, recording, or by the
expan si ve force inherent in ent husiasm . Le Cor busier w as not on ly careful to see
that each lect ure w as at t ended b y im port ant people and pot ent ial sponsors, he
also saw t hose at t ending t he lect ures as a relay. W hile addr essin g an audience
com posed of the m em bers of an art istic circle or architecture student s, he w as
act ually reaching out to anot her audience: the bi g nam es in finance and politics.
To phrase it in his ow n t erm s, he set out to st art a 'bu zz' w it hin 'publi c opinion'
that w ou l d even t uall y reach the ear s of 'A u t h or i t y',31 like the '3,000 st udent s'

The Lecture 157
w on over in the Sorbonne lecture hall in i960, upon w hom he called to 'int r o
duce t he subject w it h in t heir ow n fam i l i es',32 H is desire to bri n g 'A u t h or i t y' and
'publ i c opinion' t oget her in t he sam e hall i n evit ably led to problem s. W hen lec
t ure halls w er e over -ful l and too ent husiast ic, it w as som et im es necessary to
d i vi de up the t wo gr oups in spat ial t erm s in order to 'leave out side the possible
u pr oar from the st udent s' 'the people I could have in vi t ed'.33 But the m edia can
also be exploit ed to orchestrat e t his rebound effect. In 19 51, w hen just back from
a lect ure in M ilan, Le Cor busi er cont act ed t he organisers and asked them im m e
di at el y to send a letter, w h i ch he dict at ed, to t hree lar ge French m inist ries to
inform t hem of t he excellent recept ion his t alk had received, to w hich 'car efull y
chosen cut t ings from n ew spaper s should have been added, w i t h the useful sec
tions underlined in r ed'.34
S ta g in g th e w o r d
The spoken w or d m ark s Le Cor busi er 's exhibit ions as m uch as his publicat ions.
A ccor di n g to t he first sket ches m ade, the 'Elect ronic Poem ' st aged in the Philips
Pavi l ion at the 1958 Br ussels W orld's Fai r should h ave been accom panied by his
ow n voi ce speak i n g out in the m iddle of Varese's m usic - but V arese rejected
t his idea.36 Sim ilarly, the Tem ps N ou veau x Pavil ion at the Paris International
Exhibit ion of 19 37 - a lar ge tent resem bling a circus —brought the exhibit ion
closer to t he l i ve perform ance. It w as organised around a vast 'speech h all ' re
ser ved for lectures, speeches and t heat rical represent at ions (fig. 5). The project
t ook shape w h en the Front Popul ai r e w er e in pow er - a period m arked by the
ren ew ed im port ance of public addr ess and harangue. A m on g m odern t echni
ques of persuasion - phot om ont ages, diagr am s, pict ogram s, m odels, dioram as,
and project ions - the pavi l i on 's cent ral space, w hich w as kept for collective
event s, w as a const ant rem inder of t his force of the spoken w or d for spreadin g
n ew i deas - a force based on the i deall y close proxim it y of speak er and au d i
ence. Le Cor busi er also designed a sculpt ural rost rum , a piece of furnit ure con
ceived to house body, voi ce and d r aw i n g by m eans of an L-shaped plat form
link in g t oget her a lon g desk, a black board and a reflect ing ceiling, a m ixt ure
bet w een a t heat re hall and a classroom . The dom inant feat ure w as the ceiling,
w h ose im port ance w as bot h sym bolical and pract ical. Le Corbusier designed it
like a 'reson an t conch', w h ose supple form s w er e the direct result of his research
into the spaces for polit ical speeches at the end of the 1920s, such as the Great
A ssem bl y H all in the project for the Palace of the League of N at i on s in Geneva.
This archit ect ure of sound w as supposed to m ake the voice carry m ore effec
tively, an d t hus t o conquer m inds, vi r t u al l y in the m ilit ary sense of the w ord. In

158 O livie r Lugon
Une maison —un palais, he devel oped a m et aphorical n et work of m odern w ar fare
to describe t his im provem ent in the carryi n g of the voice: 't he front of the r os
t rum and the st age w al l create bar r age fire t hat sw eeps over the w hole breadt h
of t he audi en ce'; 'H avi n g set up the rost rum and st age w al l as bat t eries and
used t hem to spr ay t he st alls, w e w ou l d be w i t h out artillery. But above the st age
w al l w e shall set up a n ew st age w al l w hich, in its turn, shall m achine-gun the
gall er y of guest s and di plom at s'.3*1 Par ad oxi cally enough, t his bat t le-ready effi
ciency of the acoust ics w as used here to furt her a pacifist project, to help nat ions
to 'list en to each ot her'.37 In the 19 37 Speech H all, the fol low i n g announcem ent
could be read on the conch agai n st w hich the barrage fire of persuasion re
bounded: 'A n ew era has begun ... an era of sol i dar i t y'. It is as i f the audience
w as to be rem inded that all the speeches m ade from t his rost rum , and carried
by the conch, t ook part from t he ver y out set in the birt h of t his n ew era, carr yin g
the m om ent um that w as capable of changin g bot h beings and t hings.
Figure 5. Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux, Paris, 1937
In addit ion, there w as no separat ion bet ween the rost rum and the visi t in g area -
it w as on l y raised b y a few st eps, and t hus could be seen as a fixt ure that w as

The Lecture 159
avai lable t o anyon e w i sh i n g to speak. It w as not so m uch a st age, w hich pr esup

poses inaccessibility, as a podi um open for i m provised speeches - a 't rest le', as
Le Cor busi er called t he equipm ent used in Sout h Am er ica in 1929. This w as a
recurrent feat ure of the st agi n g of his lect ures - gi vi n g the im pression of an im
pr ovi sed venue, put t oget her from odd pr ops that gave an im pression of no
preparat ion. A sim ple rope w as st ret ched across the plat form ; there w as a chair,
not to sit on ('I speak st an ding up') but w h ere the charcoal could be casually set
dow n ; help w as refused w hen he had to t ear off the finished d r aw i n g ('I'm the
one w h o t ears off the sheet '); the carafe of w at er w as out law ed ('I drink a carafe
of w at er before beginning and not during. That 's im port ant !'), the carafe it self
bein g an adm ission of effort .3® In som e of the lat er lectures, w h en the icono-
gr aphi c m at erial and t echnical ai ds t ook on great er im portance, the st aging
kept it s i m pr ovi sed appearance. D espit e t he swit ches, l am ps and sound equip
m ent that had to be t urned on and off, Le Cor busier preferred to cont inue m ak
in g do w i t h odd pieces of furnit ure, rat her t han usin g a t able that w ou l d stop
him from h avi n g to lean forw ar d. The fr agil e nat ure of the im pr ovi sed st age is
there to add to the force of the represent at ion as an event .
Le Corbusier the speak er seem ed t hus to apply to his ow n present at ions the
principles behind hi s idea of 'spont an eous t heat re' based on exam ples of cottime-
dia dell'art e or on Brazilian st reet perform ance. In his project s for open-air st ages
and w h at he called 'm i r acl e boxes', he tried to gi ve such a theatre an appr opr i
at e form , i.e., t he sim plest possible.39 A s H ubert D am isch has noted, from the
1930s on w ar ds he w as i n creasin gly en grossed in t his art of st aging, w hich had
an im pact on m uch of his architect ure.40 H i s lecture pract ice w as un doubt edly
the result of this. But in his case, t he 'sim pl i fi cat ion of expression and m eans'
w h i ch he said he adm ir ed in t he Gui gn ol t heat re,41 is in fact used to perfect ly
cont rol the st aging. H e paid great at tent ion to t he acoust ics of the halls w her e he
w as to speak, the qual i t y of the light in g (which he required to be fai r l y b a
lanced, so he w as able t o p l ay w i t h his audiences as t hey wat ched him , 'just as
the fisherm an [plays] w i t h the t rout or t he gu d geon '42) and w as ver y part icular
about the w ay in w h i ch the pr ops and equipm ent w er e pr epared, gi vi n g un be
l ievabl y det ailed inst ructions. For the lect ure he gave at the Brussels U niversal
Exhibit ion in 1958, w hich w as supposed to be support ed by d r aw i n g alone, he
sent the organisers t w o pages of inst ruct ions t oget her w i t h di agr am s (fig. 6). H e
spelt out the exact posit ion of the props (a board, a t able and a chair), the qual
it y and size of the sheet s of paper, the direct ion in w hich t hey should curve, the
lengt h of the nails ('4 to 5 cent im et res', no drawing-pins) an d h ow far t hey
should be knock ed in ('t hey should project 3 t o 4 cent im et res out of the sheet s'),
en ablin g t he speak er to t ear t hem off easily. For a lecture at 5 PM , he w ant ed
ever yt h i n g to be r eady b y noon so t hat he could 'm ak e possible adjust m ent s',
before concluding: 'I t all seem s idiot ic, but it's ver y im port ant '.43 The im provisa-

160 O livie r Lugon
tion, such as it w as, w as appar en t ly less t urned t ow ards brin gi n g about an un

expect ed perform ance t han guarant eeing m axim um efficiency - a paradoxical
'spont aneous t heat re' cont rolled by an int ransigent direct or, or usi n g anot her
oxym or on from his ow n w rit in g: 'an im provisat ion [ ...] of im peccable exact-
Figure 6. Le Corbusier, sketches fo r the lecture «Architecture et urbanisme»,

Brussels World's Fair, 1958
F ilm
In t he 19 37 Speech H all, Le Cor busi er h ad planned to erect a fourt h elem ent

over the plat form , but w hich h ow ever w as not realised: a screen for film projec
t ions, the last inst rum ent of his lect uring art. The cinem a and the lecture w ere
for him int ert wined in t w o w ays. First, as w e discussed i n relat ion to Pierre
Chenal's A r c h i t e c t u r e s d ' a u j o u r d ' h u i in 1930, he w as intent on incorporat
i ng his didact ic m et hod into film, to int egrat e the physi cal presence of the archi
tect in the exercise of dem onst rat ion int o t he m iddle of sequences on project s

The Lecture 161
and realisat ions. It w as a kind of sim ulat ed lecture, except that it dealt w it h the
part s that w er e difficult t o perform on t he st age: a dr aw i n g i m plyin g the det e
riorat ion of its m edium , w i t h the m ap of Par is at t acked by his dr aw i n g, or the
present at ion of m odels - a pow er ful act favour ed by the architects and ur ba
nist s of the century, but w h ose force is der i ved from high-angle vi ew that can
not be offered during a lecture. In A r c h i t e c t u r e s d ' a u j o u r d ' h u i , it w as the
fam ous 'Cor bu h an d' —t he nam e he gave to the pict ure in the synopsis he wrot e
for Chenal - t hat oft en feat ures in his publicat ions (fig. 7). Tabula rasa and vi si on
from above: these t w o aspect s of the m odem project w er e too vit al to be absent
from his lect ures, and it w as Chenal's recording, w hich he sh ow ed dur in g his
ow n perform ances, t hat m ade t his possible.
Figure 7. Film Still from Pierre Chenal, Architectures d'aujourd'hui, 1930
It is here w e see t he second aspect of exchange bet ween cinem a and st age -
usi n g film w it hin t he lect ure it self (in t his case, an architect sh ow i n g a film
sh ow i n g an archit ect expounding). From the begin nin g of the 1930s, Le Cor bu
sier planned t o bri n g in t his n ew m edium next t o dr aw i n gs and slides. Once
agai n W alt er Gr opi us w as quicker t o do so, m odernising his lecture t echnique

162 O livie r Lugon
as ear ly as 19 27 b y com bining project ion of plat es and film .45 H e w as t hus
furt hering a frequent pract ice of ear ly cinema, w hich last ed unt il the 1920s in
pedagogi cal circles: m ixing still an d m ovi n g im ages dur in g the sam e pr o
gram m e, w h en a nar rat ive could be illust rat ed by a series of slides, and finish
in g w i t h the project ion of a reel. For Gr opius, like for Le Corbusier, film w as not
an aut onom ous w h ol e on the m argi n s of the lecture, but an int egrat ed part of it.
A film could even be edit ed by the lecturer for the pur poses of the presentation.
It w as first seen as a reposit ory of shots, and accordingly, a user such as Le
Cor busier could en vi sage or der ing just one sequence, as i f he w er e or dering a
part icular slide.46 'Lect ur e cinem a' w as, like fixed project ion, a m alleable art,
exploit ed wit hin a per for m at ive pract ice w h er e the user had room for m an
oeuvr e dur i ng the perform ance. This w as, m oreover, to gi ve rise to problem s,
w h en Le Cor busi er had to deal w i t h reels w h i ch had been so gr eat ly m odified
as to h ave lost t heir coherence.47
Such freedom w as, however , to di sappear lat er dur i n g the 1930s w i t h the
generalisat ion of the sound-t rack, w hich also gr eat ly int erest ed Le Corbusier. In
1930, he w as adam ant that A r c h i t e c t u r e s d ' a u j o u r d ' h u i should have a m usi
cal sound-t rack, w h i ch not on l y sw al l ow ed up h alf of the budget , but also w as
difficult to perform in lect ure halls that w er e not yet adequat el y equipped (in
the U.S. in 1935, w her e t he film w as sh ow n at each of his lectures, he even t ually
solved t he problem by u si n g a record of Ger sh w in 's m usic).4®W hat in part icular
at tract ed Le Cor busi er to the sound cinem a even m ore t han m usic w as the com
bining of i m age and voice. Con t r ar y to the m ajorit y of int ellect uals at that time,
he did not consider the m ove to t alkies as debasing cinem at ographic art, but on
the cont rary, as a 'm i racl e'. H e gave an ent husiast ic account of his first encoun
ter (a 'com m ot ion')49 w i t h a t alkie —a M i ck ey M ouse seen in Buenos Ai r es in
1929, on the d ay fol low i n g his arrival for his Sout h-Am erican lecture tour: 'A
m iracle w as being pl ayed out ... It w as m y first time. I w as in full harm ony, in
full synchronisat ion, in the full har m on y of gest ure and w or d '.50 To h ave such
an effusi ve react ion to a M i ck ey M ouse m ovi e m ay seem surprising. But the
little m ouse's m ovem ent s, w h i ch w er e dr aw n , spoken and project ed, seem ed
ver y sim ilar to w h at he had been t r yi n g for so long to build u p - t hat efficient
'syn chr onisat ion ' of dr aw i n g, gest ure and the w or d, that 'syn chronism of the
im age and the w or d ',51 w hich w as one of t he m ajor fact ors cont ribut ing to his -
and M i ck ey M ouse's - w or l d w i d e success. In 1938, Le Corbusier w as him self
able to t ake ad van t age of t his in the cinem a w i t h Jean Epst ein's L e s B â t i s s e u r s ,
a t alkie w her e he could sh ow all his expert ise in lect ure-giving. The sequences
w her e he appear s fait h ful ly respect his lecture principles, w i t h Le Corbusier's
voice const ant ly com m ent ing on a series of short fi xed shot s of his buildings,
like a slide show, and long sequences show i n g him d r aw i n g for a phant om
audience —that n ow k n ew no limits.

The Lecture 163
N o te s
1. This article was first published in Les Cahiers du musée national d'art moderne, no. 103,
spring 2008. It stems from three different papers: the probationary lecture given at
the University of Lausanne on 23 April 2004, entitled The lecture with projection. Three
examples in the 20th century (Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Charles Eames), the presen
tation entitled Le Corbusier's Lectures in the 'Current issues in Research' seminar
moderated by Prof. Dario Gamboni at the University of Geneva on 25 April 2006,
and the lecture entitled The 'cinema' model between still and moving images: Marey, he
Corbusier, with Maria Tortajada at the University of Lausanne on 27 October 2006.
The author would like to thank Arnaud Dercelles for all his help with the research
carried out at the Le Corbusier Foundation.
Concerning publications, and Le Corbusier's in particular, see Beatriz Colomina's
Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media, Cambridge, M A: MIT Press,
1994 and Catherine de Smet's Le Corbusier: Architect of Books, Baden: Lars Miiller
Publishers, 2005; her Vers une architecture iiu livre. Le Corbusier: édition et mise en pages
1912-1965, Baden: Lars Müller Publishers, 2007. Concerning photography, see An
toine Baudin's Photography, Modern Architecture and Design. The Alberto Sartoris Col
lection. Objectsfrom the Vitra Design Museum, Lausanne: EPFL Press, 2005, Robert El-
wall's Building with Light: The International History of Architectural Photography,
London and New York: Merrell Publishers, 2004, and Rolf Sachsse's Bild und Bau.
Zur Nutzung technischer Médiat beim Entwerfen von Architektur, Braunschweig and
Wiesbaden: Vieweg, 1997. For cinema, see Andres Janser's 'Only Film Can Make
the New Architecture Intelligible! Hans Richter's Die neue Wolmung and the Early
Documentary Film on Modern Architecture', in François Penz and Maureen Tho
mas (eds.), Cinema and Architecture: Melies, Mallet-Stevens, Multimedia, London: Brit
ish Film Institute, 1997, and with Arthur Rüegg, Hans Richter. Die neue Wolmung.
Architektur. Film. Raum, Baden: Lars Miiller Publishers, 2001. Concerning exhibi
tions, see in particular, Beatriz Colomina, 'The Exhibitionist House’, in At the End of
the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture, cat. Museum of Contemporary Art,
Los Angeles and New York: Abrams, 1998. In a recent article, Beatriz Colomina
looks at the relationship between Le Corbusier and television: 'Vers une architecture
médiatique' in Le Corbusier - The Art of Architecture, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design
Museum and Netherlands Architecture Institute, RIBA Trust, 2007.
2. Generally speaking there are few studies on the lecture, even outside the field of the
history of art. Mention must be made of Erving Goffman, 'The Lecture', in Forms of
Talk, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981 (my thanks to Alain Boil-
lat who drew my attention to this essay); Françoise Waquet, Parler comme un livre.
L’oralité et le savoir (XVIe-XXe siècle), Paris: Albin Michel, 2003; Alain Clavien and
François Vallotton (eds.), 'Devant le verre d'eau’: regards croisés sur la conférence comme
vecteur de la vie intellectuelle (1880-1950), Lausanne: Ed. Antipodes, 2007. There are
more studies on speakers, lecturers and barkers in the history of cinema and early
cinema: see in particular Jacques Perriault, Mémoires de l'ombre et du son. Une arché
ologie de l'audio-visuel, Paris: Flammarion, 1981; Laurent Mannoni, Great Art of Light
and Shadow: Archeology of the Cinema, Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2000; Ger
main Laçasse, Le Bonimenteur de vues animées. Le cinéma 'muet' entre tradition et mo-

164 O livie r Lugon
dernité, Montreal, Québec: Nota Bene and Paris: Méridiens Kiincksieck, 2000; Rick
Altman, Silent Film Sound, New York: Columbia University Press, 2004; Alain Boil-
lat, Du bonimenteur à la voix-ooer. Voix-attraction et voix-narration au cinéma, Lausanne:
Editions Antipodes, 2007.
3. See Reginald Isaacs, Gropius. An Illustrated Biography of the Creator of the Bauhaus,
Boston, Toronto and London: Bulfinch Press, 1991, p. 25-26.
4. See Regina Stephan, '"D ie Vorträge wollen ... für die Forderungen einer neuen
Epoche günstigen Boden schaffen." Die Vorträge im Salon von M olly Pilippson', in
Erich Mendelsohn. Gedankenwelten. Unbekannte Texte zu Architektur, Kulturgeschichte
und Politik, ed. Ita Heinze-Greenberg and Regina Stephan, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz
Verlag, 2000, p. 13.
5. See Jean-Louis Cohen, Le Corbusier et la mystique de l'URSS: théories et projets pour
Moscou 1928-1936, Brussels and Liège: P. M ardaga, 1987, and Le Corbusier. La planète
comme chantier, Paris: Editions Textuel/ Editions Zoé, 2005; Mardges Bacon, Le Corbu
sier in America: Travels in the Land of the Timids, Cambridge, M A: MIT Press, 2001;
Yannis Tsiomis (ed.), Conférences de Rio. Le Corbusier au Brésil - 1936, Paris: Flamma
rion, 2006; Tim Benton, Le Corbusier conférencier, Paris: Editions du Moniteur, 2007. 1
only came across Tim Benton's book after I had written the present chapter, thus it
has not been taken into consideration here.
6. 'I've already spoken worldwide to some one hundred thousand people and I have
affixed them to a dream' (Le Corbusier, Quand les cathédrales étaient blanches. Voyage
ail pays des timides, Paris: Pion, 1937, p. 41).
7. P.A.D., 'H ier soir à Lausanne, Le Corbusier expose sa conception des trois établisse
ments humains devant un auditoire enthousiaste', Gazette de Lausanne, 16-17 Febru
ary 1957, p. 7.
8. Ch.-E. Jeanneret, Etude sur le mouvement d'art décoratif en Allemagne, [La-Chaux-de-
Fonds], 1912, p. 16, 23.
9. On their relations, see Françoise Véry, 'La correspondance Jeanneret-Osthaus', in Le
Corbusier, le passé à réaction poétique, cat. Hôtel de Sully, Paris: Caisse nationale des
Monuments et des Sites, 1988, p. 161-164.
10. The apparatus made by Radiguet & Massiot, successors to the great lantern maker
Alfred Molteni, can be found today in the collection of the Le Corbusier Foundation.
Le Corbusier contacted Massiot for the installation of the periscope in the Bestegui
apartment in 1930-1931.
12. Letter from Le Corbusier to Pietro Maria Bardi, 19 June 1934, reproduced in full in
Faces, 5/6, spring 1987, p. 44-45, and quoted in Jean-Louis Cohen, 2005, op. cit.,
p. 108.
13. 'I prefer the workshop to one or two houses, as in my workshop I shall be able to
show on the screen studies going from furniture to the urbanism of big cities, via
architectural reform.' (letter from Le Corbusier to Paul Landowsky, 3 January 1930,
LCF C3-5-25).
14. Hand-written notes for a new showing of this 'film' during a lecture in Zurich in
1926 (LCF C3-8-70). See also: 'You have just shown a heterogenous series of images
on the screen; this series, shocking for many, and striking in all event, makes up the
almost daily spectacle of our existence ...' (Le Corbusier, Almanach d'architecture
moderne, Paris: Ed. Georges Crès, 1926, p. 20); 'Before beginning to talk, the speaker
showed his audience a kind of film, reproducing with sometimes blunt eloquence

The Lecture 165
the objects that today confront our sight and our intellect - an incoherent set of the
most varied, contradictory and paradoxical sights' (Typewritten text of the Sor
bonne lecture, 1924, LCF C3-18-10).
15. Léandre Vincent, 'Divagations intempestives', Paris Journal, 20 June 1924 (LCF C3-6-
39). It should be pointed out that monkeys and sanitary fittings were part of Le
Corbusier's iconographie bric-a-brac in L'Esprit Nouveau - it is highly probable that
he used these photographs in his projections. But when he published a reply to
Vincent two weeks later, he sought to play down his alleged intention to provoke:
he denied that he had wished to denigrate the examples of old objects that had been
interspersed among contemporary objects, but had sought to underline what they
had in common. ('M. Le Corbusier répond', Paris Journal, 3 July 1924, LCF C3-6-38).
Be that as it may, other accounts of the lectures during the 1920s speak of laughter
during the projections: 'Do Le Corbusier's acolytes think they are so special when
the applaud at every pause or snigger at every image of an old palace that is pro
jected?' (La Gazette de Lausanne, 1 July 1927, LCF X1-5-1).
16. The existence of the commentary is vouched for by the page of self-criticism that Le
Corbusier wrote after the trial run in Lausanne in February 1924: 'Finish by urban
ism projections, don't go into detail but calmly and in relaxed manner give the sub
stance and link to the question of the apartment.' (LCF C3-6-27).
17. Le Corbusier, Quand les cathédrales étaient blanches, op. cit., p. 235.
18. Le Corbusier, Précisions sur un état présent de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme, Paris: Ed.
Georges Crès, 1930, p. 20-21.
19. Le Corbusier, 'Deux Films de Pierre Chenal: Bâtir & Architecture', manuscript, n.d.,
p. 3 (LCF B3-382). In his publications, these shocks may be produced by the title,
slogan, image, or even by a break in syntax.
20. Sound recording at the Aventure Le Corbusier Exhibition, Centre Pompidou, 1987,
quoted by M ardges Bacon, op. cit., p. 336, note 7.
21. Account taken in shorthand of La grandeur et la beauté de Paris sauvegardées par les
techniques modernes, Musée du Louvre, Paris: 28 February 1930, p. 18-19 (LCF C3-8-
118).
22. Le Corbusier, 3rd Rio lecture, 7 August 1936, in Yannis Tsiomis, op. cit., p. 105.
23. See his letter to the Chargeurs Réunis, 28 December 1929 (LCF B2-9-695).
24. Le Corbusier, Une Maison - un Palais, Paris: Les Editions G. Crès & Cie, 1928, p. 1.
25. See his letter to François Gire, 22 February i960 (LCF: P5-12-310).
26. The Brazilian drawings are reproduced and discussed by Yannis Tsiomis, op. cit.;
the US drawings by Mardges Bacon, op. cit. Jean-Louis Cohen has already pub
lished and discussed the Moscow leafs in Le Corbusier et la mystiquedel'URSS, op. cit.
27. When on tour in the US in 1935, Le Corbusier spoke of his 'extreme pleasure in
creating large, coloured frescos three metres long', adding 'I adore the difficulty of
inserting these figures within the limits of the paper' (Le Corbusier, Quand les cathé
drales ..., op. cit., p. 204).
28. Le Corbusier, 'Architecture et urbanisme', lecture at the auditorium of the French
Pavilion at the Brussels World's fair, 26 June 1958. The text of the lecture has been
taken from a tape recording and published in Entretiens et conférences donnée à l ’Au
ditorium du Pavillon de la France d'avril à octobre 1958, Exposition universelle et inter
nationale de Bruxelles, Commissariat général de la section française, 1959, p. 134
(LCF C3-13-92). In actual fact, Le Corbusier insisted that once the drawings had

been fixed, they be given to André Malraux, to whom they were dedicated. They
eventually came back to Le Corbusier, who immediately used them to preface the
new editions of Trois Etablissements humains in 1959. This addition brought virtually
no new information, as the book already contained the various sketches - and con
sequently their power of invocation was much greater.
29. Yannis Tsiomis, op. cit., p. 48. The details are taken from a letter to Pietro Maria
Bardi, 30 M ay 1950, reproduced in ibid., p. 10-11. Yannis Tsiomis also stresses Le
Corbusier's desire to maintain in the transcribed text all the jerkiness and repetitions
of the oral delivery (ibid., p. 42).
30. On Le Corbusier's typography, see Catherine de Smet, 2005 & 2007, op. cit.
31. Le Corbusier, Une Maison - un Palais, op. cit., p. 1.
32. Le Corbusier, inaugural speech of the Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux, Paris: 1937, in
Des Canons, des munitions ? Merci ! Des logis ... S.V.P. Monographie du « Pavillon des
Temps Nouveaux » à l'Exposition internationale « Art et technique » de Paris 1937, Bou
logne: Editions de l'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, 1938, p. 145. Le Corbusier here
speaks of 'popular education' in general.
33. 'The fact is now that these 3,000 students are going to introduce the subject within
their own families as you asked them to, and for them the game is starting' (Fran
çois Gire, letter to Le Corbusier, 14 February i960, LCF P5-12-309).
34. Le Corbusier, letter to Mme. Humbert, Paris: 26 March 1935 (LCF C3-13-20).
35. Le Corbusier, letter to Carla Marzoli, 4 October 1951 (LCF U3-10-55).
36. Marc Treib, Space Calculated in Seconds. The Philips Pavilion, Le Corbusier, Edgar Varese,
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996, p. 207.
37. Le Corbusier, Une maison - un palais, op. cit., p. 116.
38. Ibid., p. 118. Le Corbusier is playing here on the polysemy of 's'entendre': to listen
to each other and to agree - and even to get on well together.
39. All the quotations are taken from his instructions for the lecture at the Brussels
World's fair in 1958: Le Corbusier, letter to Guillaume Guillet, 18 June 1958 (LCF
C3-10-97 and 98).
40. See Hubert Damisch, 'Les tréteaux de la vie moderne', in Le Corbusier. Une Encyclo
pédie, ed. Jacques Lucan, Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1987, p. 256-259.
41. Ibid., p. 252-259.
42. Le Corbusier, 'Le théâtre spontané' (1948), in André Villiers (ed.), Architecture et dra
maturgie, Paris: Editions d'aujourd'hui, 1980, reprint of the 1950 edition, Actes de la
îe session du Centre d'Etudes Philosophiques et Techniques du Théâtre, Sorbonne, De
cember 1948, p. 151.
43. Ibid., p. 162.
44. Le Corbusier, letter to Guillaume Gillet, op. cit.
45. Le Corbusier, letter to Pietro Maria Bardi, 30 M ay 1950, printed in Tsiomis, op. cit.,
p. i l .
46. Gropius was actively involved in making the film he used: T h e B a u h a u s i n D e s s a u
a n d t h e w a y i t w a s b u i l t (Dns Bauhaus in Dessau und seine Bauweise), part of a series
of four films entitled How can we live healthily and economically? (Wie wohnen wir ge
sund und wirtschaftlich ?), 1927-1928.
47. See Le Corbusier, letter to César-Films, 22 November 1934 (LCF C3-13-6).
48. 'I'm informing you that the film B â t i r [another film by Pierre Chenal, in 1930, pro
duced at the same time as A r c h i t e c t u r e s d ' a u j o u r d ' h u i ] ... is in Algiers (from

The Lecture 167
where I have just come back) and contains at best a quarter of the actual film; there
are no captions, it is in complete disorder and in such conditions cannot be shown
to an audience. This is what I had the misfortune to discover during a showing in
Algiers with an audience that was indeed disappointed.' (Le Corbusier, letter to
L. Dumont, secretary of the Alliance du Cinéma Indépendant, 7 M ay 1936, LCF B3-10-
368).
49. See M ardges Bacon, op. cit., p. 60.
50. Le Corbusier, 'Le théâtre spontané', op. cit., p. 167.
5 1. Ibid., p . 16 7 .
52. Le Corbusier, Une Maison - un Palais, op. cit., p. 1.

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D a n c i n g D o l l s a n d M e c h a n i c a l Eyes
T r a c k i n g an O b s e s s iv e M o t i v e f r o m B a l l e t t o C i n e m a
Laurent Guido
A s the ninet eent h cent ury m oved for w ar d, the im age of the dancer that began
to gai n ascendan cy w as one in w hich her rhyt hm ic m ovem ent s reflected both
the fundam ent al pulsat ion of the un i verse and the em bodim ent of t he n ew d y
nam ics of indust rializat ion. In this chapter, I shall exam ine cert ain art ist ic repre
sent at ions of t he dancing bod y (as it appear s in t he literature, on st age or in the
cinem a) t hat in var i ou s w ays der i ve from aest hetic discourses inspired by the
em ergence of t echnological m odernit y. I shall look in part icular at the var ious
occurrences of a disposit ive, w her e the fi gure of m echanical bod y m ovem ent -
som et im es associat ed w it h elect rical en er gy —subjects the spect at or to the m ag
net ic pow er of its at t ract iveness. In order to address t his quest ion, I shall first
exam ine the scient ific research t hat w as bein g conduct ed at the end of the En
light enm ent and t hat capt ured the at t ent ion of the rom ant ic poet s in part icular.
In his fam ous t ext on the art of the puppet eer (On Puppet Shows, 1810) , H ein
rich von Kleist concent rat es pr i m ar i l y on choreographic art. H is prot agonist is a
puppet eer, w hom the aut hor has met in a public garden and w h o pr ovocat i vely
set s up the puppet as a m odel for ballet dancers. H e beli eves that because the
hum an perform ance is vulnerable bot h to affect at ion and physi cal lim it at ions, it
cannot equal the pr ow ess of m echanical beings w h en the latt er are cont rolled by
operat ors capable of adapt i n g t heir m ovem ent s to the l aw s of gr avit y. The w or k
of such a puppet eer, in the vi ew of this ext r aor din ary character, can be assim i
lat ed to a t rue dance, 't ransferred ent irely to the realm of m echanical forces'.*
This fan t asy of m ovem ent s that are basi cal ly cont rolled by nat ural l aw s clearly
m ot ivat es the discourse of Kleist 's puppet eer —w hen the bod y i s en vi saged from
a m echanical perspect ive, it am ount s to a series of posit ions det erm ined in
space t hat can t hen serve as the basis for com posing m ore rat ional and efficient
m ovem ent s.
This w ay of t hinking belon gs to a m ore general t rend w h er eby the m ove
m ent s of the hum an bod y w er e appr ehended from the m odel of the machine.
The m echanist t radit ion goes back to the r edi scovery of the nat ural sciences
dur i n g the Ren aissan ce an d is charact erised b y the search for physi cal suppl e
ness and corporal discipline,2 and to D escart es's physics;3 it w as spread in part i
cular by Julien-O ffray de La M et t rie (L'Homme-machine, 1744)4 and, from the
1730s and 1740s, influenced t he w ay aut om at a designed t o imitate hum an atti-

¡72 Laurent Guido
t udes w ere m ade. Leavi n g asi de their val u e as an at traction, creat ing such art ifi
cial bein gs corresponded to scient ific orient at ions, w hich aim ed not on ly to re
produce bod y m echanism s but also to furt her the under st andi ng of them and
hence i m pr ove t hem by sim ulat ion. Jacques de Vaucanson (1709-1782) w as one
of the m ain creat ors of aut om at a. H is creat ions t ook one st ep furt her the 'l i vi n g
anat om ies' that w er e supposed to refer to the m ain vi t al funct ions (breat hing,
digest ion, bl ood circulat ion, etc.).5 A n ancient t radit ion w as t hus being r evived
- the 'An t h ropom or ph ous Theat re' of H ero of Alexan dria, aut hor of a Treatise on
Automata, w her e Bacchant es w h i r l ed around t o the sound of cym bal s and
drum s6. The eight eent h cent ury w as indeed fascinat ed b y m usical autom at a,
such as Vaucaison's flaut ist and t am bourin pl ayer ( 1737 and 1738) or the art ifi
cial fem ale m usicians m ade by Jaquet D roz (his pianist , 1774) and Kint sing (his
dulcim er player, 1784).
Begin n ing w it h t he Enlight enm ent , scient ific research on bod y m ovem ent s
w as linked w i t h aest hetic and spirit ualist ideas, and w as part icul arly connect ed
w i t h t he quest for an original l an guage of un i ver sal value.7 The result w as re
new ed int erest in m im ing and com m unicat ion vi a signs, w hi ch w as to becom e
even m ore im port ant in t he w r i t i n gs of Germ an Rom ant icist philosophers and
poet s. A m on g t heir precursors w as Jean -Geor ges N overre, w h o prom ot ed the
'act ion ballet ' —a n ew 'pan t om i m e' capable of reproducing the essent ial lines of
the 'int r i gue' w it h out the help of the libret to. Alt h ough he underlined the im
port ance of st u d yi n g anat om y,8 and the pow er and agilit y incarnat ed by the
'm an m achine', in his Lettres (1760) he at t acked the dogm as t hat w er e un i quely
cent red on the 'm echanical execut ion of dance'. H e believed that the perfect ion
of t echnical 'gr ace' (precision, dext erit y, t he m ast ery of enchaînement and speed)
should not hide the em ot ions sought b y the choreographer's 'spi r i t ' and 'gen
ius': 'let us st op resem bling t hose puppet s w h ose m ovem ent s, direct ed by
coarse wires, on l y am use and t ake in t he com m on people. I f our soul det er
m ines the m ovem ent of our inner w or k i n gs, then our feet, legs, body, face and
eyes w i ll be m oved in t he right direct ions'.9 Kleist 's dancer responded to such
crit icism b y sit uat ing t his 'pu r est ' expression of the m obilit y of the soul out side
the hum an int erpret er, i.e., eit her in the 'infin it e' consciousness of the divine, or
in the t otal absence of consciousness in the 'art iculat ed puppet '. The suppleness
of t his ideal body com plet ely adapt s to the sm allest of m ovem ent s defined by
the choreographer/ puppet eer, w h ose com m ands point to the verit able 'pat h t a
ken b y the soul of t he dan cer ' w i t h alm ost scientific rigour: 'I n fact, t here's a
subt le relat ionship bet w een the m ovem ent s of his fingers and the m ovem ent s
of the puppet s at t ached to t hem, som et hing like the relat ionship bet ween n um
bers and t heir logar it hm s or bet w een asym pt ot e and h yper bol a'.10

Dancing Dolls and Mechanical Eyes 173
T h e a u t o m a t o n a n d t h e p o c k e t t e le s c o p e : R o m a n t i c
i r o n i e s in E .T .A . H o f f m a n n
The puppet m et aphor t hus en gages the self-reflexive pot ent ial t hat is par t of a
w i d er reference t o t he i m agi n ar y w or l d of art ificial beings. A s Christ ophe De-
shoulières has point ed out, t he psychological break-up of the bar oque charact er
dur i n g the final year s of the eight eent h cent ury w as capt ured by m eans of 'a
series of expedient s - em blem at ic m ask s and cost um es, parodie puppet s or fan
t ast ical aut om at a'.11 This w as, of course, a source of inspirat ion for the ant i-m a
t erialist discourse of the rom ant ic poet s and writ ers. W hile Kleist used the fi g
ure of the puppet as the m odel for som et hing that went beyond physical
const raint s an d could t hereby denounce t he n ar row i n di vi duali sm of m an y ar
tists, the art ificial being w as usu al l y evok ed in or der to st igm at ise t he lim it s of
scient ific pret ent ion. Besides Jean Paul's Titan (1803), E.T.A. H offm ann's Automa
ta ( 18 13) also highlight s t he crit icism of m usical aut om at a, w h ich w er e judged
to be incapable of expr essi n g the sam e art ist ic int ensit y as t heir hum an equi va
lent s.12 This judgem en t corresponds to the st at us at t ribut ed t o m usic in the aes
thetic hierarchies of t he Germ an rom ant ics — m usic reveals the im m at erial
m ovem ent s of the soul, echoing the invisible rhyt hm s of nat ure.
D ur i ng the first year s of the ninet eent h century, there w as a w idespr ead no
tion t hat dom inat ed the l it erary im aginat ion. It w as based on the recent di scov
eries of 'elect ric fluid', post ulat ing t hat t here w as a synæst het ic correspondence
bet w een the five senses.13 In Corinne (1807), M adam e de St aël t hus described the
bewit chm ent produced b y her heroine dancing, w hen she im provised on the
t races left b y ancient paint ers and sculpt ors, and gave n ew life to ideal, ossified
post ures: '[she] elect rified the spect at ors of the m agic dance, and t ransport ed
them to t hat state of i deal exist ence ...,14 In Germ any, the scientific and occult ist
t heories espoused b y Johann W ilhelm Ritter, w h o w rot e im port ant papers on
the physiological foundat ions of electricity, perm eat ed the w r i t in gs of Germ an
aut hors such as N oval i s and H offm ann. In 18 15, short ly before M ar y Shelley
published her got hic n ovel Frankenstein (1818), in w hich an art ificial creat ure is
anim at ed b y an elect rical current , H offm ann wr ot e The Sandman, one of his fan
t ast ic t ales on the subject of aut om at a. Freud's w ell-k n ow n an alysis of t his tale
(Das Unhemtliche/Tfte Uncanny, 1919) focused on the anguish of cast rat ion ex
perienced b y the hero, w h o is confront ed w i t h figures of pat ernal authorit y.
This expl ai n s w h y Fr eud neglect ed the fascinat ion that the you n g poet N at h a
niel experiences for the st range O lym pia, not reali zin g she is act ually an aut o
m at on creat ed by the joint effort s of a scient ist and an opt ician.15 Thanks to a
pocket t elescope, the prot agonist can sat i sfy his voyeur ist ic passion for O lym
pia, w h om he wat ches from his apart m ent , com plet ely capt ivat ed by t his irre-

174 Laurent Guido
sist ible at t ract ion. H offm ann gi ves the fol low i n g descript ion: 'N at h an iel stood
before t he w i n d ow as if root ed to the spot , lost in cont em plat ion of O lym pia's
h eaven ly b eau t y'.16 H e underlines the fact t hat the pocket t elescope gives
N at haniel t he illusion of seeing the doll's eyes light up. H e goes as far as sayi n g
that t heir glance 'gr ew ever w ar m er and m ore l i vel y' (whereas the ot her men
are im m ediat ely aw ar e of t his m yst erious gir l's clum siness w hen she dances,
plays m usic or sings). N at haniel's at t it ude m ay be seen to reflect his alienat ion
from a new t ype of spect acular illusion t hat st em s from bot h scientific and com
m ercial interests (Coppola, the suppli er of t he prost het ic device, is described
bot h as an opt ician and a mercant ). In anot her tale, The Deserted House (1817),
the hero also uses a pocket t elescope to exam ine a w om an's hand that appear s at
a w indow , evok i n g the sam e feeling of the sublim e com binat ion of petrifaction,
bewit chm ent , an guish and pleasure. H offm an n com pares the feeling t o that of
an elect ric current, an i m age he also uses in The Sandman w h en he describes the
relat ion bet w een the w r i t er and his reader. H e also underlines the split in per
cept ion t hat the phenom enon engenders and t he m orbid, m echanical repet it ive
ness t hat charact erises it, b y describing h ow N at haniel is affect ed by the m any
glasses t hat the opt ician h as put on the t able dur ing the sale of the pocket t ele
scope. The glasses are caugh t b y the sun's r ays, w hich seem to charge t hem up
w i t h aggr essi ve en er gy: 'A t housand eyes gazed and blinked and st ared up at
Nat haniel, but he could not look aw ay from the table, and Coppol a laid m ore
and m ore pai r s of spect acles on t o it, an d flam i ng glances leaped m ore and
m ore w i l d l y t oget her and direct ed t heir blood-red beam s into N at haniel's
br east '.17 A t the end of the story, the aut hor ret urns to the fat al m echanism that
created the opt ical illusion. W hen the hero fi nally underst ands the trickery, he is
so t raum at ized t hat he even t uall y dies. H e becom es insane and const ant ly re
lives a sequence from the ball dur ing w hich he had m anaged to align his body
m ovem ent s w it h t hose of the art ificial creature, repeat ing like a leitmot if: 'Spin,
puppet , spin! Spin, puppet , sp i n !'18
M a r b l e - b r e a s t e d g i r l s o n b r e a t h t a k i n g l y h ig h p o i n t s :
O p e r a ’s r h y t h m i c b a l le t s
O lym pi a even t uall y di d end up dancing, t hus t ransform ing the fant asies of this
alienat ed and deluded charact er into reality. The rom ant ic ballet Coppelia debu
ted in the Par is O pera in 1870 —the libret to bor r ow s from the Sandman the idea
of the fascinat ion exercised b y w at chin g a m echanical doll. The heroine, Swanil-
da, decides t em por ar ily to t ake the place of a fem ale aut om at on to w hich her
lover, Franz, i s at t ract ed. She im it at es the aut om at on's m ovem ent s and per-

form s several dances, accom panied b y aut om at a m usicians (cym bals and dulci
mer). Elisabet h Roudinesco h as writ t en about the differences bet ween the tale
and the ballet . She not es that H offm ann's original t ale is m ore of a 'pr et ext ' t hat
al l ow s t he sam e ballerina to dance the t w o par t s —the fiancée and the doll. The
com binat ion of t he t w o roles has led to the not ion of the ideal w om an as a pr o
t ot ypical figure: the et hereal, rom ant ic ballerina, dancing on points: 'The dis
t urbin g st rangeness is di splaced from the charact er of Coppélius to that of Cop
pélia, half flesh and h al f aut om at on, som et im es alive and som et im es dead, and
w ho, as a successor to Giselle, represent s t he di st urbing spect acle of a w om an
d epr ived of her fem i n i n i t y'.19 Coppélia clearly belongs to the t radit ion of rom an
tic ballet but, at the sam e time, her alds the end of a tradit ion, a form ula t hat had
exhaust ed it self, and the em ergence of a new cont ext . Al t h ough the dual role of
Sw an i lda/ Coppél i a is perfect ly adapt ed to t he choreographic convent ions of the
period, cent red on the perform ance of a supple an d light virt uoso ballerina, it
rem ains st rangely dist ant from the supern at ural beings and sylph-lik e incarna
t ions that appear in La Sylphide (1832), Giselle (1841) or La Péri (1843), an d con
st ant ly seek to leave the ground, aided and abett ed by var ious m achine effects
(cables, scenery, light ing, etc.).20
Coppélia's choreographer, Ar t h ur Saint -Léon (1821-1870) , w as one of the great
figur es of rom ant ic dance, bot h an energet ic dancer and dem anding choreogra
pher. A t the end of the 1860s, he w as w or k i n g on t he close relat ionship bet ween
the dancin g b od y and the rhyt hm of the m usic (he w as also a virt uoso violinist )
and sim ult aneously en gaged as ballet m ast er for the Im perial Ballet of St. Pe
t ersburg and the Par i s Opera. Théophile Gaut ier not ed that his abilit y to bend
his bod y to meet the m ost difficult t echnical requirem ent s earned him the nick
nam e, the 'r ubber -m an'.21 Gaut ier, in his dance criticism, support ed Saint-
Léon's pr oposals for devel opi n g a syst em of rapid ballet not at ion (La Sténochoré-
graphie, 1853) and for im pr ovi n g the t raining t hat ballerinas received (De l'état
actuel de la Danse, 1856).“ Gaut i er also w r ot e about his fascinat ion for art ists
w h o m anifest gr eat suppleness in t heir dancing. O n var i ous occasions, he used
anot her qualifier, 'elast ic ball ', to describe Saint -Léon,23 and to call attent ion to
the m ost dyn am i c art ist s' jum ps.24 H e praised the ext rem e agi li t y that pushed
physi cal possibilit ies t o t heir ut m ost limit s, and sim ult aneously sharply crit i
cised ballet art ist s' insufficient t raining. In Gaut ier's view, the accom plishm ent s
of t he best acrobat s opened u p possibilit ies for the 'chor eogr aph er w it h im agi
n at ion': 'W at ching t hem leaping so far, fal li n g from such height s, w e realised
just h ow incom plet e and back w ar d m ost opera dancers' t raining i s'.25 The t heo
ret ical side of Gaut i er 's w r i t i n gs is not com parable to Kleist 's w or k , and when
he speaks of puppet s, it is t o m ak e fun of the least rhyt hm ically reliable dancers:
'I t w ou l d be bett er to h ave an assort m ent of w ooden dum m ies t hat w ou l d be
m oved b y st rings, at least t hey w ou l d be in t im e'.26

176 Laurent Guido
There w ere also a large num ber of w or k s from the Rom ant ic era that pr e
sent ed the figure of the anim at ed st at ue - for exam ple, t w o ballet s choreo
graphed b y Saint -Léon: La Fille de Marbre (1847) ar>d Néméa (1864). This m ot if
w as dear to sensualist philosophy, exem plified by Condillac's statue, and had
al r eady been st aged t hrough t he m yt h of Pygm al i on in w or k s by Ram eau in
1748 and Rousseau in 1770.27 Gaut i er 's im pressions of Néméa reflect the fant asy
of an idealised corporalit y, locat ed at the ver y intersection of the differences
bet w een the sexes. Gaut i er t hought that the m ain prot agonist of t his ballet , Eu
génie Fiocre, seem s to 'com bine w it h in her self t he perfect ions of the girl and the
ephebe, pr oducing an asexual beaut y, w hich is beaut y it self'. D espit e the back
gr ound of t he st or y/ 8 Gaut i er assim ilat es the ballerina's rhyt hm ic m ovem ent s to
an anim at ed statue:
It is as if a Greek sculptor had hewn her out of a block of Paros marble and animated
her by means of some miracle similar to that of Galatea. With the purity of the marble
she has the suppleness of life. Her movements develop and offset each other in sover
eign harmony. Each of her attitudes produces ten profiles of statues which art regrets
that it cannot capture in stone.29
This m ot if associat ing the dur abi l i t y of m arble w it h the ephem eral grace of
m ovem ent t ook on a par adi gm at i c val ue dur i n g t his period, point ing t o the ob
session of capt uring each of the m ult iple aspect s of the fleet ing and t ransit ory
inst ant in order to en dow it w i t h t he et ernal val ue ext olled b y classical aes
thetics. Baudelaire, in his Le Peintre de la vie moderne (1868), w as one of the m ain
advocat es of t his vision . Gaut ier, w r i t i n g about the sam e ballerina, not ed that
each of her m ovem ent s
would - if one were to stop her in mid-action - provide the subject of a drawing or
statuette: the accuracy of the proportions and purity of the forms ... produce felici
tous profiles from all sides, undulations of charming lines, eurhythmy of outline, as
could be found in antique statuaries'.30
This t ext refers on one l evel to a discourse t hat interpret s the succession of m ul
t iple vi ew s produced b y br eak i n g d ow n the m ovem ent s vi a the classic canon of
the st at uar y and the fertile inst ant s t hat Lessi n g called for (Laocoon, 1766). But
the form ulat ion of t his concept of m ovem ent - a series of successive vi ew s -
w as also dependent on the scient ific discoveries t hat occurred in the second
h alf of the ninet eent h cent ury. This w as w hen research in ph ysi ology form u
lat ed t he invisible m echanism s of mot ricity, first usin g the graphic m et hod, and
then the chronophot ographic m et hod at t he end of the 1870s. A ccor di n g to
Ber gson (in his Creative Evolution, 19 11 [1907]), the technical product ion of any-
instant-whatever is int erpret ed usi n g the privileged instant s of classic aest hetics -
w h ich is h ar d ly sur pr i si n g in t he ninet eent h century, w hich w as m ark ed by the

redi scover y of the ancient ideals r egar di n g the proport ions of the body. This
readi ng of t he new, scient ific i m ages of the body, w hich w er e seen as t races of
the 'n at ur al ' rhyt hm of m ovem ent , even t uall y led people at the end of the cen
t ur y to challenge the art of ar bit r ar y poses and t urn to aest hetic syst em s that
favour ed the syst em at ic and rat ional st u dy of hum an m ovem ent s (Delsartism,
D alcroze's eurhyt hm ies, Laban 's expr essi ve dance, etc.). Gilles D eleuze in par t i
cular em phasised h ow cinem a w as i n volved in the t ransform at ion process,
w her e t he art of poses pr ogr essi vel y gave w ay to bod y m ovem ent s, a 'funct ion
of space and t ime, a cont inuit y const ruct ed at each instant, w hich n ow only
allow ed it self to be decom posed int o its prom inent im m anent elements, inst ead
of bein g relat ed t o pr i or form s w h i ch it w as t o em body'.31
T h e im p a c t o f te c h n o lo g y : N e w ways o f lo o k in g and new

b o d ie s
Coppelia's im m ense success w as due to a cont ext where the al r eady considerable
appeal of dance dur i ng the last quart er of the cent ury w as increased by contact
w i t h n ew vi sual represent at ion t echniques, som e of w hich cam e from the field
of physi ologi cal and aest hetic an alysi s of hum an bod y m ovem ent s. Chronopho-
t ogr aph y aroused the int erest of t hose w h o sought to breat he n ew life into
m ovem ent on st age and choreography. This w as part icularly t rue of Georges
D em eny, Et ienne-Jules M ar ey's chief assist ant at the Station Phusiologicjlie in
Paris. In 1895, D em eny - a pioneer in the field of physi cal educat ion - t ook part
in a project run b y M aurice Em m anuel, one of the k ey specialist s of Gr eek or
chest ics, w h o used film to ver i fy t he choreographic at t it udes he observed on
ancient bas-reliefs (figs. 1-2).
These n ew m echanical m odes of vi sual represent at ion focused on the dancing
fem ale body. The perform ances of ballerin as in operas, French cancan dancers,
acrobat s an d skirt -dancing ent husiast s w er e highlight ed in t he var ious spect a
cles that ut ilised anim at ed i m ages based on chronophot ography (M uybridge,
M arey, Anschut z, Londe, etc.), and lat er on film (Edison, Biograph, Lum iere,
Gaum ont , Pat he, etc.). This isot opy of dance, sport or m usic hall corresponded
first and forem ost to the goal of pr oduci ng an attraction, w h i ch w as espoused by
ever yon e interested in gi vi n g the spect acle a n ew lease on life. For film hist o
rians, the not ion of at t raction h as ser ved to charact erize the dom inant m ode of
represent at ion of ear ly cinem a32 as it encom passes bot h the perform ance re
corded b y t he cam era and the m edium r epr oducing t hat perform ance.

178 Laurent Guido
Figure 1
M a u o M íitm n i l u n a n ut m *
R»
R g . 433 ; louairat itârriufliM ire ¡
% - 434 = S|. 4 ï l a io a ea l «aaculid. an limita tin » «lu pre-
--( 277);
K g. t u •iKinrnl kiilrrmi* Jt al r r ,
Fig. U 5 iiionirut intrrraK'Jiaire (
Fig. 437 : pirulí J r la ligure 4.10; ttlaur au potnt J < iltfa rt ¿
M IM n t r w n llt l
[Lm !■•£*• I «I 2 delà planche IV mmI la raprmliM-iuu d urcir
de» J r i » cliclM i J'a p il» IrafiM-U «al tue cuaaliuilr» Ira ligure*
•rtirmiti<|«c« 4,'Ml (| ¿l| |
3 1 4 . C o rp a P a n o tó . od p e i u a a e o e o . Par awilM ar aux
I‘m «A 1« lo r p . r n tr La mitra, il ru n i d iu trea m la Corpt rrali-
l'enrli/ rn a»»n 1. aaaa ta radm aer. |»i»l»iil i|ui> la« janlini n l M
Uni de* niiieirmrula iliirr* T r i ail rrlid q ae Ira Q^urr» 4.H cl
4 30 ntontrcnl k m d rin miment« rnm tirU e l dual le» im-ij;«-« r i
4 d» la planrlir IV rrjwvaealral ïr » *» t.« m
Aar «ne «H*pr j ligarv* rou jr» de t* prrnurrr im itir d* •* »iftlr,

•igi*V <1 lluruu (II), a » - daaw d r ll u r l u K r im d. riMilt iIjii» uniI
I» ¿ « a r J r * <!«•• . i c j >■» « « « in r i de Diunram. K lln «ont nu
Minore de once ¡ l'une «relira ¡nme d» b dultile llrte. ITne iJ o lf du
1. M l « I f y lai i»«a (ran 4a I'M » ! M llj< araúraa» plu k<a ¡W).
Figure 2

The relat ionship bet ween the dancing bod y and a w ay of l ooking that is m edia
t ised by m eans of a t echnical di sposi t i ve inspired the illust rat or Alber t Robida
to pr oduce his fut urist ic book, Le Vingtième Siècle (1883). Basing his vision on the
pot ent ial of the t heat rophone, sh ow n at the Paris Int ernat ional Elect ricit y Exhi
bit ion of 18 8 1, he i m agined the téléphonoscope, an inst rum ent for dist ance vi ew
i n g t hat allow ed a m an to enjoy in all com fort the spect acle of a dancer show i n g
her l egs (fig. 3). This vignet t e belonged t o a whole series of l it erary t ext s or car
icat ures describing the voyeur i st i c di sposi t i ve of the ballet lover, w h o sought to
cut u p the dancer's body in successive segm ent s, oft en usi n g a lorgnet t e.33 This
inst rum ent is the m agic m edium t hat al l ow s t he hero of the Sandman to ascribe
bewit ching grace to a w ooden puppet (see above) —it successi vely select s and
en lar ges the subject under observat ion, w i t h technical m ediat ion t aking on a
com pensat ory value. In t he age of rom ant ic ballet , t his m ot if not on ly crops up
in Théophile Gaut i er 's t heat re chronicles,34 but also in m an y of H onoré D au
m ier's caricat ures, w h er e the delight ed fi gures of the rich bourgeois observe
quest ionable ent rechat s from t heir boxes (fig. 4), or in D um as's novel, The Lady
with the Velvet Collar (1851) , w her e H offm an n hi m sel f is put in the posit ion of the
voyeu r under the spell of the t elescope di sposit ive.35 Thanks to t his 'i m pr oved
eye', the gaze it self becom es par t of a process of m echanizat ion sim ilar to t hat
w h i ch reduces ballerinas to gr oups of st ereot yped figures. It is t he sam e pr os
thetic phenom enon t hat M ar y An n D oane describes w hen addressing the film ic
di sposit ive: the im plicit alliance bet ween the spect acular exhibit ing of the fe
m ale body in t he cinem a and t he act ivat ing of t echnology as a com pensat ory
prost hesis is m anifest ed in a specular organisat ion w her e the (masculine) spec
t ator dissociat es hi m sel f from the represent at ion bot h corporally and spat ially.36
The recognit ion and fet ishist appreciat ion of the m echanical —and even i n dus
t rial - charact er of such a di sposi t i ve of vi si on are eviden t in m an y descript ions.
For exam ple, Félicien Cham psaur, in his L'Amant des danseuses of 1888, evok ed
't he m agic elect ricit y pour i n g an incant at ion of erotic paradi se on the negligees',
the w h ole happen i ng in the 'un ceasi n g noise of a fact or y'.37
This inscript ion of the bod y w it hin a t echnological cont ext t ook place at a
t ime w hen t he w hol e quest ion of the art ificial bein g w as re-em erging, in part i
cular fol low i n g Edison's invent ion of the phonograph in 1877, and his devel op
i n g of 't alk i n g dol ls' based on his sound-recording device. The w ay in w hi ch the
t radit ional figur e of the aut om at on w as r ew or k ed lies at the heart of Villiers's
novel, Tomorrmv's Eve (1886), w her e chronophot ographic project ion is exploit ed
in t he 'dan ce m acabre' section. It s m ain purpose is to deconst ruct the seduct ive
pow er produced b y t he rhyt hm ic st eps of a cabaret girl. I f one rem oves from her
the illusion that is built up b y ingenious devices and m odish m ake-up, not hing
w h at soever rem ains of the init ial charm , and w h at is left is a bein g w hose u gl i
ness m ay even be repulsive. Par adoxi call y enough, the fictional Edison m akes

180 Laurent Guido
Figure 3

Dancing Dolls and Mechanical E/es 181
an art ificial w om an in order to overcom e t his problem . This 'elect ro-hum an

bein g' ai m s to em body an ideal w h er e science lit erally m anages to gi ve shape to
m yst ical and aest het ic aspirat ions, by vi r t ue of concept ions st em m ing from the
sym bolist sphere of influence. Bet ween t he decline of rom ant ic ballet and the
beginnings of m odern dance, t here is a t ransit ion from a sensual concept ion of
the dancer —w h o is oft en assim ilat ed to the prostit ut e —to that of an abst ract or
higher sym bol. This can be clearly seen in the ver y popul ar spect acles organised
b y Loie Fuller and l auded b y M allarm é and H uysm an s as the dem onst rat ion of
the convergence of aest het ic concerns an d scientific t echnology (lighting, special
effect s, etc.).38 Tow ar d s t he end of her life, Fuller, w h o w as - in a sense - a
verit able 'elect ro-hum an bein g', direct ly referred to the w or l d of H offm ann's
aut om at a for a ballet (L'Homme au sable, 1925) and a film that has since been lost
(Les Incertitudes de Coppélius, 19 27).39
Figure 5
«4M. >. £•r * U T h fl. W h w M wd U w f krém Strptm tm tntm m

1182 Laurent Guido
R h y t h m s a n d g e o m e t r i c id e a ls : T h e p e r s p e c t i v e o f t h e
‘ p h o to g e n ic * b o d y
The m et aphor used by Kleist one hun dred year s pr evi ou sl y w as st rongly
echoed in the first year s of t he t went iet h cent ury by t hose seek ing to renovat e
st age product ion. Edw ar d Gor don Cr ai g's concept of t he Uber-m arionet t e de
signat ed the ideal of an actor w h o had becom e st ylised m at erial, sit uat ed be
yon d t he ver y lim it at ions of life it self.40 Valent ine de Saint-Point challenged not
only the 'convent ional m ovem ent s' of ballet , but also the predilect ion for 'd r aw
in g inspirat ion from the Greek s and Egypt ian s, st at ues and paint ings from all
per iods', such as w er e found in I sadora D uncan's w ork , in Daleroze and Appia's
Orpheus (1912) or N i ji n sk y's Après-Midi d'un Faune (1912): 'Put t ing back into
m ovem ent at t it udes that art ist s have im m obilised in t heir w or k s ... m eans
br eak i n g d ow n and analysing. It is the opposit e of art w hich is synt hesis, in a
w ay it m eans dest yl i zi n g.'41 Consequent ly, Saint -Point adopt ed the central pos
t ulat e of t hose w h o favour ed m odern dance as a quest for absolut e cont inuit y
and par ed-dow n m ovem ent s that could be interpret ed by m eans of geom et rical
val ues (fig. 6). Such crit icism of st iffness frequent ly cam e up in theoretical w r i t
ings on m odern dance, from Laban t o John M art in.4^ It m ay also t ake on a m ore
parodical form, t hus updat i n g Bergson's reflect ions on the com ic —the m echan
isat ion of t he l i vi n g i ndeed en genders an 'int erference of series' that is exorcised
b y a salut ar y laugh. Valent ine de Saint -Point subscribed to this idea in her Me-
tachorie, w h i ch cont ained dances evok i n g t he figure of the art ificial being ( The
Puppet and Death and The Puppet Dances). From Petrouchka ( 19 11) t o Pulcinella
(1920), several ballet s set to m usic b y St r avi n sk y w er e groun ded in a m ixt ure of
fascinat ion for and sarcasm about the w or l d of puppet s and m asks. According
to a prom inent dance critic from the 1920s, An dré Levinson, Petrouchka pl ays on
a t ension w her e the hum an soul fails t o free it self from its m echanical 'fr am e
w or k ' - t he charact er 'sl i d es int o the doll's aut om at ic reflexes. A n d t his duali t y
of t he m ovem ent , w h i ch is bot h heart rending an d funny, keeps the audience
spell boun d'.43 Finally, there w as O sk ar Schlem mer, w h o w as explicit ly t orn be
t ween reflect ions on the puppet m odel (from Kleist to Craig) and ironic int er
pret at ions (from H offm ann to Russi an Ballets), and w ho, w it h his concept ion of
the dancer as a 'fi gur e of art ' (Mensch und Kunstfigur, 1925), st ressed the need to
explor e geom et rical space in the nam e of the quest for n ew physical horizons,
sit uat ed beyon d t he const raint s of the physi cal body.
A s I h ave not ed elsew her e,44 it is t he sam e quest for the rhyt hm ic pot ent ial
ities of space and time, en vi saged on the basi s of m odels of m usic and dance,
that charact erises the appr oach of the avant -garde cinem a during the 1920s.
Gi lles D eleuze, w hen w r i t i n g on the French phot ogenic 'school', ast ut ely con-

Dancing Dolls and Mechanical Eyes
fers t he epit het 'aut om at ic ballet ' on t he geom et rical dim ension that is expressed
in the m ont age sequences in the Ballet mécanique, L ’Inhumaine, Cœur fidèle and La
Roue, and which for him bri n g about a vast 'm echanical com posit ion of im age-
m ovem ent s':
A first type of machine is the automaton, a simple machine or clock mechanism, a

geometrical configuration of parts which combine, superimpose or transform move
ments in homogeneous space, according to the relationships through which they
pass. The automaton ... illustrates a clear mechanical movement as law of the max
imum for a set of images which brings together things and living beings, the inani
mate and the animate, by making them the same.45
This t herm odynam ic and elect ric fusion of the l i vi n g being and the inanim at e
object t akes us back t o a br oader fan t asy of a pas de deux bet ween t radit ion and
m odernit y or bet w een the realm of the aest hetic and that of science, such as had
al r eady been em bodied b y Loïe Fuller.
Figure 6

184 Laurent Guido
M e t r o p o l i s and th e c h o ru s g irls ’ ‘a u to m a tic d a n c e ’
This ideal finds em blem at ic expr ession in a sequence in Frit z Lan g's M e t r o p o
l i s (1927), where an art ificial w om an has been creat ed by the scientist, Rot-
w an g. Thanks to elect ricity she appear s to be flesh and blood, and does an erotic
dance in front of an exclusi vely m ale audien ce m ade u p of the not ables of the
fut urist ic city. The spect at ors are gr ad u al l y bewit ched by the irresist ible at t rac
tion of t he choreographic illusion direct ed by bot h Rot w an g and the im port ant
capit alist w h o runs the cit y (anot her alliance bet ween science and commerce, as
in t he Sandman). The dance visions, expressin g the bewi t chi n g pow er of m e
chanised sexual energy, gr adu al l y t ake a hold on the delirious mind of the film 's
idealist ic hero, Freder, w h o i s not present since he is ill in bed. The elect ric bod y
is first show n in a vei l recalling cinem a project ion. It sum m ons up neo-ant ique
nudit y, w h i ch w as par t i cul ar l y appreciat ed in Germ anic countries, where at that
t ime people looked favou r abl y on t he prim it ivist ic values of t rance and ecst asy
prom ot ed b y Körperkultur. M oreover, t he android dancer 's bod y recalls the per
form ances of chorus gi r l s in r evues, m usic halls and film s - a phenom enon often
addr essed in philosophical or sociological t erm s b y a large num ber of scholars
in t he Ger m an y of t he 1920s (fig. 7). Thus, w h en exam ining a num ber of these
choreographies, Siegfried Kr acauer and Frit z Giese cam e to i dent ify a Taylorist
i m age of the rat ionalised and m echanized body-fet ish prom ot ed by indust rial
m odernit y and t he rhyt hm of the Bi g Ci t y innervat ed by electricity. It w as then
com m on to com pare — in the w or d s of a critic w r it in g in 1927 for the French
periodical L'A r t cinématographique - the n ew bodi es generat ed by 'beaut y salons
and physical educat ion cl asses' to 'sh i n y aut om at a m ade of nickel or steel
w h ose t rigger m echanism s can easi l y be pr edict ed'.46 A t the beginning of the
t alkie era, Em ile Vui l ler m oz st ill associat ed the dyn am ic rhyt hm s of sh ow s fea
t uring chorus gi r l s to t hose charact erising the act ual film, capable of 'subm it t ing
all the im ages to the l aw s of a superior choreography'. In his view, bot h ex
pr essed the 'halluci n at i ve int oxicat ion em anat ing from cert ain m achines w or k
in g flat out, that one cannot but help l ook ing at ,..'47
In t erm s rem iniscent of Cr ai g's argum ent s about the harm ful consequences of
D alcroze's eurhyt hm ies (in a w or d, t he m odern w om an 's becom ing a m odel),48
A n dr é Levin son sim i lar ly sees t he chorus girl in the m usic-hall - a 'precision
aut om at on'49 - as the pr ot ot ype of 'a w hole army, disciplined and resolut e'
m odelled on the product ion line: 'The fut ure Eve, t he anonym ous sport s
wom an , the im personal beaut y, the m ass-being: the chorus gi r l '.50 W it h the in
evit able reference to t he m ilit ar y m odel,51 t hese t urns seem to him above all to
deploy a form of 'collect ive organism ', 't he absolut e sim ult aneit y of m ovem ent
underlin[ ing] the ph ysi cal quasi-ident it y of t hese beings t urned out in series'.

Dancing Dolls and Mechanical Eyes I&5
Philippe Soupault , in his 'L es girls ou la danse aut om at ique',52 also speak s of
the 'undifferent iat ed gi r l s' w h ose regulat ed and uniform act ivit ies pr oduced a
ephem eral and seduct ive 'col dness', bein g pr ogr essi vel y assim ilat ed to 'm or e or
less pret t y m achines', 'you n g "gi r l sol d i er s"', 'w ell -r egulat ed m echanism s'.53
Figure 7
M e tr o p o lis seem s to t ake t hese com m ent s one st age furt her, but b y highlight
i n g t he m ale spect at ors and the w ay t hey are hypnot ised by the aut om at on's
art ificial ballet . They are designat ed as t he vict im s of the scopic dr i ve brought
about b y t he bew i t chi n g spectacle of t echnology, expressin g an unconscious fe-
t ishisat ion of the m achine in the di st ur bi n g shape of a body anim at ed by electri-

186 Laurent Guido
city.54 This sequence does not refer t o the intense corporal fragm ent at ion in the
im port ant sequences of 'ph ot ogen i c' dance in French cinem a in the 19 2 0 s -
K e a n ( A . Volkoff, 19 2 5) , M a l d o n e (Jean Grem illon, 19 28 ) or L a Fem m e e t l e
P a n t i n (Jacques de Baroncelli, 19 28 ) .55 In M e t r o p o l i s, it is the fragm ent at ion
of the w ay t hat m en look w hich claim s our at tention. Besides a close-up high
light ing a front al glance from M edusa, the dancer 's silhouett e is al w ays film ed
in m edium shot s. H ow ever , the m ont age of t hese bod y post ures fol l ow s t wo
separat e approaches - initially, the at t it udes are juxt aposed, the effect of which
is to em phasize t he discont inuit y in the sequence of im ages (and of the graze
focused on them); t hen t hey alt ernat e w it h shot s of the dieget ic spect at ors. The
latt er are represent ed b y m eans of pr ogr essi ve blending: r apid m ont age, super
im posit ion, then a synt het ic i m age sequent ially pullin g out their eyes and rein
sert ing them in a single d i vi d ed screen (as in H ans Richt er's Fl LM ST U D l E, 19 2 7)
(figs. 8a-8c). The m aniacal repet it iveness of t heir looks are t hus exposed like the
't h ousands of eyes' represent ed by t he gl asses in H offm ann's Sa n d m a n repre
sent ed. This sequence from M e t r o p o l i s sh ow s us h ow the cinem a can gi ve a
n ew form of expr ession to the condem nat ion of scientific m irages and em pha
sise its ow n specular dim ension to h ighlight t he fragm ent ed, discont inuous, and
in a w or d k aleidoscopic charact er of hum an percept ion in the er a of m echanisa
tion. Con t r ar y to w h at Em ile Vuiller m oz states, it is t hus indeed possible to
'det ach one's eyes' from the n ew elect ric phant asm agoria.
Figure 8a

Figure 8b

188 Laurent Guido
N o te s
1. Heinrich von Kleist, 'Über das Marionettentheater', Berliner Abendblätter12-15 De

cember 1810. English translation: 'On the Marionette Theatre', translated by Idris
Parry, in Hand to Mouth and Other Essays, ed. Idris Parry, Manchester: Carcanet New
Press, 1981, pp. 13-18. See also <http:/ / www.s0uthemcr0ssreview.0rg/ 9/ kleist.htm>
(28.08.08).
2. See, in particular, Marina Nordera, 'Le corps de la femme', in La construction de la
féminité dans la danse (XVe-XVIIe siècle), Pantin: Centre National de la Danse, 2004,
p. 13.
3. For example, the comparison between the human body and the watch's mechanism
in the 6th chapter of Traité des Passions (Treatise of the Passions). According to legend,
Descartes made an automat, Francine. See Philippe Breton, A l ’image de l ’homme. Du
Golem aux créatures artificielles, Paris: Seuil, 1995, p. 35.
4. Julien-Offroy de la Mettrie, L’homme-machine, précédé de Lire La Mettrie par Paul
Laurent Assoun, Paris: 1999 (Folio-Essais); English translation: Machine Man and
Other Writings, translated by Ann Thomson, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1996.
5. See, in particular, Alfred Chappuis and Edmond Droz, Les Automates, figures artifi
cielles d’hommes et d’animaux, Neuchâtel: Griffon, 1949 and Pierre Brunei (ed.),
L’Homme artificiel, Paris: Didier Erudition/ CNED, 1999.
6. P. Breton, op. cit., p. 91.
7. Gérando, De l ’Education des sourds-muets (1827), Denis Diderot, Lettre sur les sourds et
muets (1751), Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Essai sur l ’origine des Langues (1754 - 1761, pub
lished in 1781); Johann Gottfried Herder, Treatise on the Origin of Language (1772).
8. He was also interested in studying how horses walk. Noverre, Lettres sur la danse,
Paris: Ramsay, 1978, p. 131.
9. Ibid., pp. 107-108, 247.
10. Today choreographer-puppeteers can control a virtual dancer's body from a dis
tance by using the digital techniques of motion capture, allowing them to pilot a
body that becomes a series of geometrical points moving in all the possible dimen
sions of time and space.
11. Christophe Deshoulières, L’opéra baroque et la scène moderne, Paris: Fayard, 2000,
p. 397. Moreover, this trend extended the popular tradition of fairground spectacles
where human performers rubbed shoulders with singing and dancing dolls, the aim
of which was to produce a miniature pastiche of contemporary stage successes.
Lully, for example, was constantly parodied in Parisian theatres - from the Opéra
des bamboches in 1675 Travesty in 1736. Ibid., p. 400, 411.
12. Hoffmann mentioned Kleist's text in a letter of 1 July 1812 to his friend Hitzig,
quoted in Lienhard W awrzyn, Der Automaten-Mensch, Berlin: Verlag Klaus Wagen
bach, 1985, p. 104.
13. Otto von Guericke's research on the electrostatic machine, Benjamin Franklin's work
on storms, Luigi Galvani's demonstration of animal electricity (1786) and Alexandre
Volta's battery (1799).
14. Madame de Staël, Corinne ou l ’Italie, Paris: Garnier, s.d., pp. 108-109; English ver
sion: Project Gutenberg EBook #16896 (translator unknown).

Dancing Dolls and Mechanical Eyes
15. It is interesting to recall Hoffmann's obsessive interest in the new technologies of

vision, as M ax Milner has pointed out in his essay on phantasmagoria in the literary
imagination. See Max Milner, La fantasmagorie. Essai sur l'optique fantastique, Paris:
PUF, 1982, p. 40-63.
16. The Sandman, in Tales of Hoffmann, selected and translated with an introduction by
R.J. Hollingdale, with the assistance of Stella and Vernon Humphries, and Sally
Hayward, London: Penguin, 2004 [1982], p. n o.
17. Ibid., pp. 109-110.
18. Ibid., p. 123.
19. Elisabeth Roudinesco, 'L'oiseau sorti d'un rêve obscur ... et dont le sexe est incer
tain', in L'Avant-Scène. Ballet Danse, [Spécial Coppélia], no. 4, November-January
1981, p. 15.
20. M ary Clarke and Clement Crisp, Ballerina: The Art of Women in Classical Ballet, Lon
don: Princeton Book Company, 1987, p. 29-45.
21. La Presse, 25 February 1850. Théophile Gautier, Ecrits sur la danse, Arles: Actes Sud,
1995, p. 244 [ed. Ivor Guest],
22. La Presse, 1 February 1853, p. 258-261; 20 January 1845. Ibid., p. 179.
23. Idem.
24. Augusta M aywood (La Presse, 25 November 1839. Ibid., p. 104); Mme Guy-Stéphan
(choreography by Saint-Léon, La Presse, 1 February 1853. Ibid., p. 259).
25. Risley et Fils au Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, La Presse, 24 June 1844. Ibid.,
p. 159.
26. La Presse, 3 June 1844. Ibid., p. 154.
27. C. Deshoulières, op. cit., pp. 407-411.
28. In actual fact, it is the statue of the god Eros that comes to life in this ballet,and not
the character played by E. Fiocre.
29. Le Moniteur universel, 18 July 1864. T. Gautier, op. cit., pp. 318-319. See Le Moniteur
universel, 4 June 1866. Ibid., p. 331.
30. Le Moniteur Universel, 27 February 1865. Ibid., p. 322.
31. Gilles Deleuze, Cinéma 1. L'image-mouvement, Paris: Ed. de Minuit, 1983; Cinema 1,
The Movement-Image (trans. Tomlinson, H. and Habberjam, B.) London: Continuum,
2005, p. 7.
32. See Tom Gunning, Charles Musser or André Gaudreaulfs publications.
33. On this topic, see Guy Ducrey, Corps et graphies, Paris: Honoré Champion,1996,
p. 238-241.
34. In a critical piece written in November 1858, Théophile Gautier observed a ballet
troupe coming down a staircase from above, with an 'artillery of lorgnettes aiming'
at the ballerinas' legs and feet, later described as a young choreographic army.
T. Gautier, op. cit., pp. 303 and 308.
35. On this point, see my analysis in 'Le regard et la danseuse. Sur quelques utopies
télé-visuelles, de la lorgnette romantique à l'écran interactif', in Mireille Berton and
Anne-Katrin Weber, Pour une archéologie de la télé-vision, Lausanne: Antipodes, 2009,
PP- 349 -374
36. M ary Ann Doane, 'Technology’s Body: Cinematic Vision in Modernity', Differences,
vol. 5, no. 2, Summer 1993, pp. 1-23.
37. Félicien Champsaur, V Amant des danseuses, Paris: Ferenczi et Fils, 1926, p. 24.

m Laurent Guido
38. For more detailed analysis of this point, readers may consult my book, L’Âge du
rythme. Cinéma, musicalité et culture du corps dans les théories françaises des années
1910-1930, Lausanne: Payot, 2007 [chapter 7.6] and my article entitled 'Rhythmic
Bodies/ Movies: Dance as Attraction in Early Film Culture', in Wanda Strauwen
(ed.), The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press,
2006, pp. 157-178.
39. Giovanni Lista, Loïe Fuller Danseuse de la Belle Epoque, Paris: Stock/ Somogy, 1994,
pp. 580, 644. Even if Fuller's adaptations are mainly centred on the problematic of
the eye thief, her use of the automaton theme refers to a ’'critical relation to her own
body, that masked engine of all her dances. Simultaneously mastered and excluded,
it had always expressed itself in accordance with the Other. Loïe had thus experi
enced her dancer's body solely as a source of energy and regulating drive of move
ment, exactly as happens in the mechanical heart of an automaton, which drives its
movements without sharing its vital presence,' Ibid., p. 596.
40. 'The actor must go, and in his place comes the inanimate figure - the über-marion-
ette we may call him, until he has won for himself a better name.', 'The Actor and
the Uber-Marionette', The Mask, vol. I, no. 2, April 1908, in Gordon Craig on Move
ment and Dance, New York: Dance Horizons, 1977, p. 50 [Arnold Rood, ed.].
41. ' And it is within the limits of this geometrical figure that my heart can then obey its
instinct of cadence and multiply the variation of its rhythms.' 'La Métachorie', Janu
ary 1914. Reprinted in Valentine de Saint-Point, Manifeste de lafemmefuturiste, Paris:
Arthème Fayard, 2005, pp. 54-56.
42. John Martin also stigmatises the artificial, arbitrary and abstract poses of ballet, and
the excesses of Rhythmicians, who tried to go beyond them. Their efforts, nonethe
less, led to the creation of a 'high-quality machine', i.e., the dancer as a 'three-di
mensional instrument' who should now perform in a context that is both spatial
and physical (with the importance of depth and weight, as in Laban's kinespheric
model) - 'Where more than one dancer is performing, the possibilities are increased
in geometrical proportion'. John Martin, The Modern Dance, Princeton: Dance Hori
zons, 1965 [1933], p. 54.
43. André Levinson, La Danse d'aujourd'hui, Paris: Editions Duchartre et Van Buggen-
houdt, 1927, p. 79.
44. See my 'Entre corps rythmé et modèle chorégraphique: danse et cinéma dans les
années 1920', Vertigo Esthétique et histoire du cinéma, Paris: Images en Manœuvre,
Special Issue, October 2005, p. 20-27, and L'Age du rythme, op. cit., Chapter 7.
45. Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: the Movement-Image, translated by Hugh Tomlinson and
Barbara Habberjam, London: Athlone Press, 1986, pp. 41-2.
46. Albert Valentin, 'Introduction à la magie blanche et noire', L'Art Cinématographique,
t. IV, Paris: Alcan, 1927, p. 13.
47. Emile Vuillermoz, 'Le cinéma et la musique', Le Temps, 27 M ay 1933.
48. According to Craig, the girls living in Hellerau would bring forth a 'distinguée, nice
and pretty modern Venus', a 'brainless and soulless goddess', who would, above
all, follow the canons of fashion. This harmful influence would produce an opera
tion of 'stereotyping of hundreds of women a day', creating generations of 'maids,
programme vendors, servants, and all those who are or wish to follow the uniform
pattern'. 'Jaques Dalcroze and his school', The Mask, vol. V, no. 1, July 1912. Reprin
ted in Gordon Craig on Movement and Dance, op. cit., pp. 228 and 233.

49. André Levinson, op. cit., p. 362.

50. Ibid., p. 354.
51. 'I have spoken of the phalanx, and it is not only a metaphor. The fact is that one can
see in chorus girls' exercises the martial prestige of the parade ground, those mili
tary ballets of yesteryear, the popular jubilation surrounding the torchlight tattoo,
drums out front, the rhythmic enthusiasm of the warlike extravaganza.' Ibid.,
p. 358.
52. Terpsichore, Paris: Emile Hazan & Cie, 1928. In this work, Soupault, aspired to an
alliance between dance and cinema, which at the time seemed to him only devel
oped in a few fragments and documentaries. Ibid., pp. 107 and 111.
53. Ibid., pp. 64-65.
54. Regarding this relationship with the male gaze, see Tom Gunning's analysis (The
Films Of Fritz Lang: Allegories Of Vision And Modernity, London: BFI, 2000, pp. 72
73). For Andreas Huyssen, the woman-creature in M e t r o p o l i s reflects two contra
dictory yet fascinating trends of the relationship to the machine: on the one hand,
her submission, her efficiency and her passivity, and, on the other hand, her power
leading to fear and rejections. See 'The Vamp and the Machine', in A. Huyssen, After
the Great Divide, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1986,
pp. 65-81.
55. On this point, see my detailed analysis of two sequences in La Femme et le pantin,
'Le corps et le regard: images rythmiques de la danse dans La Femme et le pantin', in
B. Bastide and F. de la Brétèque (eds.), Jacques de Baroncelli, Paris: AFRHC, 2007,
pp. 232-241, and my article entitled 'Le style chorégraphique au cinéma', in Film
style/cinema and contemporary visual arts, Udine, 2007, pp. 499-522.

eb r ar y
eb r ar y
e b ra ry
eb r ar y

F ro m B roadcast P e rfo rm a n ce to V irtu a l
Show
T e l e v i s i o n ’s T e n n is D i s p o s i t i v e
Laurent Guido
In 2001, Jean-Luc God ar d w as i nt er vi ew ed by t he French sport s n ew spaper

L'Equipe. H e put for w ar d his vi ew s on the m odes of audi ovi sual represent at ion
of sport , sayi n g that, for him, sport is one of the rare fields of expression in t o
d ay's w or l d t hat i s charact erised by a form of 't rut h', t hanks t o t he m at erial
inscript ion of ph ysi cal perform ance in space: 'I still wat ch sport because som e
t hing has rem ained w her e the bod y does not l i e'.1 H owever, he w as m ore crit i
cal of the percept ions in the m edia of the m ovem ent s of sport sm en and wom en,
especi al l y w hen sh ow n on t elevision. D espit e the const raint s t hat com e from the
ph ysi cal dist ance bet w een t he at hlet es an d one part of the spectators, Godard
believes that a fr agm ent ar y experience of realit y (where 'one can clearly see t hat
one sees lit t le')2 is bett er t han the pretence, m aint ained by t elevision, of opt i
m al ly repr oducing a sport s perform ance, w h i ch he assim ilat es to the product ion
of a deceit ful illusion. H e back s up t his posit ion b y alludin g to tennis, a sport he
per son ally in dulges in and to w hi ch he refers on different occasions in his w r i t
ings and cinem at ographic w or k .3 H i s first exam ples are basi cal ly laconic val ue
judgem en t s on the personalit ies and physi cal at tribut es of the player s - w hen
goi n g to Rolan d-Garros, A n n a Kour n i k ova seem ed to him to be 'r eal ly beaut iful
and r eally elegant ', or Thom as M ust er had fi nall y divest ed hi m sel f of the l um
berjack i m age he h ad in the m edia. H e t hen goes on to exam ine the m ore serious
quest ion of ball speeds (w hereupon he m akes som e not t erribly original com
m ent s about t he blat ant difference bet w een the pow er of V en us W illiam s's and
M art ina H ingis's st rokes) and w h i ch t elevision, in his view, is quit e 'incapable of
rendering'.
A g a in s t th e m e d ia tiz a tio n o f s p o r t: A c r it ic a l p e rs p e c tiv e
Such st at em ent s —h ow ever val i d t hey m ay be - are, of course, too perem pt ory
to be of an y real t heoret ical value, but t hey are of use in t hat t hey do lead to
im port ant issues r egar di n g h ow the m edia represent s sport . Godar d's pessi
m ism der i ves from a m ore general philosophical crit icism of cont em porary

194 Laurent Guido
audi ovi su al cult ure, w h i ch - as a m ore or less conscious ext ension of the ideas
first developed b y t he t heorist s of the Fr ank furt School, and then by Gu y De-
bord and Jean Baudr i l l ar d - i s seen as i r r em ediably subservient to the gr adual
arr i val of a sh ow biz societ y cent red on t he excessive com m ercialisat ion of sym
bolic goods. The proliferat ion of em pt y and useless im ages st im ulat ed by this
syst em at ic process of m erchandising is t hus t hought to have br ough t about a
correlat ive m odificat ion in the w ay w e look at the w or ld, and hence the w ay
ph ysi cal perform ance is represent ed on the screen.
Filming sport boils down to showing the work of the body as continuity. The problem
is that this priority has disappeared. The way of 'showing' has dramatically deterio
rated. ... On the TV there's no more respect for what is filmed, it's just a matter of
programmes and broadcasting. Things have really changed!4
In order to suppor t this general vi ew w i t h m ore concrete exam ples, God ar d

m ent ions t he har m ful m odificat ions w hich, in his vi ew , have t aken place in the
w ay t elevision records and edit s sport ing event s. H e evok es in part icular the
'en or m ous differences' bet w een t he w ay cam eram en som e fift een or t went y
year s ago could dw el l on cert ain gest ur es ('a dangli n g arm , a t hought ful expr es
sion') and the rules n ow pr evailing: 'T od ay it 's all over. Ever yt hin g has speeded
up, t here's the jum p and not hing else. A bove all, there is no wait ing, no pa
tience From t his point of view , profit at an y price has encouraged the ap
pearance of an econom ic concept ion of t ime w it hin the audi ovi sual field, re
m ovin g an y possible form of spont aneit y or anyt hing unexpect ed, despit e the
fact t hat t his is w h at charact erises sport ing and recreat ional act ivit ies based on
the pur suit of exploit s and suspense. In order to st igm at ise h ow sport is show n
on t elevision, Godar d once agai n t urns to t ennis. H e m akes no bones about call
in g Françoise Boulin, w h o is the direct or of the Rolan d-Gar ros broadcast s, his
'w or st en em y', i n that the com plex set -up t hat she direct s from the cont rol room
seem s to him t o sym bolise the fragm ent at ion of vi ew poi n t s w h er e m eaning be
com es dilut ed: 'H ow can you "see" in front of t w elve screens? You don't see one
im age, you "b l u r " it .'5
In his perspect ive, the possibilit y of r eall y seeing does indeed exist. Godard's
disillusionm ent goes hand in hand w it h the pr ofound belief in cert ain vir t ues of
the cinem at ographic im age, in essence, the relat ionship of im m ediacy t hat som e
t heorist s, in par t icular A n dr é Bazin,6 h ave been able to i dent ify bet w een the
cam era and realit y t hanks to the indexical nat ure of the phot ographic shot. This
idea refers to the broader st akes that have govern ed the concept ualisat ion of the
w ay gest ure i s represent ed in film since the beginning of cinem a. M ost of the
theoret ical w r i t i n gs on the film in g of the m ovi n g hum an bod y relat e to the op
posit ion bet w een t wo fundam ent al par adi gm s. The opposit ion concerns first
and forem ost dance,7 but can be ext ended to i nclude an y t ype of physical per-

From Broadcast Performance to V irtual Show 195
form ance such as sport or the m art ial arts. O n the one hand, priorit y is gi ven to
the t ot alit y and cont inuit y that are pr oper to the profilm ic event (via w i d e shot s
and long takes) - t his i deal m eans of capt uring and repr oducing gest ures is
favour ed by dancers (t ypified by Fred Ast aire);8 on the ot her hand, em phasi s is
laid on edit ing the perform ance, as advocat ed by Lev Kul esh ov or Slavk o Vor-
kapich,9 and devel oped al on g var i ous lines, from the avant -garde m ovem ent of
the 1920s to video-dance, or from Bu sby Berk eley to m usic videos.
Research - par t i cul ar l y in the field of foot ball10 - has dem onst rat ed t hat t oday
w h en sport s com pet it ions are sh ow n on t elevision, they, like ot her live br oad
cast s (of cerem onies, concert s, etc.), use m ult iple cam eras to sh ow the action
from var ious angles. Th ey are gener al ly di vi ded u p bet ween long-range shot s,
i f possible high-angle shot s that gi ve an overall, geom et rical vi ew of the scene,
and var i ous closer vi ew poi n t s of the var i ou s prot agonist s, including the spect a
tors. Panoram ic and zoom shot s - for the m ost part chosen by the cam era op
erat ors t hem selves - enrich the changes of shot decided u p in the control room
in order to select and h ighlight the supposed high point s of the gam e (i.e., a
gest ure or rem arkable expression). On the diachronic level, several fact ors are
em phasised here: the pr ogr essi ve m ult iplicat ion of vi ew poi n t s available, the in
creased use of sl ow m ot ion and com put er anim at ion, or the int egrat ion of per
ipheral elem ent s (int erviews, st at ist ics or vi ew s behind the scenes). M ost re
searchers concur that t hese var i ous aspect s form a series of param et ers that
in creasin gly fragm ent the cont inuit y t hat is charact eristic of the film ed event
and t ransform it into t elevision ent ertainment , w hich is gover n ed by cert ain re
quirem ent s relat ing t o dyn am i sm and explicat ion. M an y st udies have em pha
sised the lim it at ions of the strict separat ion bet w een t he t w o t ypes of experience
of sport - bein g present at the event and w at ching it on TV. Tw o r easons can be
put for w ar d: firstly, bot h have w el l docum ent ed advan t ages and di sadvan t ages
w hen it com es to gi vi n g the best possible assessm ent of com pet itions, and sec
ondly, w i t h im ages n ow being project ed inside st adium s, and m ore generally,
w i t h t he st adium n ow increasingly occupied by the audi ovi sual m edia in the
cover age of sport ing event s, bot h t ypes of experience are t ending to m er ge.11
This observat ion oft en goes hand in hand w i t h m ore pessim ist ic com m ent s that
equat e t oday's developm ent of sport ing cult ure w i t h the excesses on bot h the
com m ercial and com pet it ive planes.12 This is just w h at Godar d is sayi n g in the
quot at ion above w h en he refers to an ideal vi su al t ranscript ion that prom ot es
the m ost fait hful rest it ut ion possible of the original w holen ess of perform ances
sh ow n on screen.13

196 Laurent Guido
A c c o u n tin g f o r c e rta in tr a d itio n s o f re p re s e n ta tio n
It is, nonet heless, possible to go beyon d such nost algic dem ands or philosophi
cal prejudices, and to devel op an idea of h ow t elevision m ediat es sport s com pe
t itions b y t r yi n g to i dent ify the rat ionale behind this m ediation, in part icular by
exam ining the t radit ions it belongs to, because it is pr ecisely t hese t radit ions
that enable one to discount a cert ain num ber of presupposit ions linked to the
audi ovi su al recording an d represent at ion of sport ing even t s.14 Even if one can
not di sput e t he exist ence of m echanism s of int ensificat ion an d diversificat ion
that h ave been present in the field for som e years, m an y of the t echniques cur
rent ly used in t elevision d r aw on pract ices that have long been tried and tested
in cinem a. These pract ices should t hus not on l y be sit uat ed in t heir im m ediat e
cont ext , but also inscribed in deeper aest het ic and hist orical reflect ions on h ow
physi cal perform ance is represent ed vi a t echniques based on the m echanical
recording of m ovem ent .
In 1938, Leni Riefenst ahl's film O l y m p i a w as al r eady considered an accom
plished synt hesis of a t rend t ow ar ds plur i focal i t y in the w ay sport s event s w ere
docum ent ed. D espit e its different pur pose (a docum ent ar y film m ade to be
show n in the cinem a an d not to be br oadcast l ive),15 this w or k prefigures m any
of the processes and m odes of cut t ing used in sport s com pet it ions seen on t ele
visi on today. Riefenst ahl w as inspired b y t he pract ices t hat w er e in fashion in
the avant -gar de m ovem ent s in ph ot ogr aph y and cinem a in the 1920s and 1930s
- including the 'n ew vi si on ' prom ot ed at t he Bauh aus by T. Lu x Feiniger and
H erbert Bayer or the m ont ages of W alt her Rut t m ann and D zi ga Vert ov. She
used t hese film m et hods begin nin g w i t h her pr opagan da film s of the N azi part y
rallies in N urem berg. She devel oped n ew t echniques that m ade the cam era m o
bile by usi n g balloons, boat s, cars, rails, etc. and am plified the vision of the
event by usin g different t elephot o lenses, including a 600-mm one, t he m ost
pow er ful avai lable at that time. But the m ost charact eristic t rait of Riefenst ahl's
t echnical disposit i ve w as her desire to m ul t i pl y the point s of vi ew usin g her
100-m an t eam .lfl The sim ult aneous effort s of dozens of cam eram en cover ing an
even t from ever y an gle — especi al l y from elevat ed posit i ons,17 un der wat er,
from specially built t ow er s and pit s dug int o the ver y st adium in order to come
up w i t h high and l ow -angle shot s - pr oduced large am ount s of film foot age
that required considerable edit ing. Riefenst ahl's approach is sim ilar to the plu r i
focalit y of t elevision t hat God ar d has crit icised. God ar d did, however , gi ve her
credit for t r yi n g to shoot m ore 'len gt h w i se' because of her affiliat ion to cert ain
aest het ic principles: 'Riefen st ahl did, aft er all, respect w h at w as being film ed.
She fr am ed her shot s usi n g scient ific principles. M eanwhile, t oday, w e are suf-

focat ing under an avalanche of film ed im ages. An yon e can pret end to be a cam
eram an and t hink t hey are doi n g a t ak e.'18
D espit e t he fact that l i ve broadcast s h ave specific aim s and use part icular
m eans of product ion, fi lm i n g for t elevision raises issues of vi ew poi n t , approach
and cut t ing t hat are r em ar k abl y sim ilar to t hose raised by cinem a. A n y cinem a
t ographic represent at ion of a spect acle cent red on hum an m ovem ent proceeds
vi a a series of choices in relat ion to it s profilmic execut ion. A sport s event cannot
- cont rary to Godar d's prem ise - be seen as a sim ple m anifest at ion of the real
t hat is separat e from it s product ion. It depends on a pre-exist ing configurat ion
(the scene, t he st adium , the st ruct ure used for the aw ar d cerem ony), w h er e pre
cise posit ions are assigned to t he sport sm en, referees, judges and groups of
spect at ors. The ent ire film ing process is t hus a secomlan/ act ion that occurs in
addit ion to t his fundam ent al di sposit ive. Scholars do not si m pl y com m ent on
the w ay m edia represent at ion dilut es sport sm anship, but also d r aw attent ion to
the w ay the film ing process cont am inat es t he rit ual it self by int roducing n ew
condit ions, from the st ruct ural and dyn am i c l evels to that of advert ising.
A n a ly s in g f ilm ic p ro c e d u re s - th e e x a m p le o f te n n is
I f one excludes t he art icles that exam ine the spoken com m ent aries (which I shall
not ad dr ess h er e)/ 9 t he m ain st udies r egar di n g t elevision's sport s disposit ive
h ave gener al ly confined t hem selves to looking at the increasing num ber and
di ver si t y of t he cam eras and screen shot s used.20 Com par ed t o t hese statist ical
st udies, there is com par at i vel y little research t hat has present ed t he principles
un der lyi n g t his pr ogr essi vel y m ore dyn am i c t reat m ent of the physical action.
These principles usu al l y focus on the t ypes of represent at ion of the bod y t hat
are pr oduced by ever m ore di ver se film ing techniques. Even i f the t echniques
used t end to produce a fragm ent ed and object ivised im age of the event s, t hey
do create coherent ident ificat ion and part icipat ion m echanism s that m ay var y
according t o discipline and specific geogr aphical or cult ural charact eristics.
This is the angle I h ave adopt ed to st u dy broadcast s of t ennis m at ches. M y re
search at t em pt s to i dent ify som e of the aest hetic and dram at ic im plicat ions of
the m odes of film ing an d edit ing i n volved in docum ent ing the bod y m ove
ments.
Thanks to som e of t ennis's specific qualit ies - the long gaps bet ween t he ac
t ion,21 it s t echnical and geom et rical nat ure, it s dualism —it is undoubt edly one
of the sport s t hat int ellect uals in the w or l d of cinem a m ost appreciat e an d dis
cuss (in France, besi des Jean -Luc God ar d's rem arks, t here are also the passi on
at e com m ent s of Serge D an ey and M ichel Chion).22 H owever, i f w e ignore a

198 Laurent Guido
num ber of fai r l y obvious fundam ent al facts, there is as yet no reliable definit ion
of the 'cinegenic' val ue of t ennis, in part icular from the vi ew poi n t of the m edia
disposi t i ve that t urns it int o a t elevision spect acle. A s has alr eady been point ed
out above, t he num ber of cam eras on t he t ennis court s has increased consider
ably, especially dur i n g Gr an d Slam t ournam ent s (the '4 or 5' different cam eras
at Rolan d-Garros, in t he ear l y 1980s increased to 15 b y 2000).23 Lik e m ost sport s
film ed in st adium s, the m ain recurring fi gur es that are edit ed l i ve in the control
room alt ernate bet w een (a) the all-encom passing and geom et rical visi on of the
m at ch (an over vi ew from above or even from the air) and (b) a series of shot s
highlight in g t he i n di vi dual gest ures an d em ot ions, for the m ost part film ed at
court level. There has been a m ark ed increase in the num ber of shot s and re
ver se shot s used dur i n g the course of the match, part icularly at the k ey m o
ments. They highlight the dram at ic relat ionship t hat st art s to devel op bet ween
the t wo player s, or bri n g out t he link bet ween the court and the spect at ors.24
This fundam ent al st ruct uring of space form s the basis upon w hich all the
broadcast s in m y corpus depend. I exam ine four m en's m at ches at W im bledon
over the past t hirt y year s: the 1977 sem i-final bet ween Björn Borg and Vit as
Gerulait is, t he 1980 final bet w een Bor g and John M cEnroe, the 1998 sem i-final
bet w een Gor an I van i sevi c and Richard Krajicek, and the 2007 final bet ween Ro
ger Federer and Rafael N ad al .25
Figure 1. The basic axis
P2 Pi Ci Position
In t hirt y year s, the m ain cam era posit ion (hencefort h Cl ) , i.e., the one that con
st ant ly records all the exchanges, h as rem ained the sam e (fig. 1). It is sit uat ed
high up in the nort h st and (thus opposit e the Royal Box) and pr ovides a general
vi ew of the court from above, cover in g the w h ole breadt h of t he surface of the
court in a single, synt het ic vision . One pl ayer (Pi ) is on the side of the cam era
C l and t hus h as his back to t he cam era, w her eas the ot her player (P2) is locat ed
at the far end of the pict ure an d faces the cam era. The first posit ion is in the axis
of the cam era, w it h Pi 's w at chful eyes ext ending, in a m anner of speaking, the
t elevision audience's vi ew poi n t , w h i l e the second posit ion places P2's bod y at

the cent re of t he represent at ion. This fundam ent al axi s creat es a desire to com
prom ise bet ween, on the one hand, a shot from above t hat perfect ly capt ures the
m ovem ent s and t raject ories but reduces the player s to point s m ovin g inside a
geom et rical space, and, on t he ot her hand, an angle shot that allow s one to ap
preciat e the t echnical gest ur es at bod y height , but t hat m akes it m ore difficult to
com prehend the m ovem ent s because the perspect ive is flattened.
The desire not to fragm ent the act ion belon gs to the first of the t w o par adi gm s
m ent ioned above, w her e an at t em pt is m ade to respect the spat ial w h ol e of the
perform ance, to underst and the int erdependence of the forces present and to
ensure t hat as m uch vi sual inform at ion is processed as possible. The fact that
part of t he disposi t i ve is allocat ed to the mat ch's unpredict able developm ent
leads to ver y different result s, depen di n g on the player s' st yles and the playin g
surface. For inst ance, t he charact eristic slow n ess of clay obliges the player s to
en gage in long exchanges from the baseline and produces m uch longer shot s in
C l t han the t w o or t hree exchanges needed to w i n a point on fast er surfaces
such as grass. D espit e the gr adual int roduct ion of ot her shot angles, t here is no
doubt about the cent ralit y of Cl .
Occasionally, dur i n g a few br i ef exchanges in the course of the four m at ches
in 1998 an d 2007, the act ion m ay be film ed from the sam e direct ion, but from a
l ow er posit ion t han C l . This al l ow s one to get a front shot of P2 and, later, to
pr ovi de a large num ber of replays. In addit ion, a lat eral cam era m ay br iefly take
over from C l if C l cannot adequat el y fol l ow the ball out side the l ow er lim it s of
the fram e. There are on l y t w o exam ples of t his in m y corpus (Borg in 1977, and
N ad al in 2007).
L a t e r a l v ie w s , t h e f i r s t s t e p t o w a r d s a 3 6 0 - d e g r e e space?
The cam eras on the court are posit ioned at player height and film the players
usi n g a var i et y of shot s w i t h var i abl e dist ances (m edium to close-up). In 1977,
t w o cam eras w er e locat ed in t he nort h st and and m ain ly shot Pi , w h ile t wo
ot her cam eras (one film ing from below ) w er e principally docum ent ing P2 along
the lengt h axi s w her e the um pire's chair is locat ed. Respect ing the 180-degree
rule, t he cam eras are sit uat ed al on g an axi s t hat corresponds to h alf of the court
(one w idt h and one length), out side of w hich not hing is film ed. This set -up at
W im bledon m ay surprise people w h o are used to seeing broadcast s of other
European and Am er ican t ournam ent s, because, at first sight, their m inim al or
gan isat ion w h en it com es to shot s from the edges of the court depen ds m uch
m ore clearly on cam eras locat ed n ear the net (the cent rifugal locus of the um
pire's chair), so t hat each cam era fol low s one player. This result s in a clear shot

200 Laurent Guido
Figure 2 Figure 3
Figure i Figure 5
and reverse shot from the lat eral axis, alt ernat ing w i t h shot s by C l and, on rare
occasions, t he l ow er shot.
This canonical set -up appears cl ear l y in the 1980 final, w here a lat eral cam era
is expl i ci t ly aim ed at P i from the net, reinforcing the im pression of shot and
reverse shot bet ween Bor g an d M cEnroe. In 1998, t hese shot s w ere still central
to t he disposit ive, w i t h on l y rare depart ures from the 180-degree axis, m ade
possible by the presence of addit ion al cam eras posit ioned al ong the lengt h axis
opposit e the um pire's chair (shoot ing at a l ow an gle from the court). These cam
eras are m ai n l y t here to film the player s w h en t hey are sitt ing d ow n during
pauses, and for var i ous slow-m ot ion shots. M oreover, there is also a perspect ive
shot from the t op of the st ands gi vi n g a second vi ew of t he st adium from above.
This t ype of shot has signficant ly gr ow n in im port ance, as can be clearly seen in
the 2007 final. In the m eant im e, the w i d er 16/ 9 set -up w as adopt ed at W im ble
don, w i t h t he edit ing st rat egy as described above, but set w i t hin a m ore spa
cious and et hereal cont ext - the n ew vi ew poi n t s, and in part icular the t w o cam
eras sit uat ed l at erally aroun d P2, significant ly ext end the space (wit h a w i de
stret ch of gr ass in the foreground, and the sk y in the background) (fig. 2). This
t ype of fram ing, t oget her w i t h ext ra cam eras locat ed at the t op of the t erraces,26
or even on a crane out side the st adium , produces a m ore dist ant, geom et rical
and ordered vi ew of t he st adium , and of the event it self (figs. 3-4). One can also
add the use of anot her recent innovat ion - a rem ot ely cont rolled dol ly that
m oves along the baseline (fig. 5). The result ing shot s from below and from the
side al on g the edge of t he court are ver y st r ik ingly sim ilar to Leni Riefenst ahl's

i m ag es o f t h e N u r em b er g st ad i u m ( T r i u m p h o f t h e W i l l , 1935) an d t h e O l y m
p i c p o o l ( O l y m p i a, 1938).
E d i t i n g , o r l i n k i n g t h e d i s t a n t a n d t h e c lo s e
A r elat ively large num ber of cam eras is not a sine qua non condit ion for pr oduc
i ng the sensat ion of speed and dyn am ism , w hi ch m ay par t ly depen d on the
rhyt hm of shot exchanges, an d t he abilit y of cam eram en to zoom , t hus pr oduc
in g not on l y ver y quick cam era m ovem ent s, but also var ied angles. The full use
of these possibilit ies explain s the st riking cont rast that w as alr eady clear in the
oldest exam ple used in m y research (1977) bet w een t he st atic charact er of C l ,
used exclu si vely for m ovem ent s w it h in the frame, and the constant, n ervous
m obilit y t hat em anat es from the i m ages bet w een exchanges. In 1977, t he scale
of shot s had al r eady t ight ened as t he m at ch pr ogressed in accordance wit h the
dram at ic t ension. The vi ew s bet ween exchanges w er e oft en confined to body
shot s, focusing m ore closely on t he t w o pl ayer s' facial expressions on l y w hen
Bor g had a decisive set point.
Part icular at t ent ion is pai d to the w ay a balanced ret urn to C l is m anaged
aft er n um erous det ailed shots. The swit ch is syst em at ic aft er the ser vi n g player
has t hr ow n up the ball - t he m ovem ent u p w ar d s corresponds to the displace
m ent of t he disposi t i ve itself, from the gam e on the court up to the spect at ors in
the st ands. M ost of t he t ime, an i m age of t he beginning of the service is inserted
just before it ret urns to C l , corresponding to the precise m om ent w h en the ball
i s hit. Usually, the ser vi n g pl ayer 's ent ire bod y is seen in a m edium shot,
alt hough t he cam era m ay focus on his hands, or even on his feet on the baseline.
This crucial 'last shot before ret urning to C l ' m ay also sh ow a det ail of the op
ponent r ecei vin g serve. This st rat egy had al r eady been used in 1997 and w as
st ill ver y m uch par t of t he basic repert oire in 2007.
Even i f the rat ionale behind edit ing is m ost ly on t his fundam ent al alt ernat ion
bet w een the t wo player s, som e sequences do seem to serve a pr i m ar i l y aesthetic
funct ion. I n 1977, for exam ple, t here is no hesit at ion about breaki ng up Borg's
service m ovem ent int o three dist inct fram es - from the side close-up (preparing
his arm s); from the front, m edium dist ance (t hrowing up the ball) an d C l (serve
and play). The im pression is t hat of t he cam era pr ogr essi vely m ovi n g aw ay
from t he subject, first vi a a 90-degree angle, follow ed b y a link shot in the rear
axis. There m ay indeed be redun dan cy in the three im ages in t erm s of inform a
tion, but t hey perfect ly fost er the flui di t y of the m ovem ent bet ween the court
l evel and the high shot w h i ch is const ant ly used for the vol leys. Thirt y years
later, in 2007, a ret urn to C l occurred i m m ediat ely aft er a close-up of N adal's

202 Laurent Guido
eyes as he t hrew u p to ball to serve. This is an expl osi ve link t hat corresponds
perfect ly to the m axim um invest m ent of en er gy bein g expended b y t his player.
Anot her N adal ser ve lat er in the m at ch w as used as a pret ext for a m ovem ent
link ing the ser ver 's sh ad ow to Federer 's racket, w i t h the shot then m ovi n g u p to
Federer's face before goi n g back to C l .
Sim ilarly, the edit ing can also be used t o m agn i fy the psych ological reaction
of one of the players, const ant ly com ing back to it by m eans of a series of di ffer
ent shot s. W hen M cEnroe m issed a vol l ey du r i n g the tie-break in the fourt h set
of the 1980 final, his expression of vexat ion, st art ing w it h his gest ure to cover
his eyes w i t h bot h hands, w as cut into seven cont inuous shot s ( Cl , lat eral shot,
side shot, dol ly al on g the net, C l , close-up, Cl ) . In 1998, just before a ver y tense
mat ch point ( 14- 13 in the last set!), the edit ing em phasised the exchange of looks
bet w een the t w o player s vi a t w o close-ups, reinforcing the feeling of an intense
psych ological duel (figs. 6-7).
Figure 6 Figure 7
B e t w e e n a t t r a c t i o n a n d n a r r a t i o n - c o n t r a s t e d im a g e s o f
th e s p e c ta to rs
D ur in g the first broadcast s in m y study, the focus w as m ost ly on the player s,

t hus r em ovi n g t he act ion from t he act ual cont ext of the st adium it self to concen
t rat e on the prot agonist s. The um pi r es w er e rar ely focused on, w it h the not able
except ion of 1977, w h en an older line ju dge adopt ed an uncom fort able, alm ost
grot esque posit ion in order to fol low the act ion m ore closely (the rat ionale of the
fun n y insert ion bein g one of attraction). The sam e judge w as show n agai n later
aft er doubt s about the val i d i t y of a call (thus follow in g t his t ime t he requir e
m ent s of narration).
Som e l ow -an gle shot s t aken from the court show the player against the back
gr ound of t he spect at ors in the st ands. This superposit ion effect wit hin the sam e
shot is an em blem at ic reference to the dialect ic bet ween the in divi dual and the

group, bet ween t he cham pion and the uniform crowd, that is played out each
t im e spor t is t urned into spect acle. The vi si on is bot h one of close interact ion
(the cham pion, w it h the cr ow d conferring hero st at us on him ) and one that im
poses a hierarchy (the sport ing bod y subsum in g the social body). It can be op
posed to ot her passages in w h i ch t he at hlet es appear to play in a closed w or ld
w her e the um pi r e and line ju dges on l y appear fleetingly. The m ajorit y of shot s
are sit uat ed in the int erm ediary zone bet ween t hese t w o ext rem e situat ions.
The rare i m ages of the spect at ors in 1977 (w i de and indist inct shot s of the
sam e st and) had no part icular relat ionship w i t h the gam e on the ground. But
the 1980 m at ch (the t op-level gam e bet ween Björn Borg, the m ost im port ant
m edia st ar of t ennis since t he 1920s, and John M cEnroe, w it h his air of a charis
mat ic rebel and Borg's m ain rival) const ant ly d r ew attention to the spect at ors'
react ions, whet her anonym ous fans or t he player s' nearest and dearest sitt ing
close to t he Royal Box. The fan s w er e on l y film ed briefly, in isolat ed fram es and
not in close up. Th ey w er e conspicuous t hanks to t heir n oisy at t it ude and the
clot hes t hey w ore, and som e even had a special relat ionship w i t h the m edia
it self (when t hey occasionally spot t ed the cam era and st ared at it). Som e w ere
film ed several t imes, becom ing prot agonist s of the spectacle, like a youn g w o
m an bran di sh i ng a scarf, or t hree M cEnroe fans w ear i n g lace frills (fig. 8). They
w er e init ially seen du r i n g the first set, and du r i n g the fourt h set t hey first exhib
it ed t heir dism ay, w hen Bor g t ook M cEnroe's serve, then t heir jubilat ion when
t heir cham pion m an aged to equalise aft er a classic tie break.
Figur e 8
The bui ldi n g up of such a relat ionship bet ween the spect at ors and the court - a
frequent occurrence in Len i Riefenst ahl's w or k (figs. 9-10)27 - is even great er if
one exam ines the interact ion bet ween the t w o player s and the st and where their
t rainers and fam i l y m em bers are. In 1980, at the end of a set that w as easil y w on
b y M cEnroe, t w o over vi ew s of t heir box alt ernat e sym m et rically w it h shot s iso
lat ing each player. Short ly before Borg's face appeared —t erm inat ing t he series —
the im age focused on t he w or r i ed expressi on of his girlfriend. A par t from a few
br i ef shot s of her at k ey m om ent s of the mat ch, it w as at the end of the hot ly
cont est ed fourt h set t hat the film ing syst em at ically exploit ed this dram at ic ele-

204 Laurent Guido
ment. Point aft er point, close-ups preceded or follow ed the developm ent of the
gam e, epit om ised b y the an guished post ure of Borg's girlfriend, her hands
joined t oget her and eyes shut, or the uninhibit ed clappi n g of M cEnroe's father.
A t t he end of the m at ch, unlik e in 1977, the first im age aft er the m at ch point w as
consequent ly t hat of the box w her e t he Bor g clan w er e rejoicing. In 1998, shot s
of the spect at ors w er e not m ore syst em at ic for a m at ch of less hist orical dim en
sions, but w her e the suspense w as just as ext raordi n ary (the last set w as excep
t ion ally long). The close-up inserts of Richard Krajicek's girlfriend t ook on a
leit m ot iv val ue, just ified not on l y b y his dexterity, w hich she w as applaudi n g
(the l evel of narration), but also b y her st ereot yped beaut y (the level of attrac
tion). I t w as n ow m an dat or y for the m at ch point to be quickly follow ed by a
prolonged exchange of looks bet ween t he winner, Goran I van isevic, and his
father, w h ose fist w as raised.
Figure 9 Figure 10
The first i m age of the spect at ors in the 2007 final reflected the par t icular ly et he
real and dist ant nat ure of the disposit ive, w i t h a degree of m echanicalness, or
even dehum anisat ion. W hen a rem arkable point w as im m ediat ely follow ed by
a fram e sh ow i n g a com pact cr ow d of spect at ors clapping, t here w as t he feeling
that a st ock shot h ad been insert ed t hat had no direct relat ionship w i t h the
even t being represent ed. It creat ed a t ension bet w een t his t ype of shot and the
close-ups that brough t in a num ber of anonym ous spectators, eit her for their
eccent ric or t heir seduct ive appearance. But t hese chosen ones on ly appeared at
except ional m om ent s w h en com pared w i t h the fam ous personalit ies picked out
w hen the cam era m oved to the spect at ors. A par t from the prom inent presence
of pr evi ous cham pions (I shall come back to this point), the k ey reference point s
w er e obvi ousl y the t w o player s' fam ilies, w h o w ere w at ching from the official
st and. They w er e singled out ear l y on for the t elevision audience's benefit and
t heir react ions sh ow n at each crucial m om ent of the match. Em blem at ic of this
approach w as N adal's uncle-t rainer, w h o cheered w hen his nephew got a break
point (fig. 11) , or the exclam at ions of the Federer clan w hen t heir m an got back

Figure 11
on t op in t he sam e gam e (in par t icular b y m eans of the classic insert ion of a ver y
expr essi ve series of close-ups on the face of his girlfriend, M ir k a Vavrinec).
These var i ous personalit ies in fact funct ion as t ransit ional figures bet ween the
indist inct cr ow d of spect at ors and the pat ent ly i n di vi duali sed cham pions - an
aspect that i s brought out by different vi su al t echniques. Thus, a zoom in dist in
guished the h augh t y bear in g of an un k n ow n beaut y belonging to the Federer
clan. This cam era m ovem ent has t w o com plem ent ary funct ions: on the one
hand, it s fet ishist nat ure w as int ensified b y t he at t it ude of the youn g w om an
her self (her hands w er e n er vously clut ching a ball) (fig. 12); on the ot her hand,
the cam era m ovem ent det ached t his iconic fragm ent from the celebrit y context
of the Royal Box t o inscribe it as an archet ype of spect at or act ivi t y (half tense,
h alf passive), super im posed on an over vi ew of the st adium . M oreover, the
zoom out w as used on var i ous occasions to underscore the relat ionships be
t ween cert ain personalit ies sit t ing am ong the spect at ors and the player s - for
exam ple, the shot m oves bet w een Feder er 's fat her and Rafael N adal (to un der
line the ant agonism bet w een the t w o cam ps), or from John M cEnroe in the com
m ent at or's box to Roger Federer (underlining the links bet ween t w o dist inct
generat ions of cham pions). M ore prosaically, anot her cam era m ovem ent asso
ciat ed N adal 's face w i t h t he official t ournam ent logo, di splayed on a st and (figs.
13-14) . This zoom m ay be int erpret ed in t w o w ays. It m ay be t aken to indicat e
the ongoing incorporat ion of N ad al into t he hist ory of such a pr est igious event
as W im bledon. O r it m ay br i n g out h ow the figur e of the cham pion is dilut ed in
a pur e gr aphical effect, t hereby st ressing the art efact nat ure of t he t elevision
spect acle set up b y the di sposi t i ve to w h i ch t his sam e cam era belongs.
Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14

206 Laurent Guido
P la y e r s ’ m o v e m e n t s : f r o m a n a ly s is t o c o m p u t e r a n i m a t i o n
The w ay the player s are sim ult aneously film ed from all possible angles leads to
an exhaust ive (in bot h senses of the term) m ediat izing of the sport sm en's
bodies. D ur ing a pau se at the begi n ni n g of the fourt h set, N adal w as film ed
sit t ing on his chair and w as successi vely it em ized by m eans of var ious lateral
shots, even includin g the personalised m ot ifs decorat ing the heels of his shoes (a
'Rafa' logo and a st ylised bull). The next shot linked these figures to an inscrip
tion on Federer's bag in honour of his four previ ous W im bledon vict ories. This
insist ence on the relat ion bet w een t he different facet s of sport ing act i vit y (from
the persona to the record of achievem ent ) and the product s of its com m ercialisa
t ion can also be seen in anot her em blem at ic im age w here a cam era zoom ed
t ow ar ds the scoreboard and focused on a part icular number. The num ber gr a
d u al l y becam e disconnect ed from its indicat ive val ue as par t of the score and
ended up b y exist in g in its ow n right - an i n cr easin gly blur r ed i m age out of
w h ich one of t he t w o finalist s sudd en ly appeared, t hanks t o yet anot her zoom
out (figs. 15-18) .
Figur e 15 Figur e 16
Such an i m age can be int erpret ed as the spont aneous sym bol of the objectivis-
in g process t hat h ad gr ad ual l y been t aking over the film ed event s un der the
influence of t heir virt ualizat ion. W hereas in 1980 t he juxt aposit ion w it hin the

sam e im age of a pl ayer an d the scoreboard could still si gn i fy a real in situ ex
perience, the use of t he sam e i m age in the digit al t elevision era com es face to
face w i t h anot her dim ension of the screen. The TV i m age is n ow sat urat ed w it h
m ult iple incrust at ions t hat const ant ly ret urn to a t abular, synt het ic and alm ost
spat ialized visi on of the m at ch it self, b y highlight ing not on l y the changes t o the
score, but also var i ous st at ist ics - the n um ber of aces, double fault s, point s
gained vol leyi n g, w i n n i n g ret urns, t ransform ed breaks, and so on (figs. 19-20).
The w ay in w hich t he fl ow charact erist ic of sport on t elevision has pr ogr essivel y
becom e reconfigured by m eans of the stock of im ages t hat it cont inually gener
at es can still be ident ified at anot her level: the fact that slow-m ot ion r eplays are
cont inually bein g sh ow n from var i ous n ovel angles.
Figure 19 Figure 20
The journalist s w h o i n t er vi ew ed God ar d put for w ar d several r easons expl ai n

i ng w h y som e spect at ors prefer the t elevision screen to the st adium . It m ay be
t hat t hey like bein g able t o see the act ion over agai n and t hus bett er underst and
t hanks to the slow-m ot ion r epl ays sh ow n dur ing the broadcast s.28 It m ay also
be t he desire to see bet t er t hanks to close-ups or the use of slow m ot ion.29 In
t heir exam ples, the journalist s are un der lin in g one of the prim e funct ions at t rib
ut ed to i m ages in t heir relat ionship t o hum an m ovem ent . The cam era - a m e
chanical m eans of recording w i t h indexical val ue - pr ovi des the sport s special
ist s w i t h the m eans to st u dy or check cert ain gest ures. Recorded film pr ovides
an ext erior vi ew that di vi des u p m ovem ent , t hus all ow in g for a m ore precise
vision. It m ay help an alysi s by m eans of repet it ion, sl ow m ot ion or freeze
fram es. This funct ion goes back to the ver y origins of cinem at ographic t echni
que, w hi ch w as first perfect ed at t he end of the 1870s to serve as an analyt ical
inst rum ent in Edw ar d M uybr i dge's, Et ienne-Jules M arey's and Georges De-
m eny's physi ologi cal st udies of anim al and hum an m ovem ent . D em eny w as
one of t he pioneers of gym n ast ics in France and lat er played a fundam ent al role
in the rat ional st udy of gest ure, to bot h ut ilit arian and aest hetic ends.30
There is an anecdot al but per haps r eveali n g fact concerning the locat ion of
the Station Physiologique w here M ar ey and D em eny st art ed w or k i n g in 1882: it

208 Laurent Guido
corresponded exact ly to the locat ion w here the Rolan d-Garros st adium w as
built (and w hen it w as enlarged at the end of the 1970s, the vest i ges of the M a-
r ey Inst it ut e, w h i ch had cont inued w it h the w or k of the Station, w er e de
st royed).31 W hen t echnical m ovem ent s are st udied or t aught in sport, cinem at o
graphic m et hods (chronophot ographical an alysis, use of slow motion) are often
used, inspired in part icular b y D em eny's research at the Ecole militaire in Join-
vi ll e (specialised in sol di er s' ph ysi cal educat ion),32 or the discoveries M arey's
successors m ade about slow m ot ion. W hen one st udies French sport s m aga
zines in the 19 10 s and 1920s, one finds t hat effort s are al w ays t aken to pr ovide
vi su al explicat ions of m ovem ent by m eans of spat ializat ion, result ing in ext ra
or di n ar y page layout s t hat h ave bot h aest hetic and didact ic value. Tennis r egu
larly appear s am ong the sport s highlight ed by such 'st ylist ic' st udies (fig. 21).
D urin g the 1920s, the at t it udes and gest ures of the great st ar of wom en's t ennis,
Suzanne Lenglen, w h o w as seen as a verit able dancer,33 w er e set out as a series
of successive im ages rem iniscent of chronophot ographic plat es (fig. 22).34
N ow ad ays, scient ific st udies of gest ure const ant ly use m odes of an alysi s that
h ave been inherit ed from such t echniques of br eaking dow n gest ure. For exam
ple, int ensive use of m ot ion capt ure al l ow s all the dat a of a m ovem ent to be
recorded, in order to im pr ove fut ure perform ance - a direct ext ension of the
ut ilit arian aim s advocat ed m ore t han a cent ury ago b y Geor ges D em eny.
Figur e z i . L a V i e au Gr an d Air, 15 novembre 19 13

Figure 22. Le Miroir des Sports, 19 octobre 1926

HMMI»X»nun
LES DÉBUTS. SLR LES COURTS DAMERIOUE. DE SUZANNE LENGIEN
PREMIERE JOUEUSE ET PREMIERE DANSEUSE DE TENNIS DU MONDE
A s m y W im bledon corpus show s, t his an alyt ical act ivi t y is t aking an ever m ore
im port ant place in cont em porary broadcast s of tennis. I t first st em m ed exclu
si vel y from the aest hetic and t echnical aim s that condit ioned its uses. The only
slow-m ot ion sequence sh ow n in the 1977 gam e (a series of shot s b y Borg, film ed
from the front and t aken from a pr evi ou s part of the gam e) does not aim to
pinpoint a cert ain ph ase of t he gam e, but t o bri n g out Borg's t echnical talent
and grace. The fact that the slow-m ot ion sequences show n during the 1980 final
(four in all, exclusi vely for analyt ical purposes) are vi su al l y int egrat ed by m eans
of ver y not iceable w i pes illust rat es the desire to det erm ine the lim it s of these
int ervent ions that break w it h the chronological developm ent of the match.
W hen w e look at the 1998 im ages, w e are i m m ediat ely t ransport ed into anot her
universe, r egul ar l y int errupt ed by r eplays produced by the com binat ion of all
possible cam era angles and LSM m agn i fyi n g glasses. The 180-degree rule is no
lon ger relevant . One exam ple am ong dozens is a spect acular vol l ey played by
I vanisevic, show n t hree t im es aft er w ar ds from different angles: C l and t wo op
posit e posit ions.
This associat ion bet w een a broken fl ow of t ime that const ant ly loops back on
it self and a spat ial percept ion t hat is cont inually put in quest ion does indeed
produce t he im pression of a cert ain percept ive confusion. But bot h echo the

210 Laurent Guido
m odes of r hyt hm ical st ruct uring that h ave al r eady been t ried out in cert ain
avant -gar de concept ions of cinem a. The first film t heorist s (in part icular the
French film m ak ers Jean Epst ein and Germ aine Dulac), w h o w er e influenced by
Bergson's concept ions of inner durat ion, em phasised long ago cinem a's pr op
ert y of put t ing for w ar d a n ew form of discont inuous and fragm ent ed t em poral
it y by usi n g its specific m eans of represent at ion. M ak ing due allowances and
bear i n g in m ind the ver y different aest het ic cont ext s, there is indeed a logic of
t his t ype in t he sequences of var i ed and m ult iple slow-m ot ion shot s w hich now
follow the sm allest piece of act ion on the t ennis court, not to m ention the film
in g of gest ures w i t h aest het ic value, the player s' w arli k e or frust rat ed at t it udes
and t he expl osi ve react ions of t heir clans.
A n y great sport ing event seek s to go beyond it s ow n limit ed t ime fram e and
t ake its place in the m yt hological hist ory of t he great accom plishm ent s of the
past . The 2007 W im bledon final pr ovi d es a clear exam ple in the film ing of Ro
ger Federer equalling Björn Bor g's phenom enal record (five consecut ive vi c
t ories). W e not e the presence - long dw el t on by the cam eras —of form er cham
pions: Ji m m y Conn ors and John M cEnroe in the com m ent ary boxes, Boris
Becker and above all Bor g him self am on g t he spect at ors. Bor g i s const ant ly as
sociat ed w it h t he d ay's cham pion, not on l y by m eans of link shot s bet ween their
respect ive faces (obvi ousl y before and aft er the cham pionship point that gi ves
Federer his win, w her e his t ears of joy stand in cont rast to the form er st ar's d i s
illusioned smile), bu t also b y different m odes of com parison bet w een t he t wo
m en w it hin the sam e im age, whet her succession brough t about by a zoom m ov
in g dow n from t he st and to the court, or split -screen juxtaposit ion (com paring
t heir respect ive forehands in sl ow mot ion).
Co-presence in the fram e is also used for ot her slow-m ot ion shot s aim in g to
com pare Feder er 's ser ve w it h that of Pete Sam pras, the great cham pion of the
1990s. This is w hen t he vi r t ual i m age appear s for the first t im e in the corpus.
A n al yses of the Federer serve, and lat er of the N ad al ret urn, are present ed as
com put er anim at ions of the t raject ories and point s of impact . Once the 'real'
m ovem ent has been reproduced, the ball s freeze in m ovem ent , and the vi ew
point m oves t ow ar ds a high-angle posit ion, thus gi vi n g a geom et rical percep
tion. These m et hods are int erest ing as t hey gi ve the oppor t unit y of visualisi n g
the param et ers t hat ar e not on l y invisible to t he n aked eye, but also to 't r adi
t ional' cam eras, even the m ost precise m odels. Previously, in 1998, slow-m ot ion
r epl ays of i m ages recorded b y the cam era w er e on ly used as foot age for a de
bat e bet w een com m ent at ors and t elevision audiences. But in the 2007 final, a
n ovel syst em checking ball im pact s w as int roduced, based on the principles of
digit al reconst it ution out lined above. The Hawk Eye syst em w as devel oped by
Paul H aw k i n s and uses 10 au xi l i ar y cam eras. It has been recognised b y the t en
nis aut horit ies as a tool capable of over com ing the lim it at ions of hum an percep-

From Broadcast Performance to V irtual Show
tion w hen there are cont ested point s35 an d has t hus r evi ved the scientist ic di s
course of t he second h alf of the 19t h cent ury (the ur ge to 'see the invisible as
pect s' of life), w hich finally led to the em ergence of cinema. It is kn ow n as the
'Challen ge Player Syst em ' and is also avai lable to players. Its int rusion into the
space of the gam e indicat es an im port ant m om ent of t ransit ion w her e t he sec
ondary disposit ive it self finally reconfigures the primary space of the st adium .
This digit al m odelling of the court funct ions aut onom ously, i n vol vi n g neit her
the player s nor the um pi r es and judges, and delivers a definit ive verdict ('In' or
'O ut ') t hat appear s bot h on the court and the t elevision screen (figs. 23-25). It is
also show n on the gian t screen present in m ost st adium s, t hus m ak i ng the slow -
m ot ion replays accessible to spect at ors in t he st ands, and in som e cases to the
players. W hen Roger Federer appealed to the um pire for a decision from this
syst em dur i ng t he fourt h set of the 2007 final, his desperat e plea revealed the
absur d i m age of an im pot ent hum an player. A t first sight, t hese rem ar k s seem
to just i fy Jean -Luc God ar d's lam ent at ions, but one should not forget that this
object ivising of the hum an bod y is not so m uch a regression pr oper to cont em
por ar y cult ure as the com plet ion of a process begun at the end of the 19t h cen
tury, a process in w h i ch one of t he key roles w as pl ayed b y film .
Figur e 23 Figur e 24 Figur e 25
N o te s
1. 'Jean-Luc Godard. Le cinéma ment, pas le sport', interview with Jérôme Bureau and
Benoît Heimermann, L'Équipe, 9 M ay 2001, p. 9.
2. 'I recently went to the Lausanne meeting because I wanted to see Gabriela Szabo ...
I hardly saw her, but I was glad to observe. M y recollection, as partial as it is, is
stronger than all the times I'd seen her on the television.' Ibid.
3. In his filmed self-portrait JLG/ JLG (1994), Godard even portrays himself as a tennis
player during several discontinuous exchanges. He plays in particular on the dou
ble meaning of a quotation from Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun: 'The past is never

212 Laurent Guido
dead, it's not even passed', humorously relating it to hitting - or being on the receiv
ing end of - a passing shot.
4. 'Jean-Luc Godard', op. cit., p. 9.
5. Ibid.
6. See, in particular, 'Ontologie de l'image photographique', reprinted in Qu'est-ce que
le cinéma?, Paris: Cerf, 1999 [1975; reduction of the 1958 edition], pp. 9-17.
7. Godard himself makes this link. To the question 'Perhaps one cannot film sport?',
he replies: 'That's probably so ... Dance is difficult to film ...' ']ean-Luc Godard. Le
cinema ment, pas le sport", op. cit., p. 9.
8. See John Mueller, 'The Filmed Dances of Fred Astaire', Quarterly Review of Film Stu
dies, spring 1981, pp. 135-154, and Astaire Dancing The Musical Films, New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.
9. Lev Koulechov, 'La bannière du cinématographe' [1920], Écrits (1917-1934), Lau
sanne: L'Age d'homme, 1994, pp. 38-39 [François Albera, Ekaterina Khokhlova and
Valérie Pozner, eds.]; Slavko Vorkapich, O pravom filmu/ On true cinema, Belgrade:
Fakultet Dramskih Umetnosti, 1998, pp. 227-232.
10. Bernard Loiseuil, Football et télévision, Paris: Ed. Tekhné, 1992; Jacques Blociszewski,
Le match defootball télévisé, Rennes: Editions Apogée, 2007.
it. See, in particular, Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, Media Events: The Live Broadcasting
of History, Cambridge, M A: H arvard University Press, 1992, and Pierre Gabaston
and Bernard Leconte (eds.), Sport et télévision (Regards croisés), Paris: L'Harmattan,
2000. For a historical perspective, see Pierre Simonet and Laurent Véray (eds.), Mon
trer le sport: photographie, cinéma, télévision, Paris: Institut national du sport et de
l'éducation physique, 2001.
12. For an overview of this perspective, see the articles in Frédéric Baillette and Jean
Marie Brohm (eds.), Critique de la modernité sportive, Paris: Les Editions de la Passion,
1995
13. 'These less intense moments nonetheless are an integral part of the match such as it
is experienced in the stadium. They are not themselves the wastage, the lifeless lull
that they have become for the audiovisual media. On the contrary, it is alive, but the
producer thinks that he cannot use it, so for him it's wasted time ... The more slow-
motion replays introduced by the producer there are, the more the match becomes a
creation and an audiovisual product ... And yet, there is another, less sophisticated
way of filming, but which for us better respects football'. Jacques Blociszewski, op.
cit., p. 47.
14. This is the perspective developed in particular by Georges Vigarello, who empha
sises that television discourse 'does not enable one to "see better", it creates a new
way of seeing.' 'Le marathon entre bitume et écran', in Communications, 67, Paris,
1998, p. 215 [Le Spectacle du sport]. The hypothesis has also often been espoused by
Guillaume Soulez, 'L'image en expansion. Plaisir de la retransmission sportive et
enjeux esthétiques', MédiaMorphoses, no. 11, pp. 41-46 [Le sport médiatisé, du voir au
savoir].
15. The Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 nonetheless led to one of the first, embryonic
experiments in broadcasting competitions on television. Manolo Romera and
Eduardo Gavilán, Broadcasting the Olympics, Olympic Museum's Exhibition Catalo
gues, 20 October 1998-18 April 1999, p. 92.

16. Taylor Downing, Olympia, London: British Film Institute, 1992, pp. 33-48. See also
'H enry Jaworsky, Cameraman for Leni Riefenstahl Interviewed by Gordon Hitch
ens, Kirk Bond and John Hanhardt', in Film Culture, 56-57, spring 1973, pp. 122-128.
17. This raised viewpoint has long been part of the imaginative world of the modern
Olympics, where the stadium must be perceived as a whole entity by the person
watching it. At the beginning of the century, people sought to have views from
above and from the tops of the stadiums, by placing cameras on towers or on fair
ground attractions, such as the Flip-Flap of the Franco-British Exhibition of London
in 1908, next to the stadium where the Olympic Games took place that year. On this
issue and the plurifocal dispositive of Olympia, see the rich iconography assembled
in Laurent Guido and H aver Gianni, La Mise en scène du corps sportif, de la Belle Epo
que à l'Age des Extrêmes / Spotlighting the Sporting Body, from the Belle Epoque to theAge
of Extremes, Lausanne: Olympic Museum, 2002, pp. 98-117.
18. 'Jean-Luc Godard', op. cit., p. 9.
19. I have chosen not to look in detail at the question of sound for want of space - and
more specifically journalists' and consultants' live commentaries during practically
all sports broadcasts. This clearly takes nothing away from the obvious importance
of such verbal discourses, on both the semantic and expressive sides, or the rhyth
mic side in the construction of dramatic tension and the spectacular nature of the
event.
20. David Rowe gives a sound historiographical overview: 'Screening the action: The
M oving Sport Image', in Sport, Culture and the Media The Unruly Trinity, pp. 185-189.
He refers in particular to studies by Garry Whannel, Fields in Vision: Television Sport
and Cultural Transformation, London: Routledge, 1992 and John Goldlust, Playing for
Keeps: Sport, the Media and Society, Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1987.
21. The journalist Olivier Joyard claims that the slowness is similar to a 'resisting form:
resisting the speed of other sports, which - sometimes to the point of fundamentally
changing the rules (basketball and American football) - follow the general ultra
quick and spasmodic flow of other programmes; resisting the aversion to the va
cuum that governs the contemporary spectacle in general. For boredom, duration
and slow suspense remain the basis of the game'. 'Dramaturgie du tennis', Cahiers
du cinéma, no. 548, July-August 2000, reprinted in Thierry Jousse (éd.), Le goût de la
télévision, Paris: Cahiers du Cinéma, pp. 607-610.
22. Serge Daney, L'Amateur de tennis. Critiques 1980-1990, Paris: P.O.L., 1994. According
to Michel Chion, tennis represents 'acoustic sport par excellence' because of the
space given by somewhat laconic commentators to background noises: L’audio-vi-
sion Son et image au cinéma, Paris: Nathan, 1990, pp. 134-136.
23. As noted by France Télévision producer Françoise Boulain in Joyard, ibid., p 608. She
then [2000] reckoned that compared to English or even American broadcasts, 'the
resources available [to her] are immense'. The figure quoted includes cameras avail
able for corridor interviews.
24. The figure illustrating Joyard's article (Ibid., p. 609) reveals the presence of a Ci
camera that entirely covers the court from the top of one of the stands situated along
the width, at the players' backs. All the other viewpoints are used once the ex
changes are over; 'The moment the ball has stopped moving, most of the time the
other thirteen cameras start filming'.

214 Laurent Guido
25. The first two matches are available on DVD, produced by the British Lawn Tennis
Association, using the BBC broadcasts. The 2007 final was recorded on BBCi. The
1998 final was recorded on Eurosport France.
26. Thus, the beginning of the filming from a very high viewpoint of a spectator watch
ing the match, as if alone, or the wide movements of the camera going from the
cloudy sky to the court.
27. In O l y m p i a (Riefenstahl, 1938), a relationship of this type is constructed between a
female spectator and the exploits of Jesse Owens, or between Adolf Hitler and the
prowess of a German athlete.
28. Godard acquiesces reluctantly: 'in order to study perhaps, but that supposes that it
was sufficiently well filmed at the start. But if one is present, why see it again?'
'Jean-Luc Godard', op. cit., p. 9.
29. Godard retorts: 'They do not try to find the truth of things, they look for the glory of
the event". More generally, he condemns in fairly conventional fashion the place
occupied by stardom and money in the sporting milieu. Ibid.
30. Laurent Mannoni, Marc de Ferrière and Paul Demenÿ, Georges Demenÿ, Pionnier du
cinéma, Douai: Cinémathèque française and Pagine/ Université de Lille 3,1997.
31. Laurent Mannoni, Etienne-Jides Marey: la mémoire de l'œil, Milan and Paris: G. Maz-
zotta, Cinémathèque française and Musée du cinéma, 1999, pp. 174-184.
32. As was pointed out by an officer at this school in 1913: 'Nothing can give a better
idea than these documents of the various phases of movement, which escape even
the most practised eye. These scientific tecniques, when adapted to sport, are cap
able of helping those training to make huge progress'. Lieutenant Rocher, 'Le labor
atoire de l’Ecole de Joinville', La Vie au Grand Air, no. 768, 7 June 1913, p. 423.
33. 'Suzanne Lenglen has managed to combine choreographic art and the art of tennis.
Her playing is a continual dance with countless figures and ceaseless variations.' Le
Miroir des sports, no. 340,19 October 1926, p. 296.
34. 'La cinématographie de son jeu', La Vie au Grand Air, no. 852, March-April 1920, pp.
6-7.
35. Kate Battersby, 'H awk Eye Gives Wimbledon a New Look' [The Official Web Site,
Wimbledon 2007, 7 June, 2007, <http:/ / www.Wimbledon.org/ en_GB/ news/ articles/
2007-06-07/ 200706071181244055781.html>.

T h e L e c tu r e r , th e Im a g e , th e M a c h in e and
th e A u d io -S p e c ta to r
T h e V o ic e as a C o m p o n e n t P a r t o f A u d i o v i s u a l
D is p o s itiv e s
Alain Boillat
W hen one exam ines the var i ous uses that w er e m ade of sound before t alking
film s becam e the general rule an d t hat have been recent ly brought to light by
research into the ar ch aeology and hist or y of the cinem a b y scholars such as Jac
ques Perriault , Gi u sy Pisano or Rick Alt m an, one is st ruck by the fact that the
co-presence of a voi ce an d a vi sual represent at ion1 m akes up one of the m ajor
h allm ar k s of 'cin em a',2 whet her one ext ends one's epist em ological vi ew poi n t to
cover earlier spect acles, the t echnologies t hen available, or the t angle of cult ural
sequences to w h i ch cinem a - in its var i ous di sguises - belonged. The interest
t hat ear ly cinem a hist orians such as Ger m ai n Lacasse h ave sh ow n over the last
decade for the figur e of the lect urer3 (known in francophone hist or iography as
the bonimenteur - the sm oot h t alker or 'bar k er ')4 is the sign of a n ew w ay of
conceiving of this period and a desire to rehabilit at e not just the vocal element,
but also m ore gen er al ly the oral dim ension of w h at w ere essent ially ephem eral
'even t s'5 —cinem at ographic project ions.
In t his art icle,6 m y aim is to put for w ar d a concept ual fram ew ork that can be
used w hen st udyi n g the w ays in w hich t he voi ce of a speaker —whet her l ive or
recorded - is int egrat ed into (pre-)cinem at ographic spectacles. There are m an y
differences bet w een the t w o t ypes of voi ce product ion, but t hey both raise the
quest ion of the place and funct ion gi ven to a specifically hum an charact eristic
w it hin a disposit ive t hat for the great er par t is gover n ed by t echnological par a
met ers.
To st u dy t he di scur si ve n et w orks that are associat ed w i t h hist orical objects
such as lecturers, m achines for au d i ovi su al represent at ion or the m eans of
(tele-) com m unicat ion — whet her real or i m agined by scient ist s or n ovelist s -
one m ay use a t heoretical fr am ew or k t hat is gr adual l y (and reciprocally) built
u p on t he basis of the di scover i es of n ew pract ices or invent ions and t hat is used
to organise the inform at ion that is gl eaned from w or k on the var ious sources. In
m y view , the not ion of dispositive is a pr oduct i ve one, as it al low s one to link the
st u d y of voice product ion w i t h t hat of ot her part s of the spectacle, and t hus to
reach a bet t er underst an din g of w h at is specific in the role t hat falls to the voice.
W hile it is clear t hat som e of the crit eria t hat underpin the t ypol ogy put for w ar d

216 Alain Boillac
here w or k for all the var i ou s m eans of t ransm it t ing an audiovisual m essage, the
object of focus w i l l be the ear ly cinem a lecturer7 - to m y m ind a h i gh l y suit able
m eans of st u d yi n g t he int eract ions bet w een w or d and im age, bet ween the
audio-spect at or8 and the w hol e of the represent ation, and bet ween the hum an
elem ent (the perform ance of a speaker) and t he m achine (the m agic lant ern or
cinem at ograph), and which, from a m et hodological view point , al low s one to
w or k on t heoretical pr oposal s based on the advan ces of hist oric and hist orio
graphic research.
A th r e e fo ld c o n c e p tio n o f th e d is p o s itiv e
M ar i a Tort ajada's and François Al ber a's project t o cat egorise and concept ualise
vi su al disposit ives (see above in the present volum e) pr ovi des in m y vi ew a
basi s on w hich one can addr ess the au di ovi su al field.9 They set about an alysing
a di sposit ive as a defined set of int eract ions bet ween three poles: the spectator,
the machinery and the representation. It is cert ainly t rue t hat som e uses of sound
m ay init ially seem t o be devoi d of an y t ype of m ediat ion t hat could be assim i
lat ed to 'm ach i n er y' — such as the voi ce of a person com m ent ing on view s,
w h er e t here is no fundam ent al difference from ot her uses of the w or d - aft er
all, the m ost w i despr ead m eans of com m unicat ion. Nonet heless, t he m odel
does en cour age one to st u dy the specific funct ions of such uses w h en t hey are
part of the di sposit ive of t he spect acle. Indeed, as soon as t here is the sim ult a
neous presence of i m age and voice product ion, one m ay see how the voice ele
m ent can be int egrat ed w it hin the par t icular disposit ive. W het her the voi ce be
reproduced and am plified m echanically or electrically, or produced 'n at ur ally',
it pl ays a par t in assi gni n g a cert ain spect at orial posit ion. The not ion of d i sposi
t ive can t hus be en larged to include the coexist ence of a spect at or and an agen cy
sit uat ed w her e the product ion of a represent at ion originat es, the w h ole w it hin a
com m on space possessi ng cert ain charact eristics. The 'm ach in er y' pole de
scribed b y A l ber a and Tort ajada m ay i nclude di verse non-m achine elem ent s
(hum an agencies such as m usicians, singers, the lecturer, the person responsible
for sound effect s, orchest ral conduct or, project ionist , etc.), I shall t hus refer to it
b y usi n g the less rest rict ive expression of production space (o f the audiovisual re
presentation), w i t h the 'm ach i n er y' (project ion apparat us, noise machine, phono
graph, etc.) m ak ing u p on l y a subset of t his pole. The different devi ces or agen
cies belon gin g to t his space som et im es int ervene together, in part icular in order
to produce a 'syn ch r on i sat i on '10 which, at different t im es and according to
var yi n g pract ices, h as led to hum an, m echanical or sem i-m echanical m eans
being em ployed. The fol low i n g descript ion by Rodolphe-M aurice A r l aud, w h o

The Lecturer, the Image, the Machine and the A udio-Spectator 217
is recalling m em ories of com m ent ed project ions, r eveals the pot ent ial t hat m ay
result b y associat ing the different agencies wit hin the product ion space:
In front of the speaker there was now a row of little buttons, and between him and the
booth there was a mysterious and silent dialogue punctuated by red, white, green or
blue lights. It meant: 'Show a fixed view, show the film'. Or it was intended to stop
the orchestra, or start it up again, or change music.11
Accor di n g to t his account , w h i ch describes a configurat ion and a specific func

tion of the product ion space, the lect urer deals w i t h the cont rols of the different
part s of the m achinery. It sh ow s t hat to account for the het erogeneous - and
m ore or less art isanal and i n novat or y - pract ices of the 'soun d of the silent era',
it is im port ant to broaden the m achinery pole and i nclude the presence of a
person or persons, w h ose m ain represent at ive is the lecturer. A s w e shall see,
the lect urer is an agen cy w h o m ediat es - b y defining w h at access the audi o
spect at or is gi ven on the one hand to the vi su al represent at ion and on the other
hand to t he 'm ach i n ery'. This agen cy does not exact ly correspond to an y of the
poles w it hin t his t hree-part configurat ion, but int ervenes bet ween each one of
them. This posit ion of int erm ediary can be explained by the fact t hat the person
of the lect urer is a source of 'pr oduct i on ' com parable to the m achinery; lect urers
can, m oreover, be replaced by or share t he st age w i t h a phon ograph (generally
b y alt ernat ing w i t h it).12 M oreover, t hey have a direct relat ion w i t h t hose w h o in
like fashion w at ch the im ages. A s t hey fol low h ow the spectacle unfolds, t hey
can int ervene ph ysi cal ly to gi ve m ore w ei gh t to w h at t hey say, t hus creat ing a
vi su al represent at ion t hat 'com pet es' w i t h t he project ed im age.
W e can t hus see t hat the m achinery-spect at or-represent at ion m odel post u
lat ed by A lber a and Tort ajada for i m age product ion m ay equall y w el l be ap
plied to sound disposit ives. From the Kinet ophone (when one person pays to
list en for a br i ef moment ) to pre-recorded r adio broadcast s vi a the Theat ro-
phone, lim it ed to one i n di vi dual at a t im e,13 the var i ous t ypes of phonographs
for use at hom e or b y a present er, and even all the m achines invent ed by en gi
neers or n ovels t hat only exist ed on paper,14 each syst em gi ves rise to a specific
di sposi t i ve t hat one can en vi sage w it hin t his t heoretical fram ew ork . I shall re
st rict m ysel f here t o the di sposi t i ves that use im age and voi ce t oget her an d t hat
h ave a m echanical elem ent in at least one of the t w o part s of the represent ation.
The correlat ion bet w een the m echanical (re)product ion of sounds and the
sh ow i n g of i m ages does, however , require a t wofold concept ion of the m achin
er y and t he represent at ion (and even of the receiver, w hose senses are di vided
and w h o t hus becom es an audio-spect at or). It can t hus be said that on the one
hand, a vert ical relation is est ablished bet ween the vi sual and sound com ponent s
(either inside the m achinery or the represent ation), and on the ot her hand a
horizontal relation bet w een w h at belongs to the m achinery an d w h at belongs to

218 Alain Boillac
the represent at ion. The first t ype of relat ion deals w it h the linking of the appa
rat uses pr oduci ng the sound and pict ures, and on the level of the represent a
tion, the link s t hat are est ablished de fact o w hen sound and i m age occur t o
gether. The horizont al relat ion is gener al ly less visible in cinem a as it
const it ut es an obst acle to the referent ial illusion, for exam ple becom ing appar
ent w h en t he sound set up ost ensibly influences the audio-spect at or's percept ion
of the dieget ic space. One m ust also consider the represent at ional nat ure of the
sounds t hem selves as, in the w or d s of Rick Alt m an (following A l an W il l i am s)/ 5
recorded sound 'reveal [ s] its m andat e to represent sound event s rat her t han to
reproduce t h em '.16 It is t hus necessary to post ulat e t hat the occurrences of sound
pr oduced by m echanical m eans t hem selves belon g to the pole of represent ation.
One m ust m oreover stress t hat w h at is perceived pl ays a prim ordial par t in
the phenom ena i n volved in represent ation, since in order to instit ut e repr esen
tation, one m ust necessarily i n volve the spect at or and/ or audit or. A s cinem a
becam e an inst it ut ion, bot h narrat ion and a closure of the dieget ic universe
w er e pr i vi leged, t hus br i n gi n g about a 'ver t icalizat ion' of horizont al relat ions -
the current pract ice of synchronism fol low s the sam e trend, as it aim s to erase
the horizont al relat ion by di splaci n g it by a sleight of hand exclusively to the
level of represent at ion. To var yi n g degrees, these t wo t ypes of relat ion can
eit her be hidden or exhibit ed by the disposit ive.
O ne m ay w on der w h at happens to these relat ions w hen there is hum an int er
vent ion. Gi ven t hat the speak er also int roduces a secondary vi sual element,
t hey are necessarily m ade m ore com plex. Indeed, present ers can m ake t hem
selves visible, look at t he spect at ors and, b y m eans of their act ing, gest ures,
m im es or dress, creat e a dist inct ive referent ial universe that m ay prolong, con
t radict , ironize, an d so on t hat of the film. In his 1908 t reat ise on the orat orical
art of the m agic-lant ern speaker, G.M . Coissac not ed: 'The w or d i s indeed not
ever yt h i n g - the expression of the face and the gest ure accom panying it gi ve it
m ore en er gy and m ean i n g'.17
T y p o lo g y o f so u n d p a r a m e te r s
In or der to put for w ar d a synt het ic vi sion of t hese var ious aspect s, I h ave chosen
a gr i d based on the m odel proposed b y François Al ber a and M ar i a Tort ajada for
vi su al disposit ives. Exhaust iveness is not the aim here, gi ven the specific case
exam ined —and it w ou l d be a tall order i ndeed in t his h i gh l y het erogeneous
field of pract ices m ade u p of cinem a m an ager s' one-off an d ephem eral in n ova
tions. I am lookin g to put for w ar d a w hol e series of crit eria to an alyse specific
audi t or y disposit ives. It goes w i t h out sayi n g t hat the param et ers chosen in this

t ypol ogy m ust be com bined w i t h the elem ent s of the m achinery t hat are neces
sar y for im age product ion - such as A l bera and Tort ajada have shown. The
t ypol ogy put for w ar d below fol low s an increasing order of 'dem at erialisat ion'
of the speaker, al l ow i n g m e to highlight one of the m ain dist inct ions bet ween
the cinem a w i t h lect urer and the t alkie. If, as A n dr e Gaudr eault has not ed in his
essay on n arrat ive en un ci at i on / 8 the voice-over of the speaker const itutes a re
surgence of the voi ce of t he ear ly cinem a l ect urer's voice, one m ust not overlook
the disem bodim ent t hat is charact erist ic of all voice-overs. One m ay, of course,
say w i t h M ar y A n n D oan e t hat even w hen a film ic represent at ion diver ges from
the norm of voice-lip synchronism , as is the case w it h the voice-over, 't he phan
t asm at ic body's at t ribut e of unit y is not lost ' for 'i t is si m pl y displaced - the
bod y in t he film becom es the body of the fi l m '.’9 H owever, that part icular
'b od y' - t hat of t he film ic discourse t hat the aest het ic of 't ransparency' precisely
aim s to render invisible in order to m axim ise the spect at or's im m ersion in the
w or l d of the film - is ver y different from that result ing from the presence of the
lecturer, w h o int ervenes bet w een the audio-spect at or and the represent at ion.
The t ypol ogy I pr opose is organ ised according to the different relat ions t hat
are lik ely to be est ablished bet w een the three poles of the disposit ive. W it h re
gar d to the axi s of horizont al relat ions (spect at or-m achinery) that I w an t to
highlight here —as t he link w i t h the represent at ion is m ore oft en addressed, I
shall not en visage it as such - w e m ay dist in guish t he fol low i n g param et ers:
Type o f source
— Voice of a speak er vi si bl e in the hall and speak i n g live.
- Voice of a speak er vi si bl e in t he hall, t ransm it t ed b y t echnical m eans (m ega
phone, m icrophone and am pl i fi er or elect ric m odulat or, etc.).
— Voice of a hidden speaker.
- Voice on phon ogr aph or m echanically produced, w i t h t he devi ce visible.
The device m ay be act ivat ed b y the spect at or (Kinet ophone, t alking-doll phono
graph), the show m an (phonographic spect acles) or m echanically (synchronisa
tion syst em s).
— Use bot h voi ce of speak er an d voice on phonograph, eit her sim ult aneously
or alt ernat ing.
— Voice on phon ogr aph w i t h the devi ce hidden.
Spatial location o f the vocal source

— Space w h er e i m age originat es from.
— Spect at ors' space.
— Scenic space set out in the hall.
— Space behind the screen.

220 Alain Boillac
— Space t hat cannot be pinned d ow n because of the acousm at isat ion (in the
sense t hat M ichel Chion gi ves to the term), m ult iple secondary spaces (an
encompassing disposit ive).
Mode o f access to the visibility o f the source

— The speak er or equipm ent is perm anent ly visible.
— The speak er or equipm ent is t em por ar ily vi sible (prologue, interlude).
- There is pr ogr essi ve adapt at ion to w h at is being (audi ovi sual ly) show n wit h
the source being effaced.
- The source rem ains hidden.
It is obvious that pr i vi leged links are created bet ween som e of t hese aspect s. For
exam ple, t he dissim ulat ion of the speaker, aim ing to conjure u p illusion, t ends
to favou r t he space behind the screen, as the support of the im ages 'm ak es a
screen' and capt ures all the spect at or's at tent ion. Regar di n g the anchoring of
the voi ce in the represent at ion, the degr ee t hat the l i ve vocal source is exhibit ed
is t herefore i n ver sel y proport ional to the subordinat ion of the sound to the im
age on the screen.20 The m ode of presence of the speakers is a deci si ve factor:
w h en t hey act ually appear, the w ay in w hi ch t hey present t hem selves in front
of the audience's eyes - and look at t he audience —is vit al. M oreover, the lec
t urer's presence could be highlight ed b y vi su al elem ents. G.M . Coissac, for ex
am ple, recom m ended t hat the people gi vi n g the explanat ions should st and in a
com m anding, raised posit ion, such t hat t hey m ight be seen by all the spect a
t ors.21
In addit ion, the opposit ion bet w een the hum an and the m achine (at ver y least
the projector) t hat is inherent to the di sposi t i ve m ay be em bodied in the w ay the
speak er 's act ual perform ance un fol ds — var i ed t echnological m eans m ight be
used, such as the 'n oi se m achines' that som e lect urers habit ually used, accord
in g to Jean A . Keim 22. The m ost basic of t hese inst rum ent s w as pr obabl y the
m egaphone, used in w i de-open spaces. I t w as m ai n ly used in the circus but
also in spect acles that arose w i t h the em ergence of m ass cult ure (such as Bill
Codi 's Wild West Show begun in 1883), t o w h i ch cinem a also belongs.
The crit erion of 'alt ernat in g' bet w een l ive speech and the recorded voice also
im plies considering the opposit e sit uat ion, that of 'si m ult an ei t y'. The possibilit y
of cover ing the li ve voice b y a recorded voice (or vice-versa) w as above all a
theoret ical one - it is hard to i m agine w h at advan t ages this sit uat ion could pr o
vi d e in the fr am ew or k of the t radit ional concept ion of a represent at ion usi ng
sound, as it l eads to a l oss of int elligibilit y, especial ly w h en the text produced
b y bot h voices is not the sam e. H ow ever , one cannot t heoret ically exclude like
phenom ena of over l appi n g such as are found in w or k s belon gin g to cinem at o
graphic 'm oder n it y' (in part icular w i t h Jean -Luc Godar d). O ut side the cinem a-

t ographic instit ut ion, one finds t his t ype of superposit ion used b y charlat an
m edium s as a m eans of aut hent icating. W hen Conan D oyle described a spirit
ism séance, one of the initiated st at ed t hat it is preferable that the m edium
speak s at t he sam e t ime as the voi ce of the spirit s so that the part icipant s are
convinced t hat there is no vent riloquist .23 This cert ifying funct ion is represent ed
in E.T.A. H offm ann's fict ional story, Aut omata, w h ose t w o prot agonist s rem ove
all suspicions of vent riloquism w hen the artist, w h o is to present a 'speak i n g
Tur k ', speak s to the people present at the sam e t ime as the m achine.24 One m ay
im agine t hat a sim ilar role of t est ifying also fell t o the show m an's voice in the
first present at ions of t he phonograph, the sounds of w hi ch could be perceived
as bein g supernat ural m anifest at ions because of t heir acousm at ic nat ure. In
deed, the presence of an i n di vi dual w h o does not speak next to the device
caused even w ell-inform ed observers to have doubt s.25
W it h t he except ion of t hese m ar ginal cases, ot her live spect acles can be caco
phonous because of the superposit ion of different voices. In cont em porary art,
cacophony is exploit ed for an aest hetic end in perform ances on st age or in in
st allat ions. W hen t he sam e voi ce and t ext are spoken by t wo different channels,
the result is an effect of delinking t hat dest abilises spectators.
Exhibit ing the m echanical nat ure of the phon ograph im plies en vi sagi ng the
possibilit y of a physi cal link bet w een the spect at or and the sound disposit ive. A
dist inct ion can be m ade bet ween a syst em such as Berthon, D ussaud & Jaubert 's
Phonoram a (1898), w here each spect at or had to place an ear against a t elephone
to hear the sounds accom pan yin g the project ed im age, and Clém ent -M aurice's
Phono-Cinem a-Theat re (1900), w h ose sound cam e from a cylin der phonograph
in the orchest ral pit, w i t h its receiver on l y w or k i n g i nsi de the 'pr oduct i on space'
to link the phon ogr aph to the project ion boot h (where the operat or synchro
nised live). The Phonoram a t hus com bined an encom passing vi sual disposit ive
(the audience in front of a screen) w i t h an i n di vi dual sound disposit ive,
w h er eas anot her device, Edison's Kinet ophone (the 1895 m odel), gave the spec
t ator i n di vi dual access to t he t w o com ponent s. I n di vi dual cont rol of the device
is a par t icular ly im port ant fact or, as it ent ails not just t urning on the machine,
but al low s t he sound to be t urned d ow n or off at any time w h i l e t he i m age is
bein g show n. In a t radit ional cinem a hall, the sound volum e is vi r t ual ly ident i
cal for all spect at ors, and the sound cannot not be heard as one cannot shut
one's ears, w her eas it is sim ple to shut one's eyes.
It is difficult to conceive of the posit ioning of the source of sound indepen
dent ly from it s effect s on the au di ovi su al represent at ion. Right from the first
at t em pt s to link a ph on ograph and a cinem at ographic project or, the choice of
locat ing t he phonograph(s) behind (or along) t he screen becam e the rule - de
spit e the num erous pract ical advan t ages t hat could h ave been der i ved from
h avi n g the t w o devi ces near t o each ot her - since, in the w or d s of H ar r y Ge-

222 Alain Boillac
duld, 't his arrangem ent w as considered n ecessary because it seem ed unnat ural
for the audience to list en to the sound com ing from behind t heir seat s w hile
t hey w ere facing the pict ure'.26 The un i r i t y of t he au di ovi su al represent at ion -
guarant eeing dieget ic com plet eness - t hus t ook precedence over the m an age
abilit y of the m achinery. To a sim ilar end, Léon Gaum ont experim ent ed w i t h a
t echnique consist ing of m an uall y m ovi n g the phonogr aphs behind the screen to
correspond to t he vi si bl e m ovem ent s on the screen.27 This adapt at ion of the
sound m achinery to the screen space and consequent ly (and problem at ically)
the dieget ic space m ak es up a 'm at er i al ' equivalent to later st ereophonic tech
nologies. M oreover, t he placing of the sound source behind the screen w as per
pet uat ed w i t h the generalisat ion of t he t alkie. A s Rick Alt m an has not ed, as
soon as the voice becam e t he 'r aw m at erial' of sound in the cinem a around
1930, t echnicians ad ded a second front al l oudspeak er above the screen, wit h
the orchest ral-pit speak er bein g reserved for t he m usic.28
I shall finish m y t ypol ogy out line b y exam ining in part icular the voice and
l ook i ng at t he fol low i n g 'ver t i cal' param et ers:
Vertical relations on the machinery level
Types o f projection and sound source

— Fixed im ages / anim at ed i m ages / com binat ion of fixed and anim at ed
im ages.
— Sound-pr oducin g devi ce / t echnique of sound product ion / hum an voice
agency.
Location o f the sound source in relation to the projector

— U nique sound-im age syst em .
- I nt erdependent sound-im age syst em s (physically apart but linked m echani
cally or elect rically).
- Independent sound-im age syst em : hum an operat or to run the (product ion or
reproduct ion) devi ce / hum an voice agency.
Type o f synchronisation29
— Tem por ar y absence of i m age or sound.
- H um an synchronisat ion: lect urer speak i n g of som et hing different from the
film / speak i n g of the film as film (present at ion) / speak in g of the cont ext of
the w or l d of the film (hist orical, scientific, economic, etc.) / describing the
w or l d of the film / r el ayi n g w h at the charact ers say in direct discourse / du b
bi n g the charact ers (synchronism ).
- H um an synchronisat ion assist ed m echanically, r ealised t hanks to 'chrono-
m et ric prost heses' such as w er e proposed b y som e invent ors and pioneers of

the 'silen t ' period to orchest ral conduct ors perform ing in cinem a halls, for
exam ple w it h the Visiophone, Ciné-pupitre or Cineoram a syst em s.30
Phonographic synchronisat ion: m ovem ent of a cyli n der or disc (also for som e
digit al t echniques) m at ching the m ovem ent s of the i m age (or vice-versa).
- Cinem at ographic synchronisat ion: sim ult aneous r eadi ng of opt ical sound
and i m age t racks on the film .
Vertical relations on the representation level

- Voice produced b y the vi sual represent at ion it self (aut om at a, vi sual dim en
sion of the lect urer's perform ance).
— 'Syn chr on ous' voice (result ing from hum an, part m echanical or m echanical
synchronisat ion).
— Voice delinking (break dow n or t em por ar y pert urbat ion of synchronism )
— Voice off.
- Voice-over: t he degree of dissociat ion bet ween the im age and voice depends
on the w ay t hat the pr esum ed speak er is visuali sed dur in g ot her part s of the
film.
The internal relat ions of the audi ovi sual represent at ion are t radit ionally exam
ined in an alyses t hat st ay cent red on the film it self. H ow ever , it is fruit ful to
include t hem in an an alysi s of all of the param et ers considered in the t ypology
of the propert ies of disposit ives. It is t hus possible t o int egrat e the quest ion of
the film session beyon d the unit of the film it self (as is required in such pract ices
as lett rist cinema), and to p ay at t ent ion to t he reappearance of or alit y in cert ain
film s t hat por t r ay an int erm ediary figure who, in som e respect s, m ay h ave a
connect ion w i t h the lect urer of ear l y cinem a.31
T h e l e c t u r e r , an a g e n c y o f m e d i a t i o n i n t e g r a t e d in t h e
d is p o s itiv e o f spoke n ‘c in e m a ’
This cinema you know, it's in a neighbourhood where only workers live. And most of
them don't know how to read the titles. During the projections you must stand be
hind the screen and explain to the audience what's happening in each scene. Do you
understand? You must speak loudly and distinctly and then in such a way as to inter
est the audience ,..32
The Polish Jew i sh writ er Isroel Rabon has the joint ow n er of a cinem a provide
t his explanat ion. This charact er h as abr upt ly t aken on the novel's recent ly de
m obilized narrat or - w h o i s w an der ing, penniless and l onely in the t ow n of

224 Alain Boillac
Lodz. Li k e all discourses deali n g w i t h project ions com m ent ed on by a lecturer,

t his com m ent ary pr esupposes cert ain charact erist ics t hat est ablish a specific dis
posit ive. Even if the event s here are pr obabl y fictional, the aut hor (born in 1900)
w as able to d r aw on his m em ories to com pose t his plot set at the end of the
19 10s. The w ork in g-cl ass audience's illit eracy is w h at st im ulat es the presence of
the l i ve hum an voice t ak i n g t he place of the titles, w it h the lecturer int ervening
like a kind of 't r an sl at or '33 —w i t h all the lat it ude belonging to spoken discourse,
as the reader di scover s lat er w h en a film about the French Revolut ion is shown,
an adapt at ion of Orphans o f the Storm34 - i.e. explicit ly as a m ediat or bet ween
screen and audience w h ose at t ent ion he m ust capt ure. The inst ruct ions given
b y the cinem a ow n er si gn i fy that the screening w i l l happen in a part icular w ay
- the lect uring will be done from the w i n gs at the sam e t ime that the film is
shown, w i t h the lect urer hidden from the audience's sight (for w h i ch t he young,
inexperienced m an is ver y t hankful: 'Th an k heavens, I said to m yself, w h ile I
speak the audience w on 't see m y face').35
The choice of not seeing the source of the voice corresponds to one m odalit y
am ong ot hers, as the di sposi t i ve of the cinem a w i t h lecturer can on ly be con
ceived as a pluralit y. W hen com m ent ing on t w o different sources, Alber a and
Gaudr eaul t rem ark as follows:
One can note [ ...] contradictory assertions regarding the dispositive that he [the lec
turer] belongs to - here he is visible and even 'burdensome', a kind of orchestral con
ductor (he organises the projection and dominates the music), while there he is hid
den from the audience and uses a table and a dark lantern.36
By exam in in g the w ays in w hi ch different cinem a operat ors disposed the agen
cies t hat m ak e up the product ion space (we h ave here a lit eral m eaning of the
t erm dispositive) dur i n g project ions w i t h lect urers m ent ioned in som e t est im o
nies, one can exam ine t he consequences a part icular charact eristic has on the
com m unicat ion process set up b y the spect acle. This t ype of observat ion echoes
the concerns of operat ors an d speak er s from ear ly times, w h o w er e confront ed
w i t h the concret e problem of how to arrange the space of t he hall. H ence, cer
t ain un usual syst em s w er e favou r ed as t hey al low ed the project ion device to be
placed behind t he screen - such as t he Dactylographe (a process that w or k ed in a
lit hall w i t h a t ranslucent screen sh ow i n g an i m age t hat w as reflected several
times), w h ose advan t ages w er e sum m ed u p as fol low s in 1909 b y a chronicler:
The speaker and lantern-operator came closer, making it easier for them to commu
nicate while working, which is out of the question when the audience separates the
two. All the work is done outside the audience and not in front or behind it.37
The respect ive posit ioning of the different poles and agencies of t he disposit ive
are consequent ly t hought out in relat ion to t he effect pr oduced on the audience

—here the pr oduct ion space i s t ot ally neglect ed. Such considerat ions oft en led
com m ent at ors at the time to mention the link bet ween the source of the im ages
and the speaker. For exam ple, one finds in the m an ual di scussi n g the m agic
lant ern lecture, published b y the N ew Yor k com pan y pr oducing and dist ribut
in g Yor k & Son plat es, the recom m endat ion 'not to adopt the too com m on
m ode of si gn al li n g to the operat or by at one time rappin g w it h the pointer, at
anot her gi vi n g direct ions w it h the voi ce'.38 It w as t hus a mat t er of r em oving the
'r edu n d an cy' of the si gn al s and all references t o the vert ical relat ion bet w een the
speak er and project ionist as, according to t he authors, such a reference w ould
influence t he horizont al relat ion w i t h the spectator. In a text w here Coissac ad
vocat ed adopt i n g a project ion syst em b y light shining t hrough the screen (see
fig. l ) ,39 he underlined the di sadvan t age of t radit ional project ion wit h the pr o
ject or sit uat ed behind (or am ong) the spect at ors, w hich resides in the fact that
't he operat or is gener al ly surrounded b y a large num ber of spect at ors w hose
curiosit y is aw ok en by the least Little det ails of the m anipulat ions; t hey thus
t ake aw ay the at t ent ion dem anded b y the pr ofessor or speaker.40 The show in g
of t he project ion is considered by Coissac - in the pedagogical cont ext that con
cerned him - as an elem ent curbing pr oper t ransm ission of the spoken inform a
tion (but not as a brak e on the spect at or's im m ersion in the w or l d represent ed
vi su al l y — w h i ch w as secondar y for him). H is rem ark indicat es that the ver y
funct ioning of the project or could const it ut e an 'at t ract ion' vyi n g w i t h t hat of
the speak er - m or eover like ot her elem ent s in the product ion space (including
sound sources).41
Figure 1

226 Alain Boillac
The 'pr oduct ion space' also exhibit s it self w h en the speak er uses a bat on — a
physical ext ension of him self (and t hus 't echnical', at a m inim um level) —in the
physi cal space of the screen. Such a 'prost h esis'-lik e object is gener al ly asso
ciat ed w i t h the pedagogi cal project ion because it im plies t hat the i m age is sub
ordinat ed to the voice - Coi ssac ad vi ses the speak er to use one42 —one cannot
h ow ever rule out t hat t he cinem a lect urer also used it, i f only to gi ve him self the
appearance of a speak er gi vi n g a 'r eal ' lecture. Fol low i n g the exam ple of Jean
Keim , w h o m ent ions the lect urer's Tong bat on ',43 R.M . A r l au d recalls a lecturer
w h o w as em ployed b y the direct or of a fairground, w hose act ivit ies he de
scribes in the follow i n g w ay:
He was directly descended from the old image showman. He even had his baton. He
commented what everyone could see, striking the screen, getting more worked up
than the actors. [ ...] The baton pointed at Paul. 'She spots him!'. The baton stressed
how frightened Juliette was. 'She turns round!'44
This accessory al l ow s the lect urer to explicat e and vi suali se the co-reference of
w or d and im age, w h i l e un der li ni n g t he presence of a hum an agency. It s explica
t ive funct ion is not on l y concerned w i t h the vi sual reference but w it h the read
in g t hat should be m ade of it, t hus orient ing w here spect at ors look. M oreover,
A n dr e Gaudr eaul t h as link ed t he lect urer w i t h the 'adm on i sh er ' of cert ain pic
t orial w or k s w hich gen er al ly indicat e the cent ral elem ent of the com posit ion by
m eans of a point ing finger.45
In or der to define a gi ven project ion di sposi t i ve com plet e wit h lecturer, it is
vi t al to exam ine w h at the spect at or i s aut horised t o see of the equipm ent and
the origin of product ion of the discourse. H i di n g or exhibit ing the source is a
k ey fact or for defin ing t he horizont al relat ion, in that it in volves the illusionist
nat ure of t he represent at ion. H ow ever , over and above the physi cal locat ion of
the elem ent s belon ging to the three poles of t he disposit ive, one m ust add the
quest ion of h ow t ime is m an aged - act ivat ing si m ul t aneousl y or in t urn these
different agencies. In a report ent itled 'O r gan i si n g a lect ure' and published in
1905 in Le Fascinateur, the Abbot of Fouchecour com m ent ed on three m et hods
of fixed-im age project ion. The first i n volved lect uring w it hout im ages and wit h
the light s on - t he light s w er e t hen put out and all the plat es shown. In the
second, the speak er spok e in the dar k at t he sam e t ime as the i m ages w ere
shown. The final one is a com binat ion of the first t wo, w hen the speak er int er
rupt s his t alk w i t h vi su al illust rat ions each t ime he has finished part of his lec
t ure.46 Com m ent s such as t hose of Fouchecour al w ays include rem arks about
the audience w hich m ust be disposed to list en to the lecture. D ar k or lit hall, plat
form or hiding-place behind t he screen, bat on or rem oval of the l ect urer's body
- all t hese elem ent s, set out in a lar ge num ber of com binations, al l ow us to ad-

dr ess the figure of the lect urer vi a the different di sposi t i ves that he helps us to
define.
The use of t he di sposi t i ve not ion does h ave an im pact on t he w ay one con
ceives of t he place of the voi ce in ear l y cinem a - inst ead of stating, w it h Tom
Gunn ing, t hat 't he lect urer [ ...] reveals a fissure w it hin the cinem a as an appa
r at us',47 w e h ave here en vi saged t his pract ice as an elem ent t hat fully belongs to
the project ion of im ages. A n d alt hough t his hum an agen cy occupies a var iable
posit ion in t he t hree-pole syst em that w e h ave adopt ed, the voice is m ore or less
st r ongly capt ured in the orbit of one of the t hree poles (space of the product ion/
represent at ion/ audio-spect at or) and cont ribut es to configuring the relat ions be
t ween the t hree of them.
D espit e the plur alit y of disposit ives w h ose t races can be discovered in docu
m ent s of different t ypes, it can be sai d that t heoret ically speak i n g —and beyond
the diver sit y of pract ices - the presence of a lect urer leads to a specific disposi
t ive that I pr opose to call " spoken 'ci n em a'". W hile the talking cinem a refers to an
inst it ut ionalised pract ice of subjugat ing the spoken elem ent to the w or l d of the
film - people speak in the film - the cat egory of spoken 'cinem a' covers a series
of het erogeneous pract ices t hat concern l i ve spect acles wher e the film —spoken
—is considered as an object w i t h i n a di sposi t ive which, t aken as a w hole, is a
speak in g one. I n the spoken film s one speak s of t he film . A s the w or ds of the
spoken 'cinem a' are m at erially out side the film ic diegesis, t hey can on ly be pr o
duct i vel y en vi saged as an elem ent of t his 'cinem a' disposit ive w h ose out lines I
have in par t at t em pt ed to sket ch here t oget her w it h illust rat ions of som e of the
for m s in w h i ch it has been realised.
N o te s
1. M any people commenting on the first films lamented the absence of sound and
called for the addition of a sound dimension. In this context, Daniel Banda and José
Moure point out in the early cinema section of their anthology that 'the cinemato
graphic idea is identified with total representation of reality', the cinema being 'con
ceived with sound - like an extension of the phonograph' (Le Cinéma : naissance d'un
art, 2895-1920, Paris: Flammarion, 2008, p. 35). On this subject see Tom Gunning,
'Doing for the Eye What the Phonograph Does for the Ear', in R. Abel & R. Altman
(eds.), The Sounds of Early Cinema, Bloomington/ Indianapolis: Indiana University
Press, 2001.
2. The inverted commas here indicate an entity considered at the very beginning of its
possible developments and that had not yet been defined by fixed media properties.
In my view, the protean nature of the techniques and practices of the time forbids
one from conceiving of them within a monolithic and unifying framework.

228 Alain Boillac
3. The first results of research into this question were published in number 22 of the
review Iris (autumn 1996) edited by André Gaudreault and Germain Laçasse. See
also Germain Laçasse, Le Bonimenteur de vues animées. Le cinéma « muet » entre tradi
tion et modernité, Quebec/ Paris: Nota Bene/ Méridiens Klincksieck, 2000.
4. The terminology has been examined and the object of study legitimated in the arti
cle by François Albera and André Gaudreault entitled 'Apparition, disparition et
escamotage du bonimenteur dans l'historiographie française du cinéma', in Giusy
Pisano & Valérie Pozner (eds.), Le Muet a la parole. Cinéma et performance à l'aube du
XXe siècle, Paris: AFRH C, 2005.
5. Here I use the expression suggested by Rick Altman in a text where he argued in
favour of taking into account the heterogeneity of sound phenomena during the
'silent' era ('General Introduction: Cinema as Event", in R. Altman (ed.), Sound Theo
ry, Sound Practice, New York/ London: Routledge, 1992).
6. The article is a reworked version of part of a chapter of Du bonimenteur à la voix-over.
Voix-attraction et voix-narration au cinéma, Lausanne: Antipodes, 2007, pp. 39-61.
7. The practice was actually continued well after this period - in France, for example,
at least up to the beginning of the Great War, while in Japan, the benshi continued
until the second half of the 1930s.
8. By using this neologism, I would like to underline my intention of contesting the
pre-eminence traditionally given to the visual dimension in cinema theory. In 1903,
G.-M. Coissac, who wrote a large number of texts looking at the practice of lectur
ing, referred to the receiver of the audiovisual message in the following way: 'To
keep the audience - 1mean the auditor-spectators - on tenterhooks, it is not enough
to project excellent images on the screen [ ...] ' ('Méthode à suivre dans les séances
de projection', Le Fascinateur, N0. 12, 1 December 1903; all the references to the two
periodicals, Le Fascinateur and Ciné-journal, in the present article are taken from the
'Fonds de recherche de Monsieur Pierre Veronneau', Cinémathèque québécoise,
winter 2004, document put together by Marlène Landry). One can clearly see just
how his remarks follow the paradigm of what Albera & Gaudreault ('Apparition,
disparition et escamotage du bonimenteur op. cit., pp. 171-172) propose to
name the 'lecture-with-projection' (as opposed to the 'projection-with-lecture'),
where the image is so strongly subordinated to the word that, in the passage
quoted, Coissac was duty bound to refer to the fact that the audience is also com
posed of spectators. Today, while cinema has been legitimized as an 'art of the im
age', it is the vocal dimension that needs to be brought back into the limelight, fol
lowing an approach begun in particular by Michel Chion.
9. François Albera & Maria Tortajada, ‘L'Epistémè "1900"', in André Gaudreault, Ca
therine Russell & Pierre Véronneau (éd.), Le Cinématographe, nouvelle technologie du
XXe siècle, Lausanne: Payot, 2004.
10. To avoid any ambiguity, a distinction is made between synchronisation, an operation
whereby visual and audio co-occurrences are adjusted by associating elements in
cluded in the production space, and synchronism, which refers to the level of repre
sentation, and more particularly a certain state of the film such as established by the
audio-spectator - not according to the technique used but by the effect produced.
11. R.-M. Arlaud, Cinéma-Bouffe. Le Cinéma et ses Cens, Paris: Editions Jacques Melot,
1945- P- 69-

12. Leaving aside sung interludes, lecturers seem not to have used the phonograph
very frequently to reproduce a voice, as the recording doubtless competed too
strongly with their own performance. However, the Edison phonograph is some
times mentioned in passing (see note 26 of 'On the singular status of the human
voice. Eve of the Future Eden and the cultural series of talking machines' in the pre
sent volume). In the Phonograph and Cinematograph section of his manual, G.-Mi-
chel Coissac nonetheless advises those responsible for explaining fixed views to use
such recordings: '[ ...] many lecturers will double the interest they arouse if ani
mated views from the cinematograph are added to ordinary projections or if there
is a discerning choice of a number of phonograph cylinders or discs'. (Manuel pra
tique du conférencier-projectionniste, Paris: La Bonne Presse, 1908, p. 202). The move
ment of the image and the production of recorded sounds are similarly considered
as sporadic additions aiming to reinforce the attractive nature of the spectacle.
13. See Giusy Pisano, Une archéologie du cinéma sonore, Paris: CNRS, 2004, pp. 139-163.
14. See François Albera, 'Le cinéma "projeté" et les périodisations de l'histoire techni
que du cinéma', in Enrico Biasin (éd.), Le età del cinema / The Ages of Cinema, Udine:
Forum, 2008, pp. 393-400.
15. Alan Williams, 'Is Sound Recording Like a Language?', Yale French Studies, No. 60,
1980,
16. Rick Altman, 'The Material Heterogeneity of Recorded Sound', in R. Altman (ed.),
Sound Theory, Sound Practice, op. cit., p. 29.
17. G.-M. Coissac, M anuel..., op. cit., p. 179.
18. André Gaudreault, Du littéraire au filmique, Quebec/ Paris: Nota Bene / Armand Co
lin, 1999 (1988), p. 153.
19. M .A. Doane, 'The Voice in the Cinema: The Articulation of Body and Space', in
R. Altman (ed.), Yale French Studies, No. 60,1980, p. 35.
20. In addition to examining the characteristics of the actual spatial organisation of the
hall, one must analyse linguistically the utterances produced, since the speaker may
refer in various ways to the hic et nunc of the spectacle.
21. G.-M. Coissac, M anuel..., op. cit., p. 175.
22. Jean A. Keim, Un nouvel art. Le Cinéma sonore, Paris: Editions Albin Michel, 1947,
P- 4 1-
23. Arthur Conan Doyle, Histoire du spiritisme, Paris: Editions du Rocher, 1981 [original
English edition: The History of Spiritualism, London: Cassell, 1926], p. 310.
24. E.T.A. Hoffmann, 'Die Automate', in Die Serapions-Briider, tome 1, Darmstadt: Wis
senschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1968 [1st edition 1813], pp. 329-330.
25. Thus, the chronicler of L’Illustration of 23 March 1878 proposed the following de
scription: 'Moreover, the operator is always there with his instrument. He never
opens his mouth while the voice of the echo is being produced. These circumstances
give rise to doubts in the minds of several physicians. During the first moments, the
operator was accused of being a skilled ventriloquist.' (quoted by G. Pisano, Une
archéologie ..., op. cit., p. 151).
26. Harry M. Geduld, The Birth of the Talkies. From Edison to Jolson, Bloomington, Lon
don, Indiana University Press, 1975, p. 44.
27. Ibid., p. 57.
28. Rick Altman, Silent Film Sound, New York: Columbia University Press, 2004, p. 47.

230 Alain Boillac
29. It should be noted that the setting up of synchronisation points is not only valid for
the dominant model of voice-lip synchronism, but that there are other modes of
synchronisation relating to the element chosen in the image (gestures, movements
of and in the image, joins in the montage, etc.).
30. See Emmanuelle Toulet & Christian Belaygue, Musique d'écran. L'accompagnement
musical du cinéma muet en France 1918-1995, Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux,
1994/ PP- 76-77 '
31. One may observe a specific audiovisual dispositive present in the filmic diegesis (or,
more precisely, at its margins) in such different films as L o l a M o n t é s (Max Ophiils,
1955), T h e E y e o f t h e D e v i l (Ingmar Bergman, i960), T h e T r i a l (Orson Welles,
1962) or D o l l s (Takeshi Kitano, 2002), or in the prologues of O u r T o w n (Sam
Wood, 1940) and M a n a b o u t T o w n (René Clair, 1947, the American version of Si
lence est d'or, moreover one of the rare films to present an early cinema lecturer).
With regard to how orality is shown in talking films, see my articles entitled 'La
perpétuation de l'oralité du "muet" dans quelques incipit filmiques des premières
années du parlant (forthcoming in the review Cinémas) and 'D'une résurgence sous
forme fixée de la pratique bonimentorielle. La voix-over du Roman d'un tricheur et sa
postérité chez Resnais (Providence)' (forthcoming).
32. Isroel Rabon, La Rue, Paris: Juillard, 1992 (1928), p. 126.
33. See the links that I suggest at different levels between translation and lecturing in
Du Bonimenteur à la voix-over, op. cit., pp. 124-129.
34. Rabon attributes this film to a certain Moretti (p. 150), but it is probably the 1910
version directed by Albert Capellani. The passage of the book describing the projec
tion of this film when the audience of workers takes control of the screening is better
known in French-speaking countries as it is quoted by Jérôme Prieur (Le Spectateur
nocturne. Les écrivains au cinéma, Paris: Editions de l 'Etoile/ Cahiers du cinéma, 1993,
pp. 88-92). Rabon's novel depicts an urban milieu where the circus and the crowd
play an important role, with a large number of situations of orality that are similar
to the cinema of attractions.
35. Isroel Rabon, op. cit., p. 151. Later in the novel, we learn that when the lecturer is
not there, an orchestra plays along with the films (ibid., p. 190).
36. F. Albera & A. Gaudreault, 'Apparition, disparition et escamotage du bonimen
teur ...', op. cit., p. 182.
37. H y Viel, 'Projections Dactylographiques (procédés de F. Mare)', Ciné-Journal, N0.
37, 29 April-M ay 1909.
38. 'Preliminary Hints to Amateur Lecturers' (circa 1880), quoted by Richard Crangle,
'Next Slide Please : The Lantern Lecture in Britain, 1890-1910', in R. Abel & R. Alt
man (eds.), The Sounds of Early Cinema, Bloomington/ Indianapolis: Indiana Univer
sity Press, 2001, p. 45.
39. Illustration used in G.-M. Coissac's article entitled 'Projections par réflexion et pro
jections par transparence', Le Fascinateur, 1 April 1903, p. 111.
40. G.-M. Coissac, M anuel..., op. cit., pp. 198-199.
41. ... as is illustrated by the following advice given by the lecturer Georges Dalbe in
19 11 to his fellow-lecturers: '[ ...] he [the lecturer] must above all be good-tempered
and maintain excellent relations with the musicians, who can cause considerable
problems - they only have to play loudly and the lecturer is massacred' (Le Courrier

cinématographique, 14 October 19 11, quoted in the second annex of André Gau-

dreault's article entitled 'Le retour du [bonimenteur] refoulé . Iris, No. 22, p. 32).
42. G.-M. Coissac, M anuel..., op. cit., pp. 182-183.
43. Jean A. Keim, op. cit., p. 41.
44. R.-M. Arlaud, op. cit., p. 101.
45. André Gaudreault (in collaboration with Germain Laçasse), 'Fonctions et origines
du bonimenteur du cinéma des premiers temps', Cinémas, Vol. 4, N 0 .1, 1993, p. 139.
46. 'Organisation d'une conférence', Le Fascinateur, N0. 27, 1 March 1905, pp. 107-108.
47. Tom Gunning 'The Scene of Speaking: Two Decades of Discovering the Film Lec
turer', ¡ris 27, 1999, p. 78.

eb r ar y
eb r ar y
eb r ar y
e b ra ry

O n th e S in g u la r S ta tu s o f th e H u m a n V o ice
Tom o r r o w ’s Eve a n d t h e C u l t u r a l S e r ie s o f T a l k in g
M a c h in e s '
Alain Boillat
The cinem a w as far from being the first 't alk in g m achine' used for put t ing on
show s. The t alk ing com ponent is part and parcel of a long line of t echnical in
vent ions and discourses about the au di ovi su al represent at ion of man. The term
it self underlines the preponderan t role gi ven to the w or d —the t rue 'subject ' of
t alkies being locat ed in t he talking Subject2 her/ himself, as Jean -Loui s Com olli
has not ed. The t alk ing elem ent has fost ered an ant hropom orphic m im et ism ,
w h i ch is com parable in its principles to the m im et ism un der lyi n g bot h the m an
ufact uring of aut om at a w i t h hum an faces and som e of the w ays phonographic
t echniques are used. Rick A l t m an has writ t en about the phase in w h ich t alking
w as generalised: 'n ear l y ever y im port ant t echnological innovat ion can be t raced
to the desire to produce per suasi ve illusion of real people speaking real w or d s'.3
Jam es Last r a has not ed that w hen an alysi n g the w r it in gs of H ol l yw ood t echni
cians at t hat time, 'al l sounds w ere ult im at ely recognized to be funct ionally sub
ordinat e to the voice'.4 Even if in science, as Jonat han Sterne underlines, a m ove
m ent of subordinat ion of t he voi ce to the m ore general cat egory of 'sou n d s' can
be observed from the 19t h cent ury on w ar ds,5 the pr i m acy of the t alking element
has been perpet uat ed in au di ovi su al represent at ions, i m plyin g all the phases of
sound m an ufact ur ing in the cinema, from t heir recording to t heir project ion in
halls. It is agai n st this back gr oun d t hat I shall addr ess the condit ions that have
cont ribut ed to the em ergence of a concept ion of the relat ions bet ween sound
and vi sual represent at ions, w her e the dom inant param et er is voice-lip syn
chronism . W hen one exam ines t he possible com binat ions (exem plified in the
'inst allat ions' of cont em porary artists), it becom es clear t hat inst it ut ionalised
t alk ing cinem a can profit from being set w i t h in a w i d er t echnological spectrum
belon gin g t o the cultural series o f talking machines. 6 From a m et hodological point
of vi ew , t his concept ion al l ow s u s to free hist orical st u dy from the requirem ent s
of periodisat ion, for i f one series m ay be der i ved from anot her series, it m ay also
echo it at a dist ance or devel op in parallel to n eighbouring series. Reciprocal
influence m ay occur as a result of a spat ial cont iguit y (when, for exam ple, t wo
t echniques are present ed at the sam e exhibit ion)7 that is it self subject to consid
erable diachronic var iat ions and var i ous cont ingencies, as it result s from prac
tices t hat h ave not been laid dow n and fixed. To t ake an exam ple t hat is specifi-

234 Alain Boillac
call y linked to the hum an voice, one m ay suppose that the ent husiasm that the
paint er Leopold Robert evin ced on di scover i n g the int eract ivit y inst igat ed by
the acousm at ic voi ces of the 'I n vi si ble Gi r l '9 - a sh ow st aged in 18 15 b y the
fam ous phant asm agor ist Robert son - can be explained b y the fact t hat t his curi
osi t y w as present ed in the vi ci n i t y of an exhibit ion of t alking aut om at a.10 It is
t his kind of convergence bet ween series t hat allow s one bett er to com prehend
the specific nat ure of each di sposi t i ve used.
W hen the phonograph, pat ent ed b y Edison in 1877, w as first used in public, it
w as usu al l y called the 't alk i n g m ach i n e'/ 1 a nam e w h ich highlight s the spoken
com ponent of its 'per for m an ce' (the perform ance bein g not just a t echnological
one, but also a spect acular one w h en exhibit ed in public), but not it s capacit y as
a recording appar at us. This designat ion t hus played the role of superordinat e,
inscribing ver y different di sposi t i ves w i t h i n the sam e cult ural series. The use of
a term that al r eady exist ed clearly sh ow s t he filiat ion that people at t hat time
est ablished bet ween the phon ogr aph and cert ain older m achines. W hen devel
oping an epist em ological approach to the m ain recept ion par adi gm s of the
't alk in g cinem a' t hat w er e prevalent t hree or four decades before the latt er be
cam e st andardised, it is helpful to com pare cert ain fields of act ivit y t hat w ere
par t i cul ar l y perm eable at the end of the 19t h century. The bor der bet w een a
sh ow int ended to am use and scient ific dem onst rat ion (part icularly in the field
of physiology), or exact sciences and spirit ism , w as a t enuous one. I shall limit
m y st udy to one par t icular ly di scursi ve cat egory: lit erary fiction based on tech
nological speculat ion. A s Ch ar l es Gr i vel has sh ow n ,12 the im agi n ar y w or l d of
m echanical voice reproduct ion - w hi ch had al r eady been evok ed in 1748 in the
w or k s of the philosopher Julien O ffroy de La M et t rie13 —w as r evi ved in lit era
t ure w i t h the spr eadi n g of Edison's and Berliner's invent ions dur ing the last
quart er of the 19t h century.
One of the fictional w or k s discussed b y Gr i vel that best illust rat es the t rans
form at ions t hat t ook place in t he 1880s is Tomorrow's Eve, a n ovel published in
1886 b y Vill i er s de l 'l sl e-A d am .14 H e w as a close friend of Ch arl es Cros, an in
vent or and French poet w ho, eight m ont hs before Edison received his patent,
had sent a sealed letter to the French A cadem y of Sciences in w hich he set out
the phonographic process in plausi bl e det ail. Al t h ough oft en referred to in rela
tion to the cinema, Tomorrow's Eve is a ver y rich w or k w h ose herm eneut ic po
tential is far from exhaust ed. It is the st ory in w hi ch a fict ive Edison, gi ven
m yt hical st at us as the 'fat h er of the phon ogr aph', exploit s his i nvent ion to re
produce a t alking bein g m echanically —a project sim ilar to the t alk ing doll that
the real Edison com plet ed in 1889.15 The book fost ers a discussion of the status
of the voice w it hi n the audi ovi su al disposit ive, and in part icular the recorded
voice, as the aut hor em phasises t he indexical nat ure of the phonographic re
cording. This quest ion has oft en been raised, but generally not explored in

O n the Singular Status o f the Human Voice 235
dept h by t hose w h o h ave st udied Villiers's w ork. Research has concent rat ed on
the t echnological dim ension of the w or l d that is represent ed, eit her because it is
the i m age t hat is foregroun ded, or because t he var i ous spoken m anifest at ions in
the book are not considered w i t h regar d to their part icular charact eristics. A
sym pt om at ic illust rat ion is w h en A n dr é Bazin, w h o succinct ly refers t o Villiers's
n ovel to illust rat e the 'm yt h of t otal cinem a', does not refer to the android itself,
but si m pl y m ent ions the fict it ious Edison's project ion of anim at ed scenes using
a l am pascope.16 Even t hough t he passage he quot es ends w i t h t he dancer sing
ing, Bazi n does not addr ess t he quest ion of the coupling of the im age and the
voice. In an art icle on ant hropom orphous sim ulacra creat ed vi a audiovisual
t echnology, Tom Gunn i n g discusses Bazi n (albeit wit h little crit ical dist ance)
and cit es the w or k of Villiers, but w it hout goi ng into det ail, claim ing that nu
m erous an alyses h ave al r eady been publ i shed.1” D espit e recurring references to
Tomorrow’s Eve in st udies in vest igat ing the represent at ion of science in fut urist ic
n ovels and st ories, I believe t hat t his part icular n ovel merit s great er attention
from t he point of vi ew of the voi ce and the im plicat ions of phonographic tech
nology, for - as m an y scholars h ave underlined - it is a w or k w her e the repre
sent at ion of t he voi ce is a fundam ent al concern.
T h e v o ic e s in t h e n o v e l
One can see h ow im port ant voices are in Tomorroiv's Eve from the ver y begi n
ning, w hen Edison, in his in augur al m onologue, lam ent s that he has not been
able to record all the voices from the past , part i cularly God's voice - which, one
m igh t say, w ou l d have enabled him to pr ovi de phonographic pr oof for ontological
proof. H ere Villier s is expressin g the dream of acceding to the divin e by m eans
of t elecom m unicat ions - a dream shared lat er by Guglielm o M arconi, w h o
hoped to devel op radiophon y to the point of bein g able to capt ure Jesus's last
w or d s on t he cr oss.18 The desire to conjure up a past shrouded in m yst ery
sh ow s to w h at ext ent the recreat ed voi ce is m arked by the absence or disappear
ance of bein gs - a sit uat ion t hat also concerns God him self, w h o in t his novel
has, as it were, been supplant ed by the m an of science and his sacr ilegious chal
lenge. The funct ion of com pensat ing for an 'absence' is not confined to uses of
the voice, since the phot ographic i m age w as also dest ined to replace the paint ed
port rait in it s capacit y to conserve a trace of t hose w h o have di ed.19 H owever,
the exam ple of t he di vi n e voice in Villiers's w or k r eveals an alm ost m yst ical
concept ion of voice phenom ena t hat are depr i ved of physical incarnat ion, asso
ciat ed bot h w i t h the origins of the w or l d ('I n t he beginning w as the W ord') and
w i t h m anifest at ions of a source that eludes represent ation.

236 Alain Boillac
In Tomorrow's Eve, Edison's sol i loquy pr efi gur es t he w ay the voi ce is t reat ed
t hroughout the novel. Firstly, the m onologue - an instance of diegetized en un cia
tion - is direct discourse r el yi n g on indicat ions of linguist ic regist er an d orality.
Secondly, the voice is exploit ed as a n arrat ive mot if. One can join Gw enhael
Ponnau in affi r m i ng that 'not just t hem at ically, but also poet ically an d st ruct u
rally, Tomorrow's Eve m ay appear as t he novel of the voice, or rather, of voi ces'.20
H ow ever , Ponnau exam ines the pol yphoni c st ruct ure and var i ous 'st age direc
t ions' w i t h out l ink ing such st ylist ic charact erist ics w i t h the t echnological ele
m ent built int o the heart of the story. It is, however, enlight ening to d r aw a
correlat ion bet ween t he represent at ion of the voice and the problem at ic of t alk
in g m achines im agined b y Villiers. N ot on l y does his n ovel oft en describe in
det ail the voices of fem inine charact ers (referring to timbre, intensity, int ona
tion, etc.), but he also bri n gs in var i ous voices heard in acousm at ic situat ions,
i.e., w h en the source of t he voice cannot be seen. In the dieget ic un i verse of the
novel, such m anifest at ions are m ot ivat ed eit her by m eans of long-dist ance com
m unicat ion (t elepat hy or t elephony) or b y pl ayi n g a sound that has al r eady
been produced (phonography). Soun ds of the first t ype occur right from the
ver y beginning of Eve - the em ployee an d Edison's son are present ed on l y as
voices. In the t angled w eb of direct discourse, the expression 'a voi ce' oft en des
ignat es b y synecdoche the var i ous charact ers.21 The voice is t hus associat ed
w i t h an absence t hat the phonogr aph i s par t ially used to cover —just as the
android is the ideali sed subst it ut e for the real wom an. Edison, w h o is isolat ed
in his laborat ory, is loat h t o speak direct ly to his int erlocutors, but replies sim pl y
b y set t ing off a phon ogr aph linked to a t elephone (p. 16). Thus, his relat ionship
w i t h ot hers is st rongly m ediat ised by the t echniques of voice reproduct ion and
t ransm ission. This som ew hat asocial beh avi ou r m ay w el l har k back to Villiers's
initial intent ion, w hich w as to por t r ay Edison in a sarcast ic manner. H owever,
the n ovel oft en uses voice-off, the source of w hich is sit uat ed elsewher e (i.e., the
sleeper A n y Anderson), or even in a t ime and place different from that of the
list ener (when H ad al y repeat s Ali ci a's w ords), t hus st ressing the dissociat ion
and disem bodim ent br ough t about by act ivat ing Edison's di sposit ives.
Furt herm ore, the separat ion bet w een the ph ysical person and speech is ex
plicit ly t hem at ized by Edison, w h o claim s to be able to preserve Alicia's body
w h ile m odifyin g her soul, and t hus ful fi l his friend's wish. A s Franc Schuerewe-
gen has writ t en, Villiers's Edison m an ages to 'abduct the present of a being by
capt uring her voice, w hi ch is closest to the soul, and t hus to t he essence'.22 This
fundam ent al dichot om y bet w een (the) bein g and appear in g al low s a dist inct ion
to be m ade bet ween the dim ensions of the w or d and the voice w h en Lord
Ew al d says of his l over t h at ' ... her w or d s seem ed const rained and out of place
in her m out h.' (p. 31) . M oreover, the sam e opposit ional rat ionale (body-soul,
body-voice) gover n s the val u e judgem ent s m ade r egar di n g the at tribut es of the

voice. W it h the port rait t hat Villiers d r aw s of Alicia, there is a cont rast bet ween
the perfect ion of the innat e and the m ediocrit y of w h at is acquired - ever yt hin g
not belon gin g to her 'essen ce' is t ainted by the base aspirat ions of t he philist ine.
For exam ple, he not es that she speak s 'aft er the fashion of a sal esw om en in a
depart m ent store, but in a voi ce of perfect cl ari t y' (p. 169, m y italics). The cap
t uring of the voice is t hus present ed as an undert aking to extract one part of the
real which, w hen assem bled w i t h a n ew elem ent, cont ribut es to creat ing the
fem inine ideal. It is no coincidence t hat A l i ci a is a singer, like the prim a donna
L a St illa in Verne's Carpathian Castle23 - it i s a profession t hat is associat ed w i t h a
vocal perform ance that is gr oun ded in hum an expressivit y.
P h o n o g ra p h y and illu s io n
By m ak i n g the phon ograph the k ey i nvent ion from w hi ch one m ay der i ve var
ious applicat ions, Villiers inscribes his im agi nary invent ion in w h at Rick A l t
m an defines as a cont ext of 'i n t er m edi ali t y'.24 The m ak ing of the android - de
scribed w i t h fetishist -like precision - requires several uses of the project ed
im age. It is t hus present ed as the product of a vi sual represent at ion t hat exceeds
the aut om at on's m ere physi cal presence. W hen Villier s w rot e t hat his Edison
int ended to sur pass such m akers of aut om at a as Vaucanson or M aelzel (p. 61),
he w as underlining the filiat ion bet w een his charact er and t hese aut om at a-
m ak er s w i t h w h om his Edison - as opposed to the real Edison, w h o w as al w ays
int erest ed in the indust rial prospect s of his invent ions - shared an art isanal con
cept ion of aut om at a m anufact uring, w h i l e sur passi n g t hem t hanks to his m as
t ery of phon ographic t echniques. Even if vi su al m achinery does not intervene
per se in the funct ioning of the m echanical being, it is necessary for the concep
tion of its body and especi al l y to set up synchronism bet w een w or d and m ove
ment. Edison first uses a project ion disposit ive, w h ose 'successive phot ographs'
al low him to sh ow Lor d Ew al d the anim at ed im age of a dancer. It is not a silent
project ion, for the sin ger sings, and Villier s com m ent s t hat the Tip m ovem ent ' is
also reproduced, indicat ing synchronism . It is int erest ing t o not e t hat the i l l u
sor y st at us of t he audi ovi sual represent at ion is n ever called into quest ion by the
charact ers present at the spect acle, even t hough the dem onst rat ion aim s pr e
cisely to sh ow the decept ive appearan ce (cf. the m isleading outfit) of the film ed
subject. The illusion of the represent at ion produced by the di sposit ive is, as it
w ere, t ransferred ont o t he nat ure of the represent ed object in accordance w i t h a
process t hat resem bles the film spect at or's im m ersion in the film ic diegesis.
Gi ven Villiers's scient ific speculat ions, w e note that he post ulat es total fidelit y
of the audi ovi sual reproduct ion to its source (in fact, its referent). In the descrip-

238 Alain Boillac
t ive sect ions, Villiers does i ndeed describe the funct ioning of Edison's appar a
t uses, but he t ends t o conceal the represent at ional dim ension of the phono-
graphed voices b y r epeat edly st ressing t heir perfection. Thus, the speaker pays
absolut ely no att ent ion to the recording sit uat ion w hen she speak s - Alicia's
voice is fixed un beknow nst to Alicia, as i f the opt im isat ion of the reproduct ion
qualit ies w as independent of the 'pr oph on ogr aph ic' condit ions.25 M oreover, the
funct ioning of t he appar at us seem s to h ave no influence w hat soever on the res
t itut ion of the voice, w her eas right up to at least the first year s of the t went iet h
century, people const ant ly com m ent ed on the im perfect ion of the phonographic
reproduct ion of the voice's charact erist ics.26 This concept ion - w hich could also
be det ect ed in Jules Verne's w r i t i n gs27 - w h er eby one does not per ceive sound
t echnology as such influenced the dom inant t hinking on m at ters audiovisual
duri ng the t went iet h cent ury (alongside the rare com m ent at ors w h o recom
m ended exhibit ing the m echanical side of the phonograph).28 Gi ven that the
t echnology is inaudible, the represent at ion passes for perfect rest itution, as if
the t ransm ission did not require a t ransducer. This i deology reached its apogee
w i t h the appearance of t he so-called high fidelit y syst em s.29
M a c h in e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n as an a u d io v i s u a l d i s p o s i t i v e : t h e
a n d r o i d a n d it s s p e c t a t o r
The idea put for w ar d by Villiers of l inking the lam pascope w i t h the phono
gr aph had pr obabl y been circulat ing since the t ime of the ver y first present a
t ions of the phonograph, as can be seen in a r evi ew published in 1878:
It is already possible by ingenious optical contrivances to throw stereoscopic photo

graphs of people on screens in full view of an audience. Add the talking phonograph
to counterfeit their voices, and it would be difficult to carry the illusion of real pre
sence much further.30
In Villiers's novel, Edison's experim ent put s Lor d Ew al d in the posit ion of
audio-spect at or, t hus creat ing a disposit ive. The android's interact ions wit h
Lor d Ew al d t hat fol l ow are, significant ly, called 'scen es' on several occasions.
But before he falls for the illusion, he is filled w i t h indignat ion about Edison's
vast am bit ion and exclaim s: 'Bu t I w as forget t ing; this is a theater, I'm wat ching
a st age show! I'm bound to applaud. The last scene w as r eall y good - st range,
indeed, but st rong!' (p. 201). The relat ionship t hat develops bet ween Edison and
his gu est is t hus gr oun ded in the cont ext of the spectacle (a kind of scenic per
form ance), w hich includes the object of t he exhibit ion (the autom at on) and the
t w o poles of com m unicat ion (the inst igat or and the spectator). It is significant

t hat Lor d Ew al d qualifies the cont ent s of the phonographic inscript ions as
'par ad oxes' (p. 201): he ju dges t hat w h en a m achine is capable of conduct ing a
conversat ion, there is a lack of verisim ilit ude, even w it hin the fiction. This is a
n odal point on the nar r at ive level, gi ven t hat Edison keeps put t ing off his expla
nat ion, and w as a deci si ve st age in the genesis of the novel, as Villiers on ly hit
upon the final out com e aft er sever al years. The android's funct ioning w as only
fi n all y clarified w h en t he w ork , w hich is present ed as a rew r i t i n g of the Book of
Genesis, w as com plet ed: ph on ogr aph y is the inst rum ent repeat ing the founding
act, w it h t he gift of speech guarant eeing that t he art efact is en dow ed w i t h h u
m an qualit ies. This is w h y Edison, like the n ovel itself, m akes this gift his ult i
m at e purpose. I f silence has the last w or d — it is lit erally t he last w or d of the
book - this is because the di vi n e origin pr oves in the end to be unsurpassable.
I f w e t urn our attent ion to the im age, w e see t hat it int ervenes vi a the craft ing
of H adaly, t hanks to a series of m ar k s m ade on the basis of 'ph ot ograph i c enlar
gem en t s'31 (p. 151) .32 The physi cal appear an ce of t his art ificial being is indeed
the result of a series of i m ages sim ilar t o t hose obt ained by Et ienne-Jules M arey
b y m eans of his chronophot ographic t echnique.33 This par t of the n ovel su g
gest s a possible link bet w een aut om at a and devices project ing anim at ed films,
despit e t he fact the role of the project ed anim at ed im age is confined to creat ing
the m achine —t here is no t race of the project ion syst em used to conceive it once
it is finished. Villiers's Edison just ifies such up-front experim ent s by underlining
the need for a correlat ion bet w een the line represent ing the bod y m ovem ent s
inscribed on the cyli n der - it self a tool relat ed to the phonographic process -
and the gr oove result ing from the recording of t he voice. H e calls t his process
'expr essi ve correspondences' and m akes the follow in g com m ent on it: 'I t fol
l ow s accor di n gl y (does it not?) t hat the act ion of t wo phonographs, com bined
w i t h t hat of the cylinder, m ust pr oduce a perfect synchr onizing of w or d s and
gest ures as w el l as of the m ovem ent of the l i ps' (p. 132). This explanat ion show s
the im port ance gi ven to voice-lip synchronism - a principle which w ou ld later
com e to dom inat e t alk ing cinema.
D espit e the perfect ion of the fict it ious Edison's creation, Villier s point s to the
fact t hat the w or d cannot be reduced to the level of t he machine, which, fun da
mentally, has no soul. The m ovem ent t hat charact erises chronophot ographic
project ion does indeed anim at e things, but on l y the voice t ruly 'ani m at es' the
beings represent ed. For Villiers, the l aw s of m echanics and acoust ics are not suf
ficient t o at t ain t his origin of the voice.

240 Alain Boillac
W h e r e s p ir itis m p u t th e fin is h in g to u c h e s on th e te c h n ic a l
in v e n tio n
W hen in Eve, Edison com m unicat es w i t h M enlo Park, a disem bodim ent result s
bot h from the use of the phon ogr aph (the m anifest at ion of sound deferred in
time) and that of the t elephone (the spat ial separat ion bet ween the places of
sendin g and receiving). This double dem at eralizat ion of the speaker is also
played out on anot her level w i t h the int ervent ion of A n y Sow ana, as the in ven
tor cont act s this spirit bot h b y m eans of his gift for t elepat hy but also, m ore
concret ely, usi n g a t elephone handset . Thus, as Edison explain s to Lor d Ewald,
his t ransm ission really is 'occult ', w h i l e her reply com es 'by w ay of elect ricit y'.34
This principle is illust rat ed earlier in the book in a di alogue in w hi ch w e di s
cover A n y Sow an a's hearing percept ion, depict ing the st rangeness inherent in
the sudden boom i ng fort h of a voice w i t h out a body. In t his passage, w e note
that the t elephone and phon ograph int ervene t oget her to act ivat e the t alking
aut om at on - an alliance t hat is sym pt om at ic of the lack of a clear boun dar y
bet w een the par adi gm s of the inscript ion and t ransm ission of sounds at the end
of the 19t h cent ury. Pat rice Car r é, for exam ple, has underlined t hat the appli ca
t ions of the t elephone w er e at first bot h uncert ain and var ied, w it h Bell's in ven
tion som et im es bein g en vi saged as 'com plem ent ary to the ph on ogr aph '.35 Vil-
liers let s the invisible Sow an a explain precisely h ow t his disposit i ve funct ions:
- It's a marvel of thought and ingenuity, but perfectly natural now that it's been
brought to reality.
Look: for me to hear you, in the mixed and marvelous state where I now am ... there's
no need of a telephone. But for you to hear me, you or any one of your visitors, isn't it
true that the telephone whose mouthpiece I'm now holding must be linked to a
sounding box, however concealed? (p. 12)
Sow an a has to use prost het ic t echnology in order t o m at erialise t he sound of her
voice in space and speak. Villiers underlines just h ow perfect the t ransm ission
appar at us is,36 and t hanks to the t elephone, the speak er est ablishes proxi m i t y
and int im acy w it h the listener, m ak i ng the technical inst rum ent sim ilar to the
t elepat hy t hat is used to ensure t he reciprocal nat ure of the com m unicat ion.
Villiers's Edison pr ovi des his guest w i t h a verit able séance w here the beyon d is
reached t hanks to the com bined pow er of t he spirit and electricity. The w ay in
w h i ch Vill i er s t hought out the st ory is indicat ive of the sim ilarit ies - in the col
lect ive im aginat ion at that time, and still t oday for t hose w h o believe in the
phenom enon of 'chann ellin g' — bet w een t echnology and the 'para-scient ific'
field. This m eet ing bet w een the occult dim ension and a t echnology t hat al low s
inst ant aneous com m unicat ion at a dist ance - a m ixt ure of ingeniousness and

the ideal, as A n y Sow an a put s it —reveals t he rapprochem ent bet ween t elegra
ph y and m odern spirit ualism t hat Jeffr ey Sconce has exam ined in the discourses
of t he second h alf of the 19t h cent ury,37 a par adigm that cont inued on into the
20t h cent ury vi a vari ous m yst i cal or r eligious uses of t elephony.38
The presence of t he occult and the supernat ural in Eve rem inds u s that the
st rict ly t echnological cont ext m ust not over sh adow the sym bolist side of Vil-
liers's wor k . The use of spirit ist m eans to al low the m achine to speak show s
h ow far he believed t hat speak i n g is t ot ally incom pat ible w i t h the m echanical
aspect . The singularity of the voi ce com es from t he indest ruct ible link it has w it h
an i n di vi dual - for Villiers, the dist inct ion bet ween the hum an and the inhum an
par t ly rest ed on the opposit ion bet ween pr oduct ion and reproduct ion at the
level of the voice. The sim ult aneously occult and t echnological origin of the re
produced voice reveals —like the oxym or on 'Tom or r ow 's Eve' of the t itle - the
par adox of the sym bolism that resides in the collusion of the mythological (the
m yt h of A d am and the ori gi n of hum ankind) and scientism. Alt h ough Villiers
init ially int ended to com bat posi t i vi sm just as he had done in som e of his tales,
the final ver si on of his novel bears w it n ess to a clear at t raction to scientism,
despit e the ending, w h er e he underlines the van it y of m an's at t em pt s - like Pr o
m et heus —t o becom e m ast er of his ow n destiny.
The t echnological dim ension t hat Villiers present ed m ay be en vi saged by
com paring it w it h the talkie. Delinking bet w een the spoken voice and the vi su a
lised bod y occurs w h en t he voice seem s m om ent arily to det ach it self from its
hum an origin, and w h i l e it does not exact ly reveal its nat ure as a recording, it
does u n vei l the t rick of voice-lip synchronism .39 In the novel, the charact er of
M i ss Al i ci a is associat ed w i t h the idea of di spar it y bet ween being and appear
ing. H er 'au d i ovi su al ' reproduct ion - t he result of com plex operat ions that en
sure the synchronisat ion of the var i ou s m echanism s —pr oduces a m erging of
Ali ci a's physical beaut y and t he int erior perfect ion that her m odel does not
have. The result is to repair an y delinking effect. The w or k 's t echnological U t o
pianism t hus r esides m ore deepl y in a un i t ary concept ion of the android - the
com plet e illusion of life.
In circa 1880, an advert isem ent for a spect acle in volvin g aut om at a em pha
sized h ow the invent ion bein g exhibit ed w as bot h superior t o and different
from reproduct ion devices: 'D o not confuse t his m arvellous m achine, unique in
the w or l d, w i t h t he phonograph, w h i ch is si m pl y an ECH O effect '.40 Thus, the
fact that speech w as produced w i t h out pr evi ous recording w as used as a pub
licit y argum ent , even t hough t his process w as by no m eans a n ew one, but be
longed to the t radit ion of face-t o-face com m unicat ion. Sim ilarly, Villiers high
light ed t he lim it s of phonographic reproduct ion, suggest in g that t hey w ere
out m at ched by t he 't echniques' of occult ism : Sow an a's spirit expresses it self
t hrough the an dr oid's m out h w i t h the uncertaint ies that are charact eristic of

242 Alain Boillac
ever yd ay conversat ion, and int eract s w i t h t he audio-spect at or. Spirit ism and
phon ogr aph y do, however, have one t hing in com m on. Edison calls u p A n y
Sow an a's spirit t hanks to his m agnet ising pow er s that he uses on M ist ress A n
derson, w h o lies in anot her room in a quasi-cat alept ic state. In ot her w or ds,
Sow an a's spirit can be freed t hanks to the dissociat ion from t he bod y of a third
person w h o pl ays the part of interm ediary, i.e., 'm edium '. I f one links t his int er
vent ion of t he supernat ural w i t h Edison's var i ous invent ions w here voi ce and
b od y are separat ed, one un der st ands w h at it is about the phonograph that
could be conceived of as an at t ract ive, yet repulsive, dem iurgic invention. In
Eve, the m eet ing bet w een a forsaken voice w i t h an art ificial bod y t hat is dedi
cat ed to t he m echanicalness of the phon ogr aph is present ed as the guarant ee of
audi ovi su al com plet eness. It is inst ruct ive that the cornerst one of Villiers's
scient ific U t opi a belon gs to 'psych i c m agnet ism '. H e needs the help of the
supern at ural to cast out t he an gui sh of absence pr ovok ed b y the phonograph,
to avoid the m onst rosit y that the phon ographic voice represent s w hen det ached
from an y soul - a t ot ally deh um anized voice, like t hat of M arcel Schw ob's La
Machine a parler (1892).41 This m ot if is part of the broader aspirat ions of the
sym bolist influence, w hich denounced t he m at erial foundat ions of fin de siecle
societ y w h i l e it sought t o find the lost soul, even i f it m eant avai li n g oneself of
the product s (m at erial) of indust ry, as is t he case in the novel Eve, w hi ch is par
t icularly am bivalent in t his respect.
Technology not on l y affect s t he spect at ors in w ays t hat are close to t hose of
'm agi c' phenom ena, but can also be used for spirit ist pract ices. Jam es Last ra
not es that t he t ransform at ions brough t about by the t echnologies of phot ogr a
phy, phon ogr aphy and t elegraphy also affect ed the discourses and m et hods of
spirit ism .42 A s ear l y as 1673, At h an ase Kircher recalled that m an y of t hose w h o
m ent ioned 't alk i n g h eads' had int erpret ed t he voices produced by these 'm a
chines' as diabolical, because the devi l w as supposed to m anifest it self in the
shape of a voice spok en b y st at ues.43 Villiers's t alk ing m achines go hand in
hand w i t h a beli ef in the supernat ural, and t hanks to Edison, the 'm od em ' func
t ioning of t he andr oid inherit s a m edium 's ancest ral pow er s. This cont am inat ion
of the t echnological by the m ar vel l ous seem s to be connect ed to the pol ysem y of
the t erm 'm edium ': from medial to medium t here is but one step, from the m at eri
al presence of the m echanism t o ... the beyond. It is int erest ing to recall t hat in
the 1920s, the (real) Edison set out to i m pr ove the Ouija board that w as used
m an ually by m edium s, alt hough him self no adept of the Cause. To t his end, he
devel oped an elect ric recording apparat us, w h ose am plificat ion syst em w as
par t i cul ar l y sensit ive.44 The focus of interest on bot h t echnological and para-
scient ific subject s deali n g w i t h voi ce phenom ena m ade up one of the m ain cul
t ural cont ext s un der lyi n g the represent at ion of the t alk ing aut om at on in V i l
liers's w or k .

T h e p re se n ce -a b se n ce o f th e ‘ im a g in a ry s ig n ifie r ’
Fol l ow i n g t he exam ple of Franc Schuerewegen,45 one m ay d r aw a parallel be

t ween Villiers's precise and pow erful represent at ion of t echnology and the ph i
losopher Jean-François Lyot ar d's com m ent s about n ew t echnologies. W hen
com par ing aest het ics and t he n ew m eans of com m unicat ion, Lyot ard not es an
im port ant uph eaval , w h i ch st em s from the spat io-t em poral 'liber at ion' of dat a
recept ion. The m ut at ion di scussed b y Lyot ar d can t hus be as m uch appli ed to
the subject he addr esses - t he digit alisat ion of dat a46 - as to t he older t echnol
ogy of phonography. Lyot ar d's quest ions (does not the 't el e' elem ent necessarily
blur the presence, the hic et nunc of 'car n al ' form s and their recept ion?')47 reflect
a dialect ic of presence and absence t hat is sim ilar to t hat w h i ch is r ai sed by
Villier s's novel, w i t h the A n d r oi d int roducing the t hem e —albeit in an idealised
m ode - of the persist ence of the carnal constituent. The aut om at on H adal y
speak s from anot her space, usi n g w or d s carried by a voice recorded before and
elsewhere. H ow ever , w h en com pared to the r em oval of the origin of the voice
alone, t oday's cont ext to w h i ch Lyot ar d refers int roduces a supplem ent ary de
gree of non-realisat ion —that of the m at hem at ical t ranslat ion of sounds into in
form at ion. D igit alizat ion does, of course, place all au di ovi su al dat a on an equal
foot ing, but Villiers gi ves a special st at us to voice and speech.
It is st rik ing to not e in a t ext describing the possibilit ies of his invent ion just
h ow st r ongly the real Edison st resses the issue of the absence of the source. H e
not es t hat reproduct ion is realised 'w i t h out t he presence or consent of the or i gi
nal source', and t hat t he m ult iplicat ion of sounds can be carried out 'w it hout
r egar d for the exist ence or non-exist ence of the original sour ce'.48 H e is, of
course, referring to the legal and com m ercial advan t ages of the invention, but
his t ext cont ains not ions of presence and exist ence that reveal the n ew relat ion
to t he w or l d inst igat ed by t he phonograph, w hich allow s one t o dispense w it h
such not ions. The m ove from 'absen ce' to 'inexist ence' seem s to m e to echo the
realisat ion that the 'i nh um an ' h ad indeed appeared, since the 'source' is asso
ciat ed w i t h a person w h ose voice one records and repr oduces (the expression
'w i t h or w i t h out the k n ow l edge or consent of the source' on ly m akes sense
w h en referring to a hum an source); inexist ence is underst ood as a negat ion of
the hum an, supplant ed by a m achine t hat guarant ees m ass dissem inat ion. To
go one step furt her: the voice's origin is no longer a hum an being and has been
reproduced by the apparat us itself. This m at erial dim ension of sound produc
tion —described as 'w r i t i n g w it hout a subject ' by Friedrich Kit t ler49 in his exam
inat ion of Rilke's t ext Ur-Geraiisch (in w h i ch the ph ysical inscript ion of a sound
in the shape of gr ooves is com pared to t he fi ssures of the cranium )50 —refers to a

244 Alain Boillac
sit uat ion of ext rem e aut onom isat ion, w h er e product ion and reproduct ion
m erge t ogether.
D espit e the hypot het ical nat ure of his story, Villiers em phasises act ual ph ysi
cal absence over t he not ion of inexist ence. The scientist in the n ovel t akes the
t rouble to expl ai n h ow the sent ences produced b y the art ificial being h ave been
ut t ered. I beli eve it is significant t hat the novel's invent ions n ever aim to produce
a voice —he could h ave invent ed a m ore fant ast ic devi ce to do just t hat —but
al w ays to reproduce a pr evi ou s ut t erance w h ose aut hor is absent. This obser va
tion is val id first ly for the art ificial bi r ds that keep the android com pan y in its
shelt er - w hereas one w ou l d h ave t ended to associat e t hese pret end anim als
w i t h aut om at a capable of m echanically pr oducing noises or speech, in Eve t hey
reproduce the com m ent s of visit ors to M enlo Park that have been recorded by
it s ow n er (p. 93). The sam e is t rue of the reproduct ion of M i ss A l i ci a Cl ar y's
voice, since Edison, w h o planned to cut cylin ders dur in g one of the com edian's
show s, i nvit es her t o his house on t he pret ext of a rehearsal to get her to say
w h at t he an dr oi d w i l l utter.
The im port ance of the sound ' that-has-been' (Qa-a-ete)5' arises w hen one exam
ines the relat ions creat ed bet w een the represent ation, the m achinery and the
audio-spect at or. O ne can post ulat e t hat the aut om at on H adal y creat es an im
pression of realit y for Lor d Ew al d that, in som e respect s, is com parable to the
one t hat the cinem a disposit ive creat es for its spectator. The Faust ian pact join
in g Lor d Ew al d and Edison can t hen be un derst ood as a r eading cont ract that
recalls the necessary condit ions for the 'i m pression of realit y' t hat have been
st udied b y Christ ian M et z.52 Indeed, Edison's descript ion of t he An dr oid as a
'm ixed pr esen ce'53 seem s to echo M et z's concept ion of the cinem at ographic si g
nifier t hat 'm ak es it self present on the m odel of absence'.54 One can ar gue that
like t he exam ple of the 'i m agi n ar y si gn i fi er ' in the cinema, the An dr oid consist s
of a 'project ion' in the psych ological sense of the term, since it ow es its existence
pur el y to t he credulous accept ance of the illusion on the par t of the spect at or -
and the cont ract agr eed upon b y Edison and Ew ald (who is in love w i t h the
sin ger an d ready to put an end to his days) explicit ly st ipulat es this. I f one t em
por al ly di sr egar ds t he t echnological cont ext (which dom inat es in Carpathian
Castle, w h er e an init ial art ifice reinforces Franz de Telek's belief),55 one can see
that the anim at ion of the art ificial bein g m et aphorically expr esses the pow er of
the im aginat ion unfur l ed by the sensit ive m an in his quest for the ideal. M ore
over, a sim ilar t hem e is found in Villiers's fant ast ic t ale ent it led Vera (1883),
w h i ch m ak es no reference to the posi t i ve sciences of the time, however. In Vera,
a 'di st ant voi ce' calls t he m an w h o has lost his wife, but like O rpheus, ever y
t hing di sappear s the m om ent the husband com m it s the dam nable deed of re
m em bering his l oved one's deat h. W hen Villiers affirm s here t hat 'i deas are like
l i vi n g beings', he uses the supern at ural to evok e a 'm i xed-presence' sim ilar to

t hat of the An dr oi d. M oreover, like in t he cinem a of fiction, w hich fost ers the
spect at ors' ident ificat ion w i t h the charact er on the screen, the ideal being is ful
filled in the Sam e: 'A n d t hey then realised that t hey w er e reall y only one being'.56
In Eve, Edison st at es that the Ot her is creat ed in the i m age of the I, that the
w or d s w i ll appear in w h at ever form Lord Ew al d w i shes: 'H er w or ds w i l l never
deceive you r delicat ely n urt ured hope! They w i l l al w ays be just as sublim e ... as
you r ow n inspirat ion k n ow s h ow t o m ak e t hem .' (p. 133) . H adal y t hus resolves
the par adox of the phonograph, which, according to Ch arles Grivel, resides in
the associat ion of the recognit ion of a par t icular ident it y (the objectified voice)
w i t h the expr ession of Rim baud's 'I is an ot h er '.57 By subjugat ing t he voice of the
m achine to the voi ce of a spirit , Villiers m aint ains the fant ast ic pow er of 't ot al'
m im esis w hile rem oving the anxiet y produced by mechanizat ion.
In Eve, t he voice definit ely al l ow s one to create the illusion o f a presence: be
neat h the perfect ion of her vocal abilit ies, the sin ger conceals all that she lacks
in her 'sou l '; Edison uses hypn ot i sm w h en he t alks to Al i ci a (p. 172); duri ng the
conversat ion in the park, Lor d Ew al d confuses his l over for an aut om at on be
cause he is deceived b y H adal y's w or ds. This pow er of illusion does not neces
sar i l y br i n g in the t echnological elem ent , but rat her —as a t ype of regression -
int roduces a psych i c act ivit y that is charact eristic of the baby's earliest days,
dur i n g w h i ch percept ion is focused on t he voi ce of the m ot her and is basi cal ly
acoust ic in nat ure.5®The phon ogr aph t hus appear s as an inst rum ent t hat objec
t ifies a dr i ve t hat D enis Vasse h as observed in the you n g infant, consist ing of
expl oi t i n g 'm nesic t races' (rendered, as it were, in Eve b y the gr ooves of the
cylinder) to use its ow n voi ce to r eproduce t he absent m ot her in its im agina
t ion.59 W it h the phonograph, subjects no longer need to becom e alienat ed to
sat i sfy t heir fant asies, since at all t imes, the voice of the Ot her - capt ured on the
phonograph's cyli n der - can be heard. V asse qualifies t his activity, w hich be
l ongs to representation, b y usi n g Freud's expression: 't he pleasure principle pr e
vai l s over the realit y pr inciple'.6"
Eve belongs t o the discourses from w h i ch a w ay of en vi sagi n g phot ographic
t echnique arose t hat w as to influence cert ain int erpret at ive fr am ew or k s, which
w en t on to st ruct ure the recept ion of the var i ous w ays sound w as added to the
'cinem a'. The voice's represent at ion of audi ovi sual synchronisat ion and 'an i m a
t ion' in Villiers's novel advan ces a reflect ion on the gap produced by t he coup
li ng of a recorded voice to the depict ion of a speaker, in part icular from the
vi ew poi n t of the effect produced on the audio-spect at or. This delinking, which
som et im es t hreat ens to m anifest it self to the det rim ent of t he dom inant realist
ideol ogy in the cinema, brings the spect at or face to face w it h the machinery, the
pole of the disposi t i ve that is generally held in check by a represent at ion that
aim s to be ant hropoid. In Villiers's novel, the det our vi a spirit ism al low s the
an guish pr ovok ed b y t he percept ive experience, w hi ch w as generalised by the

246 Alain Boillac
phonographic t echnique of an ost ensibly acousm at ic voice, to be forest alled.

W hen all is said and done, Eve reassert s t hat inalienable charact eristic of the
voice - it is necessar ily associat ed w i t h a hum an being, even w hen it occurs
w it h in a dehum an izing m achine-based disposit ive.
N o te s
1. This chapter is an augmented and rewritten version of the article entitled 'L'Eve
future et la série culturelle des 'machines parlantes' Le statut singulier de la voix
humaine au sein d'un dispositif audiovisuel' published in Cinémas, vol.17, no. x,
'Cinélekta 6', 2006, pp. 12-34.
2. Jean-Louis Comolli, 'Technique et idéologie 6 (II). Caméra, perspective, profondeur
de champ', Cahiers du Cinéma, no. 241,1972.
3. Rick Altman, 'Introduction', Yale French Studies, No. 60, 1980, p. 7.
4. James Lastra, Sound Technology and the American Cinema. Perception, Representation,
Modernity, New York, Chichester: Columbia University Press, 2000, p. 138.
5. Trior to the nineteenth century ... works of grammar and logic distinguished be
tween significant and insignificant sounds by calling all significant sounds vox -
voice ... As the notion of frequency took hold in nineteenth-century physics, acous
tics, otology, and physiology, these fields broke with the older philosophy of sound.
Where speech or music had been the general categories through which sound was
understood, they were now special cases of the general phenomenon of sound' (Jo
nathan Sterne, The Audible Past. Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction, Durham:
Duke University Press, 2003, p. 23).
6. We have borrowed the concept of the 'cultural series' from André Gaudreault
(1.997), w ho designates the practices used in shows and spectacles, which form the
basis for the emergence of cinema ('Les vues cinématographiques selon Georges Méliès,
ou: comment Mitry et Sadoul aiment peut-être raison d'avoir tort (même si c'est surtout
Deslandes qu ’il faut lire et relire) ...', in J. Malthête and M. Marie (eds.), Georges Méliès,
l'illusionnistefin de siècle?, Paris: Sorbonne Nouvelle, 1997.
7. As in the example given by Rick Altman of places where the phonograph, kineto-
scope and kinetophone were used either simultaneously or in succession (Silent Film
Sound, New York: Columbia University Press, 2004, p. 80).
8. This is Pierre Schaeffer's expression that was popularised in cinema studies by Mi
chel Chion to qualify a sound whose (diegetic) source remains invisible.
9. 'You put any question very gently, then you place your ear on the tube and you hear
a voice which comes out of the globe and which always replies in the most precise
manner and (what is most extraordinary), draws up a portrait of your person, tells
you what suit you are wearing and how old you are’ (quoted in Jean Clair, L'Ame au
corps. Arts et sciences 1793-1993, Paris and Milan: Réunion des Musées nationaux,
Gallimard, Electa, 1994, p. 441)-
10. 'Among other strange things we saw the wax model of a child which enunciated
very clearly all the letters of the alphabet. The way in which it spoke several words
in a row was very intelligible. It was most surprising' (letter from Léopold Robert to

his brother, quoted in Chapuis and Droz, Les Automates, Neuchâtel: Editions du
Griffon, 1949, p. 331).
11. According to James Lastra, op. cit., p. 24.
12. Charles Grivel, 'The Phonograph's Horned Mouth' (1988), in D. Kahn and G. White
head (eds.), Wireless Imagination. Sound, Radio and the Avant-garde, Cambridge and
London: MIT Press, 1992.
13. La Mettrie, who admired the automata built by Vaucanson, spoke of a mechanical
'talker' as follows: it was a 'machine than can no longer be regarded as an impossi
bility, especially between the hands of a new Prometheus' (Julien Offroy de La Met
trie, L'Homme machine, Paris: Editions Frédéric Henry, 1865 (1748), p. 140).
14. The first sketches of the novel date back to 1877 (with L'Andréide paradoxale as its
working title), then appeared in serial form in an incomplete version called L'Eve
nouvelle, and was finally published in its final version between 18 July 1885 ar>d 27
March 1886 in the weekly La Vie moderne. The English translation used is the one
published by Robert Martin Adams (Tomorrow's Eve, Urbana, Chicago and London:
University of Illinois Press, [1982] 2001).
15. Regarding the links between the contents of Villiers's novel and Edison's marketing
of the talking doll, see Gaby Wood, Edison's Eve, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002,
chapter 3.
16. André Bazin, 'Le mythe du cinéma total' (1946), in Qu'est-ce que le cinéma?, Paris:
Editions du Cerf, 1985, p. 23.
17. Tom Gunning, 'Doing for the Eye What the Phonograph Does for the Ear', in
R. Abel and R. Altman (eds.), The Sounds of Early Cinema, Bloomington and Indiana
polis: Indiana University Press, 2001, p. 22.
18. See Roy Stemman, Spirits and Spirit World, London: Aldus Books, 1975, p. 97.
19. Mention should also be made of the 'talking portraits' of such people as Hector
Victor Marichelle, Georges Demenÿ, Ottomar Anschiitz or William Friese-Greene,
who linked the close-up animated image of the speaker with speech - whether vir
tual or real when coupled with a phonograph.
20. Gwenhaël Ponnau, L'Evefuture ou l ’œuvre en question, Paris: PUF, 2000, p. 127.
21. Examples include: 'The voice of the being called Sowana - laughing over its last
word - seemed to come, always quietly and discreetly, from a pillar supporting the
violet curtains' (Villiers 2001, p. 11); 'A vigorous voice replied, as from the center of
the room, though not a soul was to be seen' (p. 16); 'What is it, father? said the voice'
(p. 17); 'H uh? What? Where's the fire?' cried the voice, in frightened tones' (p. 55);
'I'm standing by for it, Mr. Edison, said the voice, more calmly now' (p. 55). But
sometimes, references to the voice disappear in translation: 'A single spark and Ha-
daly will appear! ...' ['dit la wix'](p. 12); 'Right! I'll carry it myself, came the reply
(p. 55) ['répondit la voix'].
22. Franc Schuerewegen, 'Télétechnè fin de siècle: Villiers de l'Isle-Adam et Jules
Verne', Romantisme, Revue du dix-neuvième siècle, no. 69, Paris: Editions CDU and
SEDES, 1990, p. 80.
23. Verne's novel focuses even more clearly on the interest of the singular voice of the
person who is admired and recreated by means of an audiovisual dispositive. In
this case, one of the novel's characters, Baron Gortz, is passionately attached to La
Stilla's art as a singer, but as she is dead, she is reduced to a voice. While the voice in
Eve is categorised among the physical attributes, in Verne's work it is fundamentally

248 Alain Boillac
associated with the soul - the artist's death corresponds exactly to the end of the
aria, and when La Stilla dies for the second time, the Baron cries out as her phono
graphic simulacrum is destroyed: '"H er voice - her voice!" he repeats. "H er soul -
La Stilla's soul - it is gone - gone - gone!"' (Jules Verne, Le Château des Carpathes,
Paris: Hachette, 1978 (1892); Jules Verne, Carpathian Castle, edited by I.O. Evans,
London: Granada, 1979 (originally published: London: Arco, 1963)); the quotation
is on page 182.
24. Rick Altman, Technologie et représentation: l'espace sonore', in J. Aumont, A. Gau-
dreault and M. Marie (eds.), L'Histoire du cinéma. Nouvelles approches, Paris: Publica
tions de la Sorbonne, 1989. According to Altman's definition, the linking of different
media is necessarily temporary, as intermediality is grasped as a ‘crisis of mediality',
which is then resorbed in media autonomization.
25. Here I use the equivalent of film specialists' 'profilmic', as proposed by James Lastra
for the domain of sound - op. cit., p. 88. In the present context, this term has the
advantage of stressing the question of the inscription (the 'graphy') and to refer
explicitly to Edison's invention.
26. A 'history of listening' remains to be written from this point of view. It is interesting
to note the letters to the editor published in the Fascinateur, where the user of the
Ideal Phonograph that was sold to 'lecturer-projectionists' by the Bonne Presse under
lined just how far this device was an exception compared to what was on offer at
the time. Thus, a priest named Marty claimed that 'since 1900 [he] had had the pos
sibility of hearing many phonographs, but ... all had ... the same defect ... that
brassy, tinny sound'; a certain Richer, opting for a veritable terminological topos
when welcoming the improvements in sound technology, said of the Ideal phono
graph that it 'was no longer toned down and deformed reproduction of the human's
voice', but that it was 'the voice itself', whereas another reader wrote: 'A consider
able number of people, who were prejudiced against phonographs in general be
cause they had only heard those seen everywhere today with their tinny sound and
faulty cylinders, had recognised that this model was in a different league' (Le Fasci
nateur, no. i , 'Extraits de quelques lettres du courrier', 1 November 1903, p. 18, ta
ken from 'Fonds de recherche de Monsieur Pierre Veronneau', Cinémathèque qué
bécoise, winter 2004, document compiled by Marlène Landry). Over and above the
praise for the Ideal, one can see in these remarks how the phonograph was perceived
25 years after Edison perfected it.
27. In Carpathian Castle, an apparatus brought to 'such a pitch of perfection that it repro
duced the human voice without the slightest loss of its purity and charm' is men
tioned (Jules Verne, op. cit., p. 182).
28. The example of Coeuroy and Clarence is a notable one: far removed from 'avant
garde' practices and using terms that were close to those of Rudolph Arnheim for
the cinema (Film as Art, London: Faber and Faber, 1933), they called for the specifi
city of the phonograph to be exploited (i.e., 'photogeny') based on the apparatus's
'flaws', and on their refusal of a relation of analogy between phonic 'realit y and its
reproduction: 'By always trying to get closer and closer to the real, to get close to the
model of which it should be the transposition and not the copy, the phonograph loses its
style' (André Coeuroy and G. Clarence, Le Phonographe, Paris: Editions Kra, 1929,
p. 54; my italics).

29. For a criticism of the presupposition regarding the inaudibility of sound technology,
see Alan Williams, 'Is Sound Recording Like a Language?', Yale French Studies 60,
1980, pp. 51-66, and my own contribution, Du bonimenteur à la voix-over, Lausanne:
Antipodes, pp. 391-448.
30. 'The Talking Phonograph', Engineering, 18 January 1878.
31. Translator's note: the original text speaks of 'photographic proofs' ('épreuves').
32. Jacques Noiray has put forward the hypothesis that Villiers used an account that
appeared in the opuscule by Pierre Giffard - the friend of Albert Robida - entitled
Le Phonographe expliqué à Tout le Monde (1878), where he mentions a device combin
ing a phonograph and a kinetoscope (Jacques Noiray, Le Romancier et la machine:
l'image de la machine dans le roman français (1850-1900), vol. 2, Paris: J. Corti, 1982,
p. 287, note 55).
33. Marey - author of La machine animale - did not hold the 'automaton' model in con
tempt. If one is to believe Laurent Mannoni, the young Marey had already set out to
make a 'magnificent mechanical Punch whose arms and legs move by themselves';
later, when at the International Exhibition of Photography in Paris (20 April 1892)
he presented the results of his research on fixing the phases of a movement, his
celluloid films were next to 'statues illustrating human movement, strange and ab
stract working drawings in biomechanics' (Laurent Mannoni, Marc de Ferrière and
Paul Demenÿ George Demenÿ: Pionnier du cinéma, Douai: Editions Pagine 1997, p. 5
and pp. 15-16). The 'working drawing', however, was poles apart from the perfec
tion of pretence that was the android, which shows how far the analytical approach
of the scientist is different from the intentions of the showman - which is how we
may characterise Villiers's Edison.
34. Translator's note: the published translation is not clear on this point. It reads: 'She
could be holding the speaker of a remote telephone, and would answer instantly
questions which I sent her by means of thought transmission' (p. 210), where the
author speaks of 'par voie d’électricité’.
35. Patrice Carré, Le Téléphone. Le Monde à portée de voix, Paris: Gallimard, 1993, p. 33.
For more on the links between phonography and telephone during the two final
decades of the 19th century, and in particular, with regard to how they appear in
the fiction of Albert Robida, see my paper entitled 'Les technologies de la télécom
munication en tant que dispositifs. Croisements entre la téléphonie et la série des
machines à représentation audiovisuelle', at the international Dispositifs de vision et
d’audition symposium (Lausanne, 29-31 M ay 2008, proceedings edited by F. Albera
& M. Tortajada, forthcoming, recording of the papers available on <http:/ / www.
unil.ch/ cin/ page56362.html>).
36. Translator's note: the original text speaks of 'perfectionnement' ('je tiendrai secret,
jusqu’à nouvel ordre, le surprenant, l ’absolu perfectionnemeitt que j ’ai découvert’, p. 46),
but this does not come across clearly in the translation, which reads: ' ... I'll just have
to keep secret the amazing the ultimate development of my research p. 11).
37. Jeffrey Sconce, Haunted Media. Electronic Presencefrom Telegraphy to Television, Dur
ham and London: Duke University Press, 2000, pp. 21-28.
38. See James E. Katz, Magic in the Air. Mobile Communication and the Transformation of
Social Life, New Brunswick and London: Transaction F’ublishers, 2006.
39. A distinction can be made between fundamental delinking, which is constitutive of
the medium (as, from the point of view of the reception of the film in the hall, every

250 Alain Boillac
occurrence of sound is necessarily 'over', since the movements that are visible on
the screen do not actually produce the vibrations in the air that are the source of the
sounds) and a one-off and exhibited use of delinking. In the second case, it can often
be observed that the anti-illusionist consequences of the delinked voice are reversed
for the benefit of the diegetic universe thanks to various types of motivations, thus
strengthening the immersion of the spectator (for example, in William Friedkin's
Exorcist, where the effect of strangeness brought about by delinking has the function
of boosting the horrific effect). See Alain Boillat, Du bonimenteur a la voix-over, op.
cit., pp. 23-30 and pp. 414-420.
40. Poster by C. Deaves, reproduced in Jean Clair, op. cit., pp. 430-431.
41. Unlike Lord Ewald, who perceives nothing of the machinery when he converses
with the Android, the narrator-spectator of Schwob's text only has access to the
'wings' where the sounds are produced mechanically (here there is no imitation of
the human face, the 'giant throat' being the exaggerated expression of a phobia of
the feminine sex). The appearance of the voice is, significantly, preceded by 'wheels
squeaking' and 'metal wires grating' - parasitic noises that exhibit the mechanical
origin of the voice. Schwob's creator ('La Machine à parler', in Le Roi au masque d'or,
Paris: Editions G. Crès et Cie, 1920 [1892], p. 151) moreover affirms that he became
dehumanized through contact with his invention: 'I have lived so much with my
machine that, like it, I speak without nuances; for nuance belongs to the soul and I
have removed it'. It should also be noted that the little woman presented by the
demiurge as being 'the soul who moves the keyboard' (p. 149) disappears when the
machine explodes, i.e., when the man loses his voice. This finale bears witnesses to
the same association between soul and voice as that suggested by Villiers, but in
Schwob's work it operates on the mode of dysphoria/ dysphonia.
42. James Lastra, op. cit., p. 224, note 3.
43. Athanasisus Kircher, Phonurgia Nova, New York: Broude Brothers, 1966 (1673),
p. 161.
44. See the announcement made by Edison in Scientific American, 30 October 1920,
quoted by René Ladoux, Le Spiritisme, Paris: Cerf, 1989, p. 64.
45. Franc Schuerewegen, op. cit., and A distance de voix, Lille: Presses universitaires de
Lille, 1994, pp. 33-34.
46. Jean-François Lyotard, 'Logos et tekhnè, ou la télégraphie', in L'Inhumain, causeries
sur le temps, Paris: Galilée, 1988, p. 60.
47. J.-F. Lyotard, 'Quelque chose comme: communication ... sans communication' in
L'Inhumain, op. cit., p. 129.
48. 'The Phonograph and his Future', North American Review, N0. 126, May-June 1878,
quoted in James Lastra, op. cit., p. 19.
49. Friedrich Kittler, Grammophon, Film, Typewriter, Berlin: Brinkmann and Böse, 1986,
pp. 63-69.
50. It should be noted that, in this example, the human subject certainly exists, but is
not an active instance - it is the very subject of the writing. A similar concept is
found in a recent story by Jean-Claude Bologne, Le Chanteur d'âme (Monaco: Edi
tions du Rocher, 1997, p. 10), where the hero imagines that the fingerprints of a
criminal can be read like a phonograph's cut cylinder. In these types of cases, the
subject is absent, since the nature of the sounds of which s/he is the source are in no

way dependent on her/ his willpower (considered by Edison to be a definite eco

nomic advantage).
51. I have borrowed here the notion used by Roland Barthes (in chapter 32 of his Cam
era Lucida, translated by Richard Howard, New York: Hill & Wang, 1981) when he
speaks of photography as being the result of a co-presence between the real photo
graphed thing and the lens of the camera - which is no longer valid in the digital
age. The image (or, in this instance, the sound) is the trace (the index in Peirce's
terminology) of the actual existence of what has been recorded. The conception
needs to be relativized in that it conceals the representational nature of the repro
duced images (and sounds).
52. Christian Metz, Le Signifiant imaginaire, Paris: Christian Bourgois, 1977, chapter 3.
53. The term can be found on p. 61 and p. 68. As Jacques Noiray (op. cit., pp. 341-342)
has noted, this designation refers to the 'mixed-fluid' notion previously used by
Villiers, and defined as the mixture of an electric fluid (the technical aspect) and a
nervous fluid (an imaginary addition). Noiray also alludes to the possibility of an
occult interpretation.
54. Christian Metz, op. cit., p. 64.
55. Franz de Telek's adherence to the audiovisual representation is so strong because it
is accompanied by a voice that he has recognised and heard previously in the castle
without being able to identify its source. Jules Verne previously described how
Franz, when imprisoned in the crypt of the burg, kept hearing La Stilla's invitations
to follow him coming from outside, without the door opening. This key passage
stages a song that is condemned to be repeated forever and is detached from any
spatial setting. The sentence has been forcibly removed from its prime deixis and is
nothing more than a vain injunction. What is tragic about the door refusing to open
is the loss of a loved one who is simply recreated in the shape of a dream by phono
graphic reproduction.
56. Villiers de l'lsle-Adam, 'Vera' (1883), in Contes cruels, Paris: Gallimard, 1983, pp. 66
67.
57. Charles Grivel, op. cit.
58. According to Didier Anzieu, who claims: 'At five weeks, the baby makes out its
mother's voice from other voices, whereas it does not yet make a difference between
its mother's face and other faces' ('L'enveloppe sonore du moi', Nouvelle Revue de
psychannlyse, no. 13,1976, p. 168).
59. Denis Vasse, L'Ombilic et la voix, Paris: Seuil, 1974, p. 77.
60. Ibid., p. 78.

eb r ar y
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e b ra ry

A b o u t th e A u th o rs
Fr an çoi s A l ber a, full pr ofessor at t he U n i ver si t y of Lausan n e (UNIL), D irect or

of Research at the FN S, Réseau Cinéma CH project chief (2006-2007), m em ber of
A FRH C (French Associat ion of Research in Film H ist ory), Edit or of 1#95, m em
ber of the Edit orial Board of Cinémas. Journal o f Film Studies, m em ber of the A d
vi sor y Board of Sociétés et représentations, Cinéma & Cie, Studies in Russian and
Soviet Cinema, Edit or of t he 'Ci n em a' series at Payot (Lausanne), the 'Ciném a/
Tr avau x' series at L'A ge d'H om m e (Lausanne). Recent publicat ions as author:
Eisenstein et le constructivisme russe; Albatros, des Russes à Paris 1919-1929; L'A-
vant-Garde au cinéma; as edit or: S.M. Eisenstein. Cinématisme; Le Mouvement de
l ’art; Glass House; L. Kouléchov, L'Art du cinéma et autres écrits; Les Formalistes
russes et le cinéma; Boris Barnet. Ecrits, films, documents; Kouléchov et les siens; Arrêt
sur image/fragmentation du temps; Cinéma suisse; nouvelles approches; Dictionnaire
du cinéma français des années 20; Musique!; Eisenstein dans le texte; Filmologie, le
retour?
Alain Boillat, senior lecturer at the U n i ver si t y of Lausan n e (UNIL), general se
cret ary of Réseau Cinéma CH, m em ber of A FRH C (French Associat i on of Re
search in Film H ist ory), m em ber of the Edit orial Boar d of Décadrages. Cinéma à
travers champs. Publicat ions as author: La fiction au cinéma; Du bonimenteur a la
voix-over, Voix-attraction et voix-narration au cinéma; as edit or: Points de vue sur
Jésus au XXème siècle; Kino CH / Cinéma CH. Réception, esthétique, histoire.
Laurent Guido, associat e pr ofessor at t he U n i ver si t y of Lausan n e (UNIL), m em

ber of A FRH C (French Associ at i on of Research in Film H ist ory), m em ber of the
Edit orial Boar d of 1895. Publicat ions as aut hor: La Mise en scène du corps sportif
De la Belle Epoque à l’Age des Extrêmes; L'Age du Rythme. Cinéma, musicalité et
culture du corps dans les théories françaises des années 1910-1930; as edit or: Images
de la femme sportive au XIXe et XXe siècles; Les peurs de Hollywood; Horreur et at
traction; Fixe/animé Croisements de la photographie et du cinéma au XXe siècle.
O l i vi er Lugon, full pr ofessor at the U n i ver si t y of Lausan n e (U N IL) an d EPFL

Lausan ne, m em ber of A FRH C (French Associat ion of Research in Film H ist ory),
m em ber of the Edit orial Boar d of Etudes photographiques. Publicat ions as author:
Le style documentaire d'August Sanders à Walker Evans, 1920-1945; August Sander.

254 A b o u t the authors
Landschaften; as edit or La photographie en Allemagne, anthologie de textes (1919

1939).
Maria Tortajada, full pr ofessor at the U n i ver si t y of Lausan n e (UNIL), president

of Réseau Cinéma CH and Réseau Cinéma CH project chief (2008-2012), D irect or of
Research at t he FN S, m em ber of A FRH C (French Associ at i on of Research in
Film H ist ory), m em ber of t he Fondation de la Cinémathèque suisse, m em ber of the
M EM O RI A V Independent Com m ission, co-direct or of the 'Réseau Ciném a CH '
series for Edit ions Shüren (M arburg). Publicat ions as author: Le spectateur séduit.
Le libertinage dans le cinéma d'Eric Rohmer; as edit or: Cinéma suisse, nouvelles ap
proches; Histoire du cinéma suisse 1965-2000, Tom es I & II.

B ib lio g ra p h y
François Albera
'Modalités de la vision moderne dans les arts et au cinéma avant 1914 : des "papiers
collés" à Robert Delaunay', in Leonardo Quaresima, Laura Vichi (eds), La décima musa.
Il cinéma e le altri artil The Tenth muse. Cinema and other arts, Udine: Forum, 2001,
PP- 335 -347 -
'M ontage et mémoire' in Marion Froger, Thierry Bardini (eds). L'usage des NTIC dans les
discours et les pratiques intermédiatiques, 70. Congrès de l'ACFAS, Université Laval, Qué
bec, 21-22 M ay 2002 (on line).
'Pour une épistémographie du montage : préalables', Cinémas Journal of Film Studies, Vol.
13, N0. 1-2, Autumn 2002, pp. 11-32.
'Pour une épistémographie du montage : le "moment-M arey"', in François Albera, Marta
Braun, André Gaudreault (eds), Arrêt sur image, fragmentation du temps. Aux origi
nes de la culture visuelle moderne/ Stop Motion, Fragmentation of Time. Exploring the
Roots of the M odem Visual Culture, Lausanne: Payot, 2002.
(With M. Tortajada), 'L'Epistémè dix-neuf cent', in André Gaudreault, Catherine Russel,
Pierre Veronneau (eds), Le cinématographe, nouvelle technologie du XXe siècle, Lausanne:
Payot, 2004, pp. 45-62.
'Le "cinéma projeté" et les périodisations de l'histoire technique du cinéma', in Enrico
Biasin, Roy Menarini, Federico Zecca (eds), Le età del cinema. Criteri e modelli di period
izzazione/The Ages of the Cinema. Criteria and Modelsfor the Construction of Historical Per
iods, Udine: Forum, 2008, pp.393-399.
(With A. Gaudreault), 'Apparition, disparition et escamotage du bonimenteur dans l'his
toriographie du cinéma français' in Giusy Pisano, Valérie Pozner (eds), le Muet a la
parole, Paris: CNRS/ AFRHC, 2006.
(With M. Tortajada), 'Critique des télé-dispositifs', in Mireille Berton & Anne-Katrin We
ber (eds), La télévision, du Téléplwnoscope à Youtube. Pour une archéologie de Vaudiovision,
Lausanne: Antipodes, 2009.
'Dispositif(s)' in François Albera, Maria Tortajada (eds), Dispositifs de vision et d'audition:
Epistémologie et Bilan, forthcoming.
'Du livre cinématique au livre-cinéma', in Laurent Guido, Olivier Lugon (eds), Fixelan-
imé, Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme, forthcoming.
Al ai n Boi l l at
'Les reprises du dispositif narratif de Rear Window chez Brian De Palma', Décadrages N0.
3, July 2004.
‘L'Evefuture et la série culturelle des "machines parlantes"'. Le statut singulier de la voix
humaine au sein d'un dispositif audiovisuel', Cinémas, Vol. 17, N0. 1, Autumn 2006.

256 Bibliography
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'Des cheminements de pensée. La gestion de la circulation dans les expositions didac
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photographiques, N 0.16, 2005, pp. 182-197.
'Edward Steichen as Exhibition Designer' in Todd Brandow, William Ewing (eds) Edward
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(With F. Albera), 'Pour une critique des "Télé-dispositifs"' in Mireille Berton, Ann-Katrin
Weber (eds), La télévision, du Téléphonoscope à Youtube. Pour une archéologie de iaudiovi
sion, Lausanne: Antipodes, 2009.
'Photographie/ Cinéma: paradigmes complémentaires du début du XXe siècle'/ 'Photogra-
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'Le dispositif n'existe pas ! Pour une reconstitution historique des concepts: la synthèse
du mouvement chez E.-J. Marey', in François Albera, Maria Tortajada (eds), Dispositifs
de vision et d'audition: épistémologie et bilan, (working title), forthcoming.

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Index o f N a m e s
Ader (Clément) 47 Beaune (Jean-Claude) 42,64, 74

Agam ben (Giorgio) 42 Behne (Adolf) 132
Albera (François) 12-14, ^ 71-72,94, Bel Geddes (Norman) 137
212,216-219, 228-230, 249 Béliard (Octave) 48
Allais (Alphonse) 73 Bell (Alexandre) 240
Alt m an (Rick) 16 4,215,218 ,222, 224, Benda (Julien) 92
227-229,233, 246-248 Benjamin (Walter) 26 ,29 ,4 0 ,74 ,112,114
Am st rong (Louis) 151 Benton (Tim) 146,164
Andriopoulos (Stefan) 10 Bergson (Henri) 13,15- 16 , 30, 33,44, 57,
Anschütz (Ottomar) 177, 247 63, 76, 79-83, 92-93, 97-98,106,109
Anzieu (Didier) 251 110 ,113- 114 ,176 ,18 2, 210
Apollinaire (W ilhelm Kost rowit zky alias Berkeley (Busby) 195
Guillaume) 14, 31, 34-35,48,52,55-56 Bernard (Claude) 74-75
Appia (Adolphe) 182 Berthon (Alfred) 221
Arago (François) 50 Beuys (Joseph) 155
Arist ot le 25 Bioy Casares (Adolfo) 13, 45
Arlaud (Rodolphe-M aurice) 216, 226, Blum (Eduard) 123
228, 231 Boillat (Alain) 17-18,163-164
Arnheim (Rudolph) 248 Bond (Kirk) 213
Arvat ov (Boris) 21 Borg (Björn) 198-209
Aubenas (Sylvie) 4 2,114 Boudin (Eugène-Louis) 29
Audigier (H enry d') 42 Boulain (Françoise) 213
Boulle (Pierre) 48
Bachelard (Gaston) 12, 70, 76,93 Bouquet (Jean-Louis) 46
Bacon (M ardges) 146,164-167 Bradbury (Ray) 48
Badiou (Alain) 44 Braun (Marta) 92
Baillette (Frédéric) 212 Breton (Philippe) 188
Baraduc (H ippolyte) 112 Brohm (Jean-M arie) 212
Bardi (Pietro M aria) 164 Büchner (Georg) 76-77
Barjavel (René) 13,48 Burch (Noël) 114
Baroncelli (Jacques de) 18 6 ,19 1 Burchatz (M ax) 118
Barthes (Roland) 22, 79, 92, 251 Bureau (Jérôme) 211
Batt ersby (Kate) 214
Baudelaire (Charles) 29,57,176 Chappuis (Alfred) 188
Baudin (Antoine) 163 Colomina (Beatriz) 163
Baudrillard (Jean) 194 Cami (Pierre-Henry) 13,52
Baudry (Jean-Louis) 27 Cam panella (Tommaso) 13
Bayer (Herbert) 16 - 17,118 - 14 4,19 6 Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal
Bazin (André) 26,42,79-80,194,235,247 alias) 26,42

260 Index o f Names
Canguilhem (Georges) 54,60-61, 74-75 Damisch (Hubert) 159,166

Capellani (Albert) 230 D aney (Serge) 197, 213
Caran d'Ache (Emmanuel Poirié alias) 27 Daudet (Léon) 13,51- 52
Carré (Patrice) 240,249 Daumier (Honoré) 179
Cézanne (Paul) 42 Davanne (Alphonse) 75
Cham psaur (Félicien) 179,189 Dayan(Daniel) 212
Chanzit (Gwen) 143 Debord (Guy) 194
Chaperon (Danielle) 57 Deleuze (Gilbert) 44,57, 79-80, 92,177,
Chapuis (Alfred) 247 182,189-190
Chenal (Pierre) 154,160-16 1,165-166 Delsarte (François-Alexandre-Nicolas-
Cherm ayeff (Serge) 143 Chéri) 177
Chion (Michel) 197, 213, 220, 228, 246 Demenÿ (Georges) 21, 71, 73-75,177,
Chousy (Didier de) 13, 47 207-208, 247, 249
Clair (Gérard Régnier alias Jean) 246, 250 Déotte (Jean-Louis) 42
Clair (René Chomette alias René) 230 Descartes (René) 25, 64, 66, 74-75,171,
Clarence (G.) 248 188
Clarke (M ary) 189 Deshoulières (Christophe) 173,188
Clavien (Alain) 163 189
Clément-M aurice (Clément-M aurice Gra- Dick (Philip K.) 48
tioulet alias) 221 Diderot (Denis) 29, 43,188
Cœuroy (André) 248 Doane (M ary Ann) 179 ,189 ,219,229
Coerper (Fritz) 127,129 ,136 ,14 2- 143 Dorner (Alexander) 136 ,143
Codi (Bill) 220 D owning (Taylor) 213
Cohen (Jean-Louis) 146,164-165 Droz (Edmond) 188, 247
Cohen-Séat (Isaac Cohen alias Gilbert) 22 Droz (Jaquet) 172
Coissac (G.-Michel) 76,218, 220,225-226, Duchenne de Boulogne (Guillaume) 67
228-231 Ducrey (Guy) 189
Colomina (Beatriz) 163 Dujardin (Philippe) 71
Comolli (Jean-Louis) 233,246 Dulac (Germaine) 210
Conan Doyle (Arthur) 221,229 Dum as (Alexandre) 179
Condillac (Etienne Bonnot de) 176 Dumont (Louis) 167
Corboz (André) 42 Duncan (Isadora) 182
Courbet (Gustave) 29 Dürer (Albrecht) 26
Craig (Edward Gordon) 18 2,184,19 0 D ussaud (François) 221
Crangle (Richard) 230
Crary (Jonathan) 10,27,29, 39-40,42,44 Edison (Thomas) 19,46-50,52,55,59
Crisp (Clement) 189 60,62, 73,9 5,177,179 , 229,234-251
Cros (Charles) 57,234 Eames (Charles and Ray) 139-140,163
Cyrano de Bergerac (H ercule Savinien Eiermann (Egon) 124
de) 13,49,56 Eisenstein (Sergei M ikhailovitch) 42,
60, 64, 70-72,74, 76,148
Dagognet (François) 42,72, 75,60,66, 71, Ekm ar(Paul) 76
74 El Greco (Dominicos Theotokopulos
Dalbe (Georges) 230 alias) 26,42
Dalcroze see Jaques-Dalcroze Elsaesser (Thomas) 10

Index o f Names 261
Emmanuel (M aurice) 177 Goldlust (John) 213

Epst ein (Jean) 74, 76,80,162, 210 Gorki (M axim) 101
Gräff (Werner) 127
Fantin-Latour (Henri) 28 Grémillon (Jean) 186
Farigoule (Louis) 52 Grivel (Charles) 234, 245, 247, 251
Federer (Roger) 198 Gropius (Walter) 118 ,126 ,132,14 5- 14 7,
Feiniger (Lux) 196 161-166
Fénéon (Félix) 27-28,42 Guericke (Otto von) 188
Fescourt (Henri) 46 Guido (Laurent) 17,19-20,190, 213
Fichant (Michel) 72 Guillet (Guillaume) 166
Fiocre (Eugénie) 176 Guit ry (Sacha) 230
Flammarion (Camille) 13, 42,49-50,55 Gunning (Tom) 10 ,18 9 ,19 1,227, 231,
57, 74,163,227 _ 235,247
Fondane (Benjamin) 34 Gunthert (André) 57, 7 5,9 3,111,113
Foucault (Michel) 10-12, 25, 27,40, 44,
60, 72- 73,111 H amon (Philippe) 10,27,42
Fouchécourt (Abbot of) 226 H anhardt (John) 212
Francastel (Pierre) 42 H aughton (Samuel) 67
Franklin (Benjamin) 188 H aver (Gianni) 213
Freud (Sigmund) 173,245 H awkins (Paul) 210
Freund (Gisele) 112 ,114 H eimermann (Benoît) 2 11
Fried (Michael) 29 H enri (Charles) 64
Friesen (Wallace) 76 H erder (Johann) 188
Frizot (Michel) 71, 93-94,113 H ervilly (M arie-Ernest d') 48, 56
Fuller (Loïe) 18 1,18 3,19 0 H ickey (William) 143
H ingi (Martina) 193
Gabast on (Pierre) 212 H itler (Adolf) 124,140, 214
Gallott i (Jean) 143 H offmann (Ernst Theodor Am adeus) 19,
Galvani (Luigi) 188 173-175,179 ,181- 182,186,188-189
Gan (Aleksei) 21 H uysm ans (Joris-Karl) 18 1
Gasquet (Joachim) 42
Gaudreault (André) 10,59-60, 71-72, Institut de filmologie 10,22,44
189, 219, 224, 226,228-231,246 Isaacs (Reginald) 164
Gaut ier (Théophile) 175- 176,179 ,189 Ivanisevic (Goran) 198,204,209
Gavilán (Eduardo) 212
Geduld (H arry) 221-222,229 Jacob (François) 74
Gerando (José-M arie de) 188 Janser (Andres) 163
Gershwin (George) 162 Janssen (Pierre Jules) 62, 67,72,90
Gerulaitis (Vitas) 198 Jaques-Dalcroze (Emile) 177,182,18 4,
Giedeon (Siegfried) 73 190
Giese(Fred) 184 Jarry (Alfred) 15- 16,31,33- 34,63, 70,73,
Giraud-Toulon(Louis-Félix) 67 76,97-99,101,103-114
Godard (Jean-Luc) 193-196,207,2 11 Jaubert (Georges) 221
212, 214 Jeanneret (Charles-Edouard) 146-147,
Goffm an (Erwin) 163 164

262 Index o f Names
Jean Paul (Johann Paul Friedrich Richter Lugon (Olivier) 17

alias) 173 Lumière (August e and Louis) 28, 32,
Jenn (Pierre) 59 43, 59-60,62,71-73,84,88,90, 99,
Joyard (Olivier) 213 111,113 ,17 7
Lyot ard (Jean-François) 243, 250
Katz (Elihu) 212
Katz (James) 249 M aelzel (Johann Nepomuk) 237
Keim (Jean A.) 220, 226,229,231 M allarmé (Stéphane) 18 1
Kircher (Athanase) 242, 250 M alraux (André) 42,166
Kittler (Friedrich) 10, 27, 42,44, 243,250 M anet (Edouard) 29
Kleist (Heinrich von) 19 ,171,173,175, M annoni (Laurent) 10,67, 71, 74-76,
182,188 93,163, 214, 249
Klutsis (Gustav) 21 M arconi (Guglielmo) 235
Kournikova (Anna) 193 M arey (Jules-Etienne) 12,14 - 15, 28,30,
Kracauer (Siegfried) 128,142,184 32-33/ 47/ 59- 61-76, 79,81-97,114,
Krajicek (Richard) 198, 204 16 3,177, 207-208,214,239, 249
Kuhn (Thomas) 25,42 M arinetti (Filippo Tommaso) 48
Kuleshov (Lev) 57, 64, 212,19 5 M artin (John) 182,190
M aupassant (Guy de) 43
Laban (Rudolph) 177,18 2,19 0 M aywood (Augusta) 189
Laçasse (Germain) 163, 215,228,231 M cEnroe (John) 198,200,202-205, 210
Ladoux (René) 230 M éliès (Georges) 25, 31,43, 59, 61, 71,
Lagrange (Dr F.) 67 163, 246
La Mettrie (Julien Offroy de) 25,171,18 8 , M endelsohn (Eric) 146
234 - 247 M erleau-Ponty (Maurice) 69, 76
Landowsky (Paul) 164 M etz (Christian) 19, 244, 251
Lang (Fritz) 18 4 ,19 1 M ickey M ouse 162
Lastra (James) 233,242,247-248,250 M ies van der Rohe (Ludwig) 118 ,123
Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret- M ilner (M ax) 189
Gris alias) 16-17,145-167 M it ry(Jean) 75
Leblanc (M aurice) 13,51- 52,57 M oholy-Nagy (Lazio) 118- 120,126,
Leconte (Bernard) 212 128 ,130 ,132,14 2
Léger (Fernand) 148 M olzahn (Johannes) 141
Le Gr ay (Gustave) 26,28-29,42, 94 M onet (Claude) 28
Leist ikow (Hans) 118 M ueller (John) 212
Lenglen (Suzanne) 208,214 M um ford (Lewis) 137,14 3
Lessing (Gotthold Ephraim) 68,176 M ussolini (Benito) 147
Levinson (André) 182,184,19 0 - 19 1 M ust er (Thomas) 193
L'H erbier (Marcel) 80,92 M uybridge (Edward) 67-69,76,81, 90,
Lipparini (Guiseppe) 13,51,57 92, 95,177,207
Lissit zky (Lazar alias El) 21,118 - 124 ,131
132 ,141 N adal (Rafael) 198-199,201-202,205
Londe (Albert) 67-68, 75-76,93-94,111, 206, 210
177 Nekes (Werner) 60,71-72
Lotz (Wilhelm) 143 N euburg (Hans) 144

Index o f Names 263
Niepce (Nicephore) 26,51 Ruttmann (Walter) 196

N ij inski (Vaslav) 182
N oiray (Jacques) 251 Sachsse (Rolf) 163
Nordera (M arina) 188 Saint-Léon (Arthur) 175,189
Noverre (Jean-Georges) 172,188 Saint-Point (Valentine de) 182
Saint-Pol Roux (Paul Pierre Roux
Osthaus (Karl Ernst) 145-146,164 alias) 13-14, 53
Oudart (Jean-Pierre) 27 Schaeffer (Pierre) 246
Owens (Jesse) 214 Schawinsky (Xanti) 118,129 - 130
Schlemmer (Oskar) 182
Pêcheux (Michel) 72 Schmidt (Joost) 118
Perriault (Jacques) 16 3,215 Schuerewegen (Franc) 243, 247, 250
Pisano (Giuseppina) 215, 228-229 Schwob (Marcel) 242
Plateau (Joseph) 40, 62 Sconce (Jeffrey) 241,249
Ponnau (Gwenhaël) 236,247 Scotto di Carlo (Nicole) 76
Posener (Julius) 143 Serres (Michel) 64
Prieur (Jérôme) 230 Shelley (M ary) 173
Proust (Marcel) 71 Simondon (Gilbert) 13, 53-54,58
Simonet (Pierre) 212
Rabelais (François) 13, 56-57 Smet (Catherine de) 163,166
Rabinbach (Anson) 64, 73-74/ 81 Sorel (Charles) 13, 56-57
Rabon (Isroel) 223,230 Souday(Paul) 80
Rameau (Jean-Philippe) 188 Soulez (Guillaume) 212
Renard (Maurice) 13, 51,54,57-58 Soupault (Philippe) 185
Resnais (Alain) 230 Staël (Germaine - M adame de) 173,18 8
Richter (Hans) 163,186 Steichen (Edward) 133,135,14 3
Riefenstahl (Leni) 21,19 6 , 200,203, 213 Stephan (Regina) 164
214 Sterne (Jonathan) 233,246
Rilke (Rainer M aria) 243 Szabo (Gabriela) 211
Rivière (Henry) 27
Robert (Léopold) 234,246 Tomkins (Silvan S.) 76
Robertson (Etienne-Gaspard Robert or Tortajada (Maria) 12,15,18 ,9 3- 9 4,16 3,
Etienne) 234 216-219,228, 249
Robida (Albert) 13,47,179 , 249 Toulet (Emmanuelle) 230
Rocher (lieutenant) 214 Tsiomis (Yannis) 146,156,164-166
Roh (Franz) 118 ,14 1 Tsyvian (Youri) 43
Romains (Louis Farigoule alias Jules) 52
Rom era (M anolo) 212 Uexküll (Jakob von) 70
Rosny (aîné-Joseph H enri H onoré Boex
alias) 55 Varese (Edgar) 157
Roudinesco (Elisabeth) 175,189 Vasse (Denis) 251
Rousseau (Jean-Jacques) 56,176,188 Vaucanson (Jacques de) 172,237
Roussel (Raymond) 13,31 Véray (Laurent) 212
Rowe (David) 213 Verhaeren (Emile) 28,42
Rüegg (Arthur) 163

264 Index o f Names
Verne (Jules) 13, 45-46, 55, 238, 246-248, Vuillermoz (Emile) 80,92,184,186,190
251
Versins (Pierre) 55 W aquet (Françoise) 163
Vert ov (Dziga) 21,19 6 W awrzyn (Lienhard) 188
Very (Françoise) 164 W ells (H erbert George) 55, 97
Viel (Hy) 230 W erner (B.) 143
Vigarello (Georges) 212 W errie (Paul) 143
Villiers de L'lsle Adam (Jean-M arie- W hannel (Garry) 213
M at hias-Philippe-Auguste) 13,19 , 31, W histler (James Abbott M cNeill) 28-29
45/ 48-49/ 55/ J66,179, 234-235,237-251 W illiams (Alan) 218,229, 249
Vincent (Albert Levinson alias W illiams (Venus) 193
Léandre) 149,165
Volkoff (Vladimir) 186 Zédé (Gustave) 46, 56
Volta (Alexandre) 188 Zeno (Zeno of Elea) 16, 80
Vorkapish (Slavko) 19 5,212 Zola (Emile) 26

Index o f T itle s
Index o f titles (films, pictures, theater and ballet, novels, books-source - except contem
porary littérature)
Alm anach d'architecture moderne (Le Développement de la M éthode graphi

Corbusier) 149 que par l'emploi de la photographie
Am ant des danseuses (L') (Champ- (M arey) 83
saur) 179 Die Schule (Schawinsky) 129
Après-M idi d'un Faune (L') (Nijinski) 182 Dolls (Tikano) 230
Architecture d'aujourd'hui 154,16 1- 16 2
Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (Lumi End of the W orld (The) (Flammarion) 56
ère) 43 Equipe (L') 193
Ashes, Ashes (Barjavel) 48 Es kommt der neue Fotograf! 127
Aut om at a (H offmann) 173,221 Esprit nouveau (L') 149-150,165
Evolution créatrice (L') see Creative Evo
Bacchantes (Les) (Daudet) 51 lution
Ballet mécanique (Léger) 148,183 Eye of the Devil (The) (Bergman) 230
Bâtisseurs (Les) (Chenal) 162 Exorcist (Friedkin) 250
Bauen und W ohnen 132 Exploits and Opinions of Dr Faustroll
Bauhaus 1919-1928 133 (Jarry) 70,76,9 8,114
Begum M illions (The) (Verne) 56
Bréatine (La) (Apollinaire) 34,52 Fascinateur (Le) 226
Femme et le pantin (La) (Baroncelli) 186
Caesar Antichrist (Jarry) 98 Fille de marbre (La) (Saint-Léon) 176
Carpathian Castle (Verne) 45, 237, 244, Filmstudie (Richter) 186
248 Film und Foto 120 - 121,131
Cinématisme (Eisenstein) 42,76 Fot ografie der Gegenwart 121
Cœur fidèle (Epstein) 183 Frankenstein (Shelley) 173
Communicat ions 22 Futurama (Bel Geddes) 137-138
Coppélia (Saint-Léon) 175,177
Corinne (de Staël) 173 Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit (Eierman) 124,
Creat ive Evolution (Bergson) 80,106, 131
113- 114 ,176 Gest es et opinions du docteur Faustroll,
pataphysicien see Exploits and Opi
De l'état actuel de la Danse (Gautier) 175 nions of Dr Faustroll
Der W eg zum neuen Leben 132 Giselle (Adam) 175
Deserted H ouse (The)(Hoffmann) 174 Great W ave (The) (Le Gray) 28,42
Deutsche Bauausst ellung 130
Deutsches Volk - Deutsche Arbeit 124 H érésiaque (L') (Apollinaire) 52
Deutschland 124 H ist ory wall (Eames) 139
Homme-machine (L') (La Mettrie) 171

266 Index o f Titles
Idée et l'Ecran (L') (Fescourt and Bou M ovement (The) (M arey) 82-83, 89
quet) 46
Ignis (Villiers) 56 Ném éa (Saint-Léon) 176
Ile à hélice (L') see Propeller Island
Incertitudes de Coppélius (Les) (Full Olym pia (Riefenstahl) 196, 213-214
er) 181 On Puppet Shows (Kleist) 171
Inhumaine (L') (L'Herbier) 183 Orphans of the Storm (Griffith) 224
Intelligence d'une machine (L') (Ep Orpheus (Dalcroze-Appia) 182
stein) 80 Our Town (Wood) 230
Invention of M orel (The) (Casares) 45
Panorama of Defence (Steichen) 133
Josuah Electricmann (d'H ervilly) 48, 56 Paris au 20. siècle see Paris in the 20th
Cent ury
Kean (Volkoff) 186 Paris in the 20th Cent ury (Verne) 46
Paris-Joum al 149
Laocoon (Lessing) 176 Paris-Soir 54
Lady with the Velvet Collar (The) (Du Peintre de la vie moderne (Le) (Baude
mas) 179 laire) 176
Lectures pour Tous 48, 56 Péri (La) (Dukas) 175
Light M ast er (The) (Renard) 51 Petrouchka (St ravinsky) 182
Lola M ontes (Ophuls) 230 Photo-Fries (Lissitzky-Senkin) 122
Précisions (Le Corbusier) 151- 152,154 ,
M aison - un Palais (Une) (Le Corbu 165
sier) 156,158,16 5- 16 7 Principes de la mécanique animale ou
M aît re de la lumière (Le) see The Light Etudes sur la locomotion chez
M aster l'homme et les animaux vertébrés
M aldone (Grémillon) 186 (M arey) 67
M alerei Fot ografie Film 120 Principles of Anim al M echanics (M a
M an About Town (Clair) 230 rey) 67
M an with a Rubber H ead (Méliès) 43 Procession of Photographs of the N a
M ast er of Time (The) (Lipparini) 51 tion at W ar (A) (Bayer) 134
M atière et mémoire see M atter and M em Propeller Island (Verne) 46
ory Proun Space (Lissitzky) 119
M atter and M emory (Bergson) 44,106, Providence (Resnais) 230
113 Pulcinella (Stravinsky) 182
M écanisme de la physionomie humaine Puppet and Death (The) (Saint-
(Boulogne) 67 Point) 182
M ensch und Kunst figur (Schlemmer) 182 Puppet Dances (The) (Saint-Point) 182
M ercure de France 34,42,44, 56,73,92
M etachorie (Saint-Point) 182 Ravage see Ashes, Ashes
M et ropolis (Lang) 184- 187,191 Revue internationale de Filmologie 22
M iroir des sports (Le) 208 Road to Victory (Bayer) 132-135
M oon King (The) (Apollinaire) 34,44,48, Roi-lune (Le) see The M oon King
52- 53 - 56 Roman d'un tricheur (Le) (Guitry) 230
M ouvement (Le) see The M ovement Roue (La) (Gance) 183

Index o f Titles 267
Salons of 1846 (Baudelaire) 29 Traité pratique de photographie sur pa

Sandm an (The) (H offmann) 173-174, pier et sur verre (Le Gray) 42
179 ,18 1,18 4 ,18 6 ,18 9 Treatise on Automat a (Vaucanson) 172
SIC 34 Trial (The) (Welles) 230
Soirees de Paris (Les) 34 Trois Yeux (Les) see The Three Eyes
Sténochorégraphie (La) (Saint-
Léon) 175 Ubu the King (Jarry) 98
Supermale (The) (Jarry) 15, 34,98-101, Une Vie see A W oman's Life
10 3,10 9 ,111- 112 Ur-Geraiisch (Rilke) 243
Surmâle (Le) see The Supermale
Sylphide (La) (Taglioni) 175 Véra (Villiers) 251
Vie au grand air (La) 208
Three Eyes (The) (Leblanc) 51-52 Vingtième Siècle (Le) (Robida) 47,179
Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Im 180
mediate Dat a of Consciousness (Berg Vol des oiseaux (Le) (M arey) 83,89
son) 80 Voyage dans la lune (Cyrano de
Titan (Jean-Paul) 173 Bergerac) 57
Tomorrow's Eve (Villiers) 19,45-46, 55,
179, 234, 235-236, 241, 247 W ild West Show (Codi) 220
W oman's Life (A) (M aupassant) 43

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In d e x o f S u b je c ts
absorbment 29 118 ,136 ,14 5,171,173,176 ,212,219 ,

android 46,184,235-239,241-245,249 222, 224, 226, 233, 236,245
250 dispositive 10 ,4 2,111, 246, 249
any-inst ants-what ever 69 dispositive 10 - 13,17,19 , 26,31-32
apparat us 13, 26-27,30,32, 35, 37-38,40
4 1,63,65,67, 73,75-76,81, 84,86,95, effect 16 ,25,28 - 29 ,37,4 3,114 ,117,150
99,113-114,234,238,240,242-243,248 electric, electricity 34, 47-48,56,123,171,
archeology 12,19 ,4 2 173-174,179 ,183- 184,186 ,188, 216,
archive 9 ,55,73,14 3 219, 222, 240, 242, 251
ast ronomy 46,49-50,62, 72 episteme 10-13, 25, 26-29, 37, 39 ,4 1,43
automate, automaton 18,42, 65, 74,174 44 - 49
175,179 ,183- 185,188,190, 229, 237 epistemic schema 12-13, 28,30,33-34, 41
238, 240, 242-245, 249, 347 epistemography 14, 60
automat ism 25-26 epistemology 10 ,12,17, 26, 72
exhibition 16-17, 21, 27, 38-39, 84,117
body 18-21,25, 35-40,53,64-67, 70, 73 119 ,121- 14 6 ,157,16 3
74, 8 1,121,171- 172,177,179 ,18 4 - 18 5,
188-190,193-194,197-199, 201, 203, film ology 10,22, 44
219, 229, 236-237, 241-242
gramophone 14, 27, 42
cloning 9,14,49,53
communication 9-10,16-17,34,46-47, hyperaesthesia 52
49/ 51"52, 56/ 6 9 - 70 ,118 - 119 ,127,135
136 ,14 5,172,175,18 2,18 6 , 211, 215 illusion 10 1,174 ,179 ,18 4 , 233, 237-238,
216, 224, 238-243, 249 241, 244-245
Chronophotographie 15, 28, 68-69, 83, illusion of movement 15, 79, 81, 92
86, 88,90-91, 94, 9 7,114,176 ,179 ,20 8 , illusion of reality 19, 34,245
239 illusion of transparency, 38
chronophot ography 15,28, 32-33,62,67, imaginary (world) 12- 13,19*20, 33-35,
72 - 73 / 79 - 81-97- 177 47 - 5 1-5 2- 54 - 69- 97 / * 01 / 10 5,10 8 ,173,
234- 237- 251
dance, dancer, dancing 20, 70, 76 ,121, installation 11, 39 ,119 ,123,133,14 3,
136 ,14 2,171- 173,175,177,18 1- 18 2, 164, 233
18 4,186 ,18 8,19 0- 19 1,19 5, 208, 212, instant 15,32,62,68-69,77- 80-94,102/
214, 235, 237 10 5- 10 6 ,113,176
diorama 40,44,157 instantaneity 84, 91-92
discours 10 - 12,14 ,21,27,30 - 31,33,39 , instantaneous image 27, 29 ,51,57, 68
40-41,50,54,60,63,83,91, 9 8 ,117- 69,82,84-85, 92-96,104-106,109-110,
112- 113,24 0

270 Index o f Subjects
Internet 9 ,4 9 ,114 ,140 panopticon 11,40 ,

interval 32, 60,63,67, 69, 81, 83, 86-91, 94 panorama 29, 37, 74 ,130 ,133
97 paradigm 17,20, 25, 9 1,114 ,19 4 ,19 9 ,
invention 13- 14,19 ,46 , 50,53-55,58, 6 1 234, 240
62, 75,179, 215,234,237,240, 242-243, photogeny, photogenic 76,182,186,
248, 250 248
phonograph, phonography, phono
kaleidoscope 37,40 graphic 11,18 - 19 , 26, 34-35, 47-49,
kinematics 34, 63, 73 52-53, 56 ,111,179 ,217,219 , 221-223,
kinet ograph 47 227, 229, 233-243,245-250
kinetophone 217, 219,221,246 phot ogram 15,32-33, 52, 69, 72, 79-82,
kinetoscope 28, 61,95,249 9 2,10 6 ,110
kinesthesic patterns 70 photographic gun 28
kinetics 70 phot ography 10 ,12,15- 17, 27-34, 39'
42, 46, 49,51, 62, 67, 70, 72-73, 77, 79,
lecture 17,145- 149 ,151- 152,154 - 157,159 , 81-93, 9 5- 9 9 ,10 1- 10 9 ,111- 113,118 ,
160-163,165 120 - 121,126 - 127,129 ,14 2,16 3,177,
lecturer 17-18, 21,16 3,215, 216 - 217,219 196, 249, 251
220, 222-230 photomontage 123,130 ,134 - 135,14 3,
logistics of perception 11 157
photosculpture 14
machine 12, 26, 30, 35-36 plurifocality 20
machinery 11,18 ,30 ,33, 35-38,40,92, 98, pose 68, 76,177,19 0
216-217, 219, 222, 237, 244-245, 250 projected Cinema 13,19 , 21,48
machinic 14,18- 19, 27-28,61, 64, 70 projected image, projected movement,
magic-lantern 27, 37,47, 71,14 5- 14 7,149 projection 48,52, 79,99,100-101,
150 ,164, 216, 218, 224-225, 230 131,156 ,16 2,19 5, 217, 221, 237, 239
mass media 9 ,22,117,16 3 puppet, puppeteer 171- 175,18 2,18 8
mechanical 15,17,25- 26 ,33,39 ,6 3,6 9 ,99
10 0 ,10 6 ,118 ,136 ,171- 172,174 ,177, remediation 49
182-183,190,196, 216-218,221,223, representation 11- 12,16 - 18 , 26,28,30,
234, 237-238,241, 247,249-250 33 ' 35 - 39 ' 4 1' 9 2<98 '
10 7 177 ' 215»
mechanism 25,37,56,63-66,69-70, 73-74, 217-219,222-223,226 ,233,244-245
76 ,8 0 ,172,174 ,176 ,18 3- 18 5,18 8 ,196 radio, radiophone, radiophony 34,47,
197, 241-242 52,117,137, 217, 235,247
mechanistic 14 ,19 , 61,64-65 rhythm 66, 68, 76 ,9 4 ,112,136 ,173,
microphon 47 175-177' 179- 184- 2o i
modernit y 16 ,40 - 41,9 7- 9 8 ,10 7,151,183 rhythmic 16 ,19 - 20 ,171,18 2,19 0 ,210
184
modern 148 snapshot 15,29, 79 ,8 1- 9 3,9 5,10 5,113
montage 14,16-17,41-42,47,59-60,62-63, speaker 18, M 5 - 147 ' 151 ' i 55 -* 57 / 159 '
71- 72,122,134- 135,139 - 140 ,148 ,18 3, 163-164,215-220,222,224-226,229,
186,196, 230 238,240, 245, 247, 249
spectator 11- 12,16 ,28 ,31,33,35- 36 ,39 ,
occult ism 241 4 3,59 ,110 ,117,120 ,124 ,132- 134 ,

Index o f Subjects 271
136 - i 37 / Mo, i 5 2- 173 ' ^ 4 ,18 6 ,19 3, telephone 9,18, 26,47-48, 52, 56,221,
197-198,201-202,207,211,218-219, 236, 240, 249
221,226,228,242,243 telephonoscope 47
spiritism 229, 234, 240, 242, 245, 250 telephote 47
stereoscope 27, 37-41 t elevision 9, 20, 22,26,39, 45,49,140,
subject 18-19, 27, 39 - 4 1,6 3,121,14 2, 233, 163,193-194,196,198, 204-205, 207,
237, 243, 245, 250 210, 212-213, 249
subjectivation 27 theatrophone 14, 47,179
synchronism 162,218-219,222-223, 228, transfer 47
230, 237, 239, 241
visual patterns 70
technical objects 13,45,47,49, 53, 56 voice 16-19,46-48, 56 ,111,156 - 158 ,16 2,
technology 45-47,49-50, 53, 70, 94,156, 215-217, 219, 220-227, 229, 233-248,
179 ,18 1,18 5,18 9 , 235,238,242-243, 250-251
246, 248-249 voyeur, voyeurism 2 1,111,17 3,17 9
Tekne 12
teleaut ograph 47 zoetrope 32, 37-38,40,44, 61-62, 72,81,
telecommunication 235 99
telechromophotophonotetroscope 47

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Film Culture in Transition
General Editor: Thomas Elsaesser
Th om as Elsaesser, Robert Ki evi t and Jan Sim ons (eds.)

Double Trouble: Chiem van Houweninge on Writing and Filming, 19 9 4
isbn p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 0 25 9
Th om as Elsaesser, Jan Sim ons and Lucet t e Bronk (eds.)

Writingfor the Medium: Television in Transition, 1994
isb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 0 54 9
Kar el Dibbet s and Bert H ogen k am p (eds.)

Film and the First World War, 19 9 4
isbn p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 0 6 4 8
W arren Buck land (ed.)

The Film Spectator: From Sign to Mind, 1995
isbn paper back 9 78 9 0 5356 13 1 7; isb n har dcover 9 78 9 0 5356 17 0 6
Egil Tornqvist
Between Stage and Screen: Ingmar Bergman Directs, 19 9 6
isbn p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 13 7 9; isb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 9 0 5356 17 1 3
Thom as Elsaesser (ed.)

A Second Life: German Cinema's First Decades, 19 9 6
Thom as Elsaesser
Fassbinder's Germany: History Identity Subject, 19 9 6
isbn p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 0 59 4; isbn h ar d c o v er 9 78 9 0 5356 18 4 3
Thom as Elsaesser and K ay H offm an n (eds.)

Cinema Futures: Cain, Abel or Cable? The Screen Arts in the Digital Age, 19 9 8
Siegfried Ziel insk i

Audiovisions: Cinema and Television as Entr'Actes in History, 19 9 9
Kees Bak k er (ed.)

Joris Ivens and the Documentary Context, 19 9 9

Egil Törnqvist
Ibsen, Strindberg and the Intimate Theatre: Studies in TV Presentation, 19 9 9
i sb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 350 2; i sb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 5356 3 7 1 7
M ichael Tem ple and Jam es S. W illiam s (eds.)

The Cinema Alone: Essays on the Work ofJean-Luc Godard 1985-2000, 20 0 0
I SBN p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 4 55 4; I SBN h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 5356 4 56 1
Pat ricia Pist ers and Cat herine M . Lord (eds.)

Micropolitics of Media Culture: Reading the Rhizomes ofDeleuze and Guattari, 20 0 1
isb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 4 72 1; isb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 5356 4 73 8
W illiam van der H eide

Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures, 20 0 2
Bernadet t e Kest er
Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films of the
Weimar Period ( 19 19 - 19 33) , 20 0 2
i s b n paperback 978 90 5 356 59 7 1; i s b n hardcover 978 90 5356 598 8
Richar d Al len and M alcolm Tu r vey (eds.)

Camera Obscura, Camera Lucida: Essays in Honor of Annette Michelson, 20 0 3
isb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 49 4 3
I vo Blom
jean Desmet and the Early Dutch Film Trade, 20 0 3
isb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 4 6 3 9; isb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 3356 570 4
Al ast ai r Phillips
City of Darkness, City of Light: Emigré Filmmakers in Paris 19 2 9 - 19 39 , 20 0 3
Thom as Elsaesser, A l exan der H or w at h and N oel Kin g (eds.)

The Last Great American Picture Shoiv: New Hollywood Cinema in the 19 JO S, 20 0 4
I SBN p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 6 31 2; I SBN h ar d c o v er 9 78 9 0 5356 4 9 3 6
Thom as Elsaesser (ed.)

Harun Farocki: Working on the Sight-Lines, 20 0 4
isb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 5356 6 35 o; isb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 5356 6 36 7
Krist in Thom pson

Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood: German and American Film aßer World War I,
2005

M arijk e de Val ck and M alt e H agen er (eds.)
Cinephilia: Movies, Love and Memory, 2005
i s b n paper back 978 90 5356 768 5; i s b n har dcover 978 90 5356 769 2
Th om as Elsaesser
European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood, 2005
isbn paper back 978 90 5356 594 0; i s b n har dcover 978 90 5356 602 2
M ichael W alker
Hitchcock's Motifs, 2005
isbn paper back 978 90 5356 772 2; isb n har dcover 978 90 5356 773 9
Nart na Verhoeff
The West in Early Cinema: After the Beginning, 2006
isbn p ap er b ac k 978 90 5356 831 6; i s b n h ar d c o v er 978 90 5356 832 3
A n at Zan ger
Film Remakes as Ritual and Disguise: From Carmen to Ripley, 20 0 6
i sb n p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 78 4 5; i sb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 5356 78 5 2
W anda St r auven
The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded, 2006
isbn paper back 978 90 5356 944 3; isb n har dcover 978 90 5356 945 0
M alt e H agener
M oving Forward, Looking Back: The European Avant-garde and the Invention of Film
Culture, 19 19 - 19 39 , 20 0 7
isbn p ap er b ac k 9 78 9 0 5356 960 3; isb n h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 5356 9 6 1 0
Tim Bergfelder, Sue H ar r is and Sar ah Street

Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination: Set Design in 1930s European
Cinema, 2007
Jan Sim ons

Playing the W ares: Lars von Trier's Game Cinema, 2007
isbn p ap er b ac k 978 90 5356 991 7; isb n h ar d c o v er 978 90 5356 979 5
M arijke de Valck
Film Festivals: From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia, 2007
isbn p ap er b ac k 978 90 5356 192 8; i s b n h ar d c o v er 978 90 5356 216 1
Asbjor n Gr0nst ad
Transfigurations: Violence, Death, and Masculinity in American Cinema, 2008

Vinzenz H edi ger and Pat rick Von der au (eds.)
Films that Work: Industrial Film and the Productivity of Media, 20 0 9
Pasi Valiaho
Mapping the Moving Image: Gesture, Thought and Cinema circa 1900, 2 0 10
I SBN p ap er b ac k 9 78 90 8964 14 3; I SBN h ar d c o v er 9 78 90 8964 14 1


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. Cinema Beyond Film : Media Epistemology in the Modern Era.

: Amsterdam University Press, . p 1