From Over-  
to Sub-Exposure:  
The Anamnesis of  
Les Immatériaux 
Antony Hudek
Although­a­number­of­late­twentieth-century­exhibitions­have­already­been­
hailed­as­“landmark­exhibitions“,­one­major­and­highly­innovative­­exhibition­
has­eluded­the­attention­of­scholars­until­recently:­Les Immatériaux,­co-
curated­in­1985­for­the­Centre­Georges­Pompidou­in­Paris­by­the­philosopher­
Jean-François­Lyotard­and­the­design­historian­and­theorist­Thierry­Chaput.1 
Among­its­many­novel­features­was­the­fact­that­it­was­the­first­exhibition­in­
which­a­philosopher­played­a­leading­role,­opening­the­door­to­many­other­
instances­in­which­intellectuals­would­become­ad­hoc­curators.2 
Instead­of­the­standard­sequence­of­white­cubes,­Lyotard­and­Chaput­divided­
the­entire­fifth­floor­of­the­Centre­with­large­sheets­of­uncoloured­metal­mesh­
hanging­from­the­ceiling.­Contrary­to­the­neutral­lighting­of­most­exhibition­
environments,­Les Immatériaux­offered­a­theatrical­setting­–­the­work­of­young­
1­ On­the­debate­surrounding­what­constitutes­a­“landmark“­in­exhibition­history,­see­
Landmark Exhibitions: Contemporary Art Shows Since 1968,­a­conference­held­at­Tate­
Modern,­London,­on­10–11­October,­2008,­and­Teresa­Gleadowe’s­review­of­the­con-
ference in Art Monthly,­no.­321,­November­2008,­p.­34.­On­the­composition­of­the­
curatorial team of Les Immatériaux­before­Lyotard’s­arrival,­see­“La­Règle­du­jeu:­Matéri-
aliser Les Immatériaux,“­in­Élie­Théofilakis­(ed.),­Modernes, et après? “Les Immatériaux“ 
(Paris:­Editions­Autrement,­1985),­p.­15­et passim;­on­Thierry­Chaput,­see­the­biographical­
sketch­in­John­Thackara­(ed.),­Design After Modernism­(London:­Thames­&­Hudson,­1988),­
p.­232.
2­ Some­of­the­best­known­are­Bernard­Stiegler’s­Mémoires du futur­(Paris:­Bibliothèque­
publique­d’information,­1987),­Jacques­Derrida’s­Mémoires d’aveugle­(Paris:­Musée­du­
Louvre,­1990),­Jean­Starobinski’s­Largesse­(Paris:­Musée­du­Louvre,­1994),­Julia­Kris-
teva’s­Vision capitales­(Paris:­Musée­du­Louvre,­1998),­Paul­Virilio’s­Ce qui arrive­(Paris:­
Fondation­Cartier,­2002),­Bruno­Latour’s­Iconoclash­and­Making Things Public­(Karlsruhe:­
ZKM,­2002,­2005),­and­Jean-Luc­Nancy’s­Le Plaisir au dessin­(Lyon:­Musée­des­Beaux-Arts,­
2007).
72 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
stage­designer­Françoise­Michel­–­which­played­with­stark­contrasts­between­
spotlit­exhibits­and­areas­of­near­total­darkness.3­In­Chaput’s­words:­“Decked­
in­demanding­grey,­illuminated­by­improbable­lighting,­with­unpredictable­
ideas­allowed­to­hover,­this­hour,­this­day­in­this­year,­suspended,­rigorously­
ordered­yet­without­system,­‘The­Immaterials’­exhibit­themselves­between­
seeing,­feeling­and­hearing.“4
Importantly,­Les Immatériaux­brought­together­a­striking­variety­of­objects,­
ranging­from­the­latest­industrial­robots­and­personal­computers­to­
holograms,­interactive­sound­installations,­and­3D­cinema,­along­with­
paintings,­photographs­and­sculptures­(the­latter­ranging­from­an­Ancient­
Egyptian­low-relief­to­works­by­Dan­Graham,­Joseph­Kosuth­and­Giovanni­
Anselmo).­One­reason­for­the­heterogeneity­of­objects­represented­in­Les 
Immatériaux­was­that­many­of­the­exhibits­were­chosen­by­Chaput­well­before­
Lyotard­was­invited­to­join­the­project­in­1983.5­Indeed,­the­Centre­de­Création­
Industrielle­(CCI)­–­the­more­“sociological“­entity­devoted­to­architecture­and­
design­within­the­Centre­Pompidou,­which­initiated­Les Immatériaux­–­had­
been­planning­an­exhibition­on­new­industrial­materials­since­at­least­1982.6 
Variously­entitled­Création et matériaux nouveaux, Matériau et création, 
Matériaux nouveaux et création,­and,­in­its­last­form,­La matière dans tous ses 
états,­this­exhibition,­first­scheduled­to­take­place­in­1984,­already­contained­
many­of­the­innovative­features­that­found­their­way­into­Les Immatériaux.7 
3­ See­the­undated­and­unsigned­letter­to­Françoise­Michel­in­the­Centre­Georges­
Pompidou­archives,­box­94033/227.­(Material­from­the­Pompidou­archives­henceforth­
cited­as­PCA­followed­by­the­box­number.)
4­ Thierry­Chaput,­“Entrée­en­matière“,­Petit Journal,­28­March–15­July­1985,­Paris,­p.­1.­
Although­The Immaterials­was­the­official­English­translation­of­Les Immatériaux,­I­use­
the­French­phrase­throughout­in­order­to­avoid­translating­matériau by material,­which­
in­French­could­also­be­translated­by­matière.­Matériau­in­fact­covers­both­the­English­
matter­and­material.­In­what­follows,­all­translations­are­mine­unless­otherwise­noted.
5­ Although­the­first­documented­contacts­between­the­Centre­de­Création­Industrielle­
(CCI)­and­Lyotard­took­place­in­May­1983,­the­contract­making­official­the­latter’s­
status­as­chief­curator­(commissaire général)­is­dated­29­September­1983.­See­the­letter­
from­Paul­Blanquart,­then­director­of­the­CCI,­to­Lyotard,­dated­28­May­1983­(PCA­
1977001/129),­and­the­contract­signed­by­Jean­Maheu,­President­of­the­Centre­Pompidou,­
dated­27­January­1984­(PCA­94033/668).­(François­Burkhardt­succeeded­Blanquart­as­
director­of­the­CCI­in­July­1984.­Both­directors­appear­to­have­been­very­supportive­of­
Les Immatériaux.)
6­ An­article­from­Le Monde­found­in­the­Centre­Pompidou­archives­(in­the­box­labelled­
“Immatériaux­Archi-peinture­bas­relief“)­entitled­“Les­Verres­métalliques­matériaux­
d’avenir“,­dated­29­April­1981,­suggests­that­discussions­about­the­future­exhibition­
began­in­1981.
7­ See­“La­Matière­dans­tous­ses­états­(titre­provisoire)“­(PCA­94033/237).­At­the­first­
working­meeting­between­members­of­CCI­and­Lyotard,­the­latter­argued­against­
“creation“­in­the­title,­deeming­it­a­“theological­concept“.­By­10­August­1983,­Les 
Immatériaux,­followed­by­“provisional­title”,­appeared­on­the­cover­of­the­first­project­
report­authored­by­Lyotard.­In­November­1984,­Lyotard­and­Chaput­requested­that­the­
exhibition­title­be­registered­as­a­trademark.
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 73
These­features­included­an­emphasis­on­language­as­matter;­the­immateriality­
of­advanced­technological­materials­(from­textiles­to­plastics­and­holography);­
exhibits­devoted­to­recent­technological­developments­in­food,­architecture,­
music­and­video;­and,­crucially,­an­experimental­catalogue­produced­solely­
by­computer­in­(almost)­real­time.­The­earlier­versions­of­the­exhibition­also­
involved­many­of­the­future­protagonists­of­Les Immatériaux,­such­as­Jean-
Louis­Boissier­(among­several­other­faculty­members­of­Université­Paris­VIII,­
where­Lyotard­was­teaching­at­the­time)­and­Eve­Ritscher­(a­London-based­
consultant­on­holography).­Furthermore,­Les Immatériaux­benefited­from­
projects­pursued­concurrently­by­other­groups­within­the­Pompidou,­which­
joined­Lyotard’s­and­Chaput’s­project­when­it­was­discovered­that­their­
themes­overlapped.­Thus,­an­exhibition­project­on­music­videos­initiated­by­
the­Musée­National­d’Art­Moderne­was­incorporated­into­Les Immatériaux, 
and­another­project­on­electro-acoustic­music­developed­by­IRCAM­(Institut­
de­Recherche­et­de­Coordination­Acoustique/Musique)­also­seems­to­have­
merged­with­the­1985­exhibition.8
Although­other­institutions­expressed­interest­in­taking­the­show,­Les 
Immatériaux­was­too­much­a­reflection­of­the­unusual­museographic­practices­
of­the­place­from­which­it­originated­to­translate­into­different­contexts,­
and­the­show­did­not­tour.9­For­Les Immatériaux was much more than an 
“exhibition“,­simply­understood.­It­drew­upon­all­the­entities­within­the­Centre­
Pompidou,­offering­musical­performances­(including­the­world­premiere­of­
Karlheinz­Stockhausen’s­Kathinkas Gesang);­an­impressive­film­programme­
(entitled­Ciné-Immatériaux,­curated­by­Claudine­Eizykman­and­Guy­Fihman);­
a­three-day­seminar­on­the­relationship­between­architecture,­science­and­
philosophy;­as­well­as­three­related­publications,­in­addition­to­the­two­
exhibition­catalogues.10­Indeed­Les Immatériaux­would­be­among­the­last­
exhibitions­at­the­Centre­Pompidou­to­embody­the­latter’s­original­ambition­
8­ See­the­“Projet­d’exposition”,­dated­10­January­1983,­and­the­“Compte-rendu­de­la­
réunion­du­16­Mai­1983”­(PCA­1977001/129­and­94033/236).
9­ There­were­plans­to­tour­parts­of­Les Immatériaux­to­Austria­(Vienna),­Brazil­(Rio­de­
Janeiro),­Japan­(Tsukuba),­and­France­(Marseille),­though­none­came­to­fruition.­See­doc-
uments­in­PCA­94033/667,­1977001/130,­94033/0234,­1977001/130,­respectively.
10­ Aside­from­IRCAM­and­Musée­National­d’Art­Moderne,­Les Immatériaux­incorporated­
projects­initiated­and­organized­by­the­BPI­(Bibliothèque­Publique­d’Information),­
also­located­in­the­Centre­Pompidou­building.­A­slightly­edited­version­of­the­film­
programme­that­accompanied­Les Immatériaux­is­accessible­online­at­http://www.
vasulka.org/archive/ExhONE/CentreGeorgesPomp/CGPcat.pdf.­The­three­publications­
are “1984” et les présents de l’univers informationnel (Paris:­Centre­Georges­Pompidou/
Centre­de­Création­Industrielle,­1985);­Modernes et après: Les Immatériaux (Paris:­Editions­
Autrement,­1985);­and­a­special­issue­of­Traverses,­no.­35,­September­1985.­Another­
element­was­to­be­a­video­conference­via­satellite­between­sites­in­Tsukuba,­Montreal,­
Milan,­Berlin­and­San­Diego­(see­the­document­dated­14­June­1984,­PCA­94033/0234).­
This­last­project­was­finally­abandoned­for­budgetary­reasons.­(Letter­from­Marc­Girard­
to­François­Burkhardt,­dated­20­September­1984­[PCA­1977001/130].)
74 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
to­be­a­centre­open­to­all­forms­of­expression,­from­industrial­design­and­
urbanism­to­painting­and­performance,­instead­of­a­modernist­museum­based­
on­the­neat­differentiation­between­departments­according­to­media.11 Les 
Immatériaux­represented,­as­it­were,­a­hinge­in­the­Centre­Pompidou’s­his-
tory,­between­a­more­conventional­future­(the­CCI­effectively­dissolved­a­few­
years­later,­merging­with­the­Musée­National­d’Art­Moderne)­and­a­certain­
postmodern­idealism­that­tolerated,­even­encouraged,­the­blurring­of­dis-
ciplines­and­exhibitions­with­an­element­of­pathos­and­drama.12­As­Chaput­
expressed­it­in­1985,­Les Immatériaux­represented­“one­of­the­last­‘romantic’­
experiences”.13
As­the­originator­of­the­exhibition,­and­its­main­representative­within­the­
Centre­Pompidou,­Chaput­played­a­key­role,­though­he­was­understandably­
the­less­visible­of­the­two­co-curators­vis-à-vis­the­public,­and­especially­the­
media.14­Bernard­Blistène­was­responsible­for­the­selection­of­most­art­works­
in Les Immatériaux;­most,­but­not­all:­the­Egyptian­low-relief­was­Lyotard’s­
personal­choice,­and­we­can­assume­that­he­was­also­responsible­for­the­
inclusion­of­Marcel­Duchamp,­Daniel­Buren­and­Jacques­Monory,­since­he­
had­written­extensively­on­the­three­artists­prior­to­his­involvement­in­Les 
Immatériaux.15­As­for­Lyotard­himself,­he­was­instrumental­not­only­in­securing­
certain­loans­and­the­participation­of­prominent­figures­in­the­exhibition­cata-
logues,­but­also­in­designing­the­exhibition’s­overarching­linguistic­structure.­
As­early­as­spring­1984­Lyotard­had­suggested­the­conflation­between­five­
French­words­deriving­from­the­Indo-European­root­mât­(to­make­by­hand,­to­
measure,­to­build)­and­the­communication­model­first­developed­by­Harold­
Lasswell­–­“Who­/­Says­What­/­In­Which­Channel­/­To­Whom­/­With­What­
Effects?”­–­later­translated­into­a­communication­diagram­by­Claude­Shannon­
and­Norbert­Wiener,­which­Roman­Jakobson­would­apply­to,­and­amend­in­
light­of,­linguistics.­Lyotard’s­conflation­of­these­communication­models­with­
11 Beaubourg: Les Dix Premières Années du Centre Georges Pompidou,­1977–1987­(Paris:­
Beaux-arts­magazine,­1987),­p.10.
12 “Les Immatériaux­…­is­a­kind­of­dramaturgy­of­the­era­being­born.“­(Press­release­
recorded­on­an­audio­cassette­and­distributed­on­8­January­1985.)­For­an­overview­of­the­
history­of­the­CCI,­see­François­Barré­and­Bernadette­Dufrêne,­“Le­CCI,­du­Musée­des­
Arts­Décoratifs­à­Beaubourg“,­Centre Pompidou, 30 ans d’histoire­(Paris:­Centre­Georges­
Pompidou,­2007),­p.­86–91.
13­ “La­Règle­du­jeu:­Matérialiser Les Immatériaux.­Entretien­avec­l’équipe­du­C.C.I.”,­
Modernes et après,­p.­20.
14­ Lyotard­credits­Chaput­with­the­idea­of­the­metallic­mesh.­See­p.­10­of­the­undated­“Con-
férence­de­Jean-François­Lyotard”­(PCA­1977001/130).­In­a­letter­dated­January­1985­to­
Dominique­Bozo,­then­director­of­the­Musée­National­d’Art­Moderne,­Lyotard­defends­
Chaput’s­contribution­to­Les Immatériaux­as­“at­least”­on­par­with­his­own.
15­ On­Blistène’s­role,­see­the­letter­from­Jean-François­Lyotard­to­Pierre­Gaudibert,­dated­3­
September­1984­(PCA­94033/669).
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 75
the etymological group of mat-­terms­was­hardly­rigorous.16­What­it­proposed­
was­an­epistemological­short-circuit­between­heterogeneous­discourses­–­
the­one­poetic,­the­other­scientific­–­to­establish­the­following­equivalences:­
matériau = support­(medium),­matériel = destinataire­(to­whom­the­message­is­
addressed),­maternité = destinateur­(the­message’s­emitter),­matière = référent 
(the­referent),­and­matrice = code­(the­code)­[Figure­1].
The­drawings­collected­in­the­Album­section­of­the­exhibition­catalogue­
indicate­that­the­layout­of­Les Immatériaux­had­reached­a­near-definitive­
stage­by­September­1984.­Once­past­the­initial­corridor,­the­visitor­would­
have­to­choose­between­one­of­five­strands­(or­“valences“)­leading­through­
the­exhibition,­each­corresponding­to­one­of­the­five­mat-­strands.­Each­mat- 
strand­would­in­turn­incorporate­a­number­of­“zones“,­with­each­zone­unified­
by­a­common­soundtrack,­audible­through­headphones­distributed­to­each­
visitor­before­entering­the­exhibition.17­(The­soundtrack,­selected­by­Lyotard’s­
then­collaborator­and­future­partner­Dolorès­Rogozinski,­and­engineered­by­
the­Pompidou­technician­Gérard­Chiron,­consisted­of­excerpts­of­literary­and­
philosophical­texts­by­the­likes­of­Maurice­Blanchot­and­Samuel­Beckett.)
Each­zone­subdivided­into­several­“sites“:­that­is,­variously­sized­installations­
with more or less obvious reference to the mat- strand­in­which­they­were­
included.­For­example,­the­Nu vain­site­designed­by­Martine­Moinot­–­an­active­
figure­in­Lyotard’s­support­team­at­the­Centre­Pompidou­–­featured­“twelve­
asexual­mannequins”­with,­at­the­back,­“a­screening­of­a­passage­from­Joseph­
Losey’s­film­Monsieur­Klein­alternating­with­a­photo­from­a­concentration­
camp­prisoner”.18­As­the­visitor­entered­this­site­–­one­of­three­in­the­first­zone­
of­the­“matériau“­strand­–­she­or­he­would­have­heard­the­voice­of­the­poet­
and­playwright­Antonin­Artaud­(Pour en finir avec le jugement de Dieu,­originally­
intended­as­a­radio­broadcast­in­1948)­and­Rogozinski­(The Angel).­Thus­guided­
–­or,­more­accurately,­misguided­–­through­the­exhibition’s­obscurity­by­the­
soundtrack,­the­isolated­visitor­of­Les Immatériaux­would­drift­from­site­to­
16­ At­no­point­did­Lyotard­go­beyond­quoting­“Laswell,­Wiener,­then­Jakobson”­when­dis-
cussing­the­communication­models­informing­Les Immatériaux.­Not­only­does­he­not­
provide­any­bibliographic­references,­he­consistently­misspells­“Lasswell”­with­one­“s”.­
Moreover,­Lyotard­admitted­in­an­interview­that­the­common­“mât ” root was essentially 
fictional.­(See­Bernard­Blistène,­“A­Conversation­with­Jean-­François­Lyotard”­in­
Giancarlo­Politi­and­Helena­Kontova­(eds),­Flash Art: Two Decades of History­(Cambridge,­
Mass.:­MIT­Press,­1990),­p.­31.
17­ Nathalie­Heinich­and­Antonia­Wunderlich­cite­31­zones,­the­number­indicated­in­Petit 
Journal.­See,­respectively,­“Un­Évènement­culturel,”­in­Christian­Carrier­(ed.),­Les 
Immatériaux (au Centre Georges Pompidou en 1985): Étude de l’évènement exposition et de 
son public­(Paris:­Expo-Média,­1986),­p.78,­and­Antonia­Wunderlich:­Der Philosoph im 
Museum: Die Ausstellung Les Immatériaux von Jean-François Lyotard (Bielefeld:­transcript,­
2008),­p.36.­The­English­brochure­of­the­exhibition­entitled­Route: Zones & Sites­describes­
26­zones,­which­is­the­number­quoted­by­Francesca­Gallo­in­Les Immatériaux: Un Percorso 
di Jean-François Lyotard nell’arte contemporanea­(Rome:­Aracne,­2008),­p.­62.
18 Petit Journal,­p.­4.
76 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
site­and­strand­to­strand­with,­as­only­markers,­the­switch­between­voices,­
indicating­the­passage­from­one­zone­to­another.
If­no­two­trajectories­through­Les Immatériaux­could­possibly­be­alike­–­given­
the­freedom­the­visitor­had­to­choose­her­own­sequence­of­sites­and­zones­–­
Lyotard­and­Chaput­were­careful­to­document­the­visitors’­drifting­patterns,­
devising­a­dense­network­of­self-indexing­nodes­both­inside­and­outside­of­
the­exhibition.­Each­visitor­to­Les Immatériaux­was­to­receive­a­magnetic­card­
with­which­to­record­the­sites­she­went­through:­upon­leaving­the­exhibition,­
she­should­have­been­able­to­print­a­hard-copy­record­of­the­visit,­though­
this­system­of­“mise­en­carte”­does­not­seem­to­have­been­implemented.19 
Another­self-indexing­node­in­Les Immatériaux –­Les Variables Cachées­in­zone­
12­(“matrice“­strand)­–­allowed­visitors,­by­way­of­a­computer­terminal,­to­
provide­answers­to­a­set­of­questions,­which­contributed­to­statistical­views­
of­the­exhibition’s­demographics­projected­on­a­screen­in­the­same­site.20 
Published­in­1986,­the­exhaustive­study­of­Les Immatériaux by the sociologist 
Nathalie­Heinich­constituted­another­means­of­measuring­and­archiving­the­
visitors’­movements­through,­and­reactions­to,­the­exhibition.21
The­idea­of­constituting­an­archive­of­the­communication­generated­by­Les 
Immatériaux,­mediated­analogically­as­well­as­digitally,­also­determined­the­
exhibition’s­catalogues.­Instead­of­the­traditional­single­volume­acting­as­an­
anticipated­record­of­the­completed­event,­two­publications­were­issued,­
both­of­which­reflected­the­processes­underpinning­Les Immatériaux.­The­
first­is­a­folder­with,­on­one­side,­“L’Inventaire“­–­a­sheaf­of­loose­pages­each­
describing­one­of­the­exhibition’s­61­sites­–­and,­on­the­other,­a­bound­“Album“­
of­notes­and­sketches­(most­of­these­by­Philippe­Délis,­the­scenographer­of­Les 
Immatériaux)­documenting­the­exhibition’s­development­from­La matière dans 
tous ses états­in­1984­to­a­snapshot­of­the­installation,­presumably­taken­in­
early­1985.­The­second­publication,­entitled­Epreuves d’écriture,­is­a­softcover-
bound­volume­containing­the­records­of­a­computer-mediated­discussion­
among­26­participants­–­including­Daniel­Buren,­Michel­Butor,­Jacques­Derrida­
and­Isabelle­Stengers­–­of­a­set­of­50­terms­proposed­by­Lyotard.22­Lyotard­
held­this­second­volume­in­high­esteem:­“It­is­probably­a­‘book’­that­elicits­a­
19­ Although­it­features­in­Album­(Paris,­1985,­p.­27),­and­was­announced­in­the­doc-
umentation­for­the­press­conference­on­8­January­1985­(PCA,­box­“1985­Expo­‘Les 
Immatériaux’” ).
20­ See­the­document­“Les­Variables­Cachées:­55­Réponses­pour­la­période­du­22.02.85­au­
28.02.85”­(PCA­94033/229).
21­ See­Nathalie­Heinich,­“Enquête­sur­‘Les Immatériaux’:­projet­15­mai­1985”­(PCA­
1977001/130)­and­the­published­results­in­“Un­évènement­culturel,”­p.­25–124.
22­ For­Epreuves d’écriture,­each­“author”­(the­quotation­marks­are­Lyotard’s)­was­given­an­
Olivetti­M20,­connected­to­a­central­Olivetti­M24­based­at­the­Centre­Pompidou,­which­
logged­the­participants’­contributions­between­September­and­December­1984.­(See­
Lyotard­and­Chaput,­“La­Raison­des­épreuves”,­Epreuves d’écriture,­Paris,­1985,­p.­6–7.)­
The­technology­that­enabled­the­catalogues’­production­was­developed­by­SERPEA­
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 77
kind­of­beauty,­as­it­were,­very­different­from­what­I­was­accustomed­to.­For­
me­it­is­a­great­book.“23 
The Postmodern
With­its­self-reflexivity­and­auto-archiving­impulse,­Les Immatériaux­could­be­
considered­a­self-remembering­exhibition­–­to­paraphrase­exhibition­historian­
Reesa­Greenberg­–­on­the­condition­that­we­recognise­this­remembering­
as­paradoxical­and­essentially­Duchampian.24­For,­to­refer­once­again­to­the­
metaphor­of­the­hinge,­Les Immatériaux­seemed­to­pivot­undecidedly­between­
a­“sensibility“­looking­backwards,­so­to­speak,­to­an­origin­that­never­was­–­
embodied­by­the­Egyptian­low-relief­sculpture­and­the­pseudo-etymology­of­
the­exhibition’s­title­–­and­another­looking­beyond,­to­a­technoscientific­future­
always­almost-here,­that­is,­to­a­postmodernism­always­in­need­of­exper-
imentation­and­hence­infinitely­deferred.­In­his­writings­on­the­postmodern,­
Lyotard­would­often­qualify­this­wavering­as­an­“anamnesis“,­a­psychoanalytic­
working-through­(durcharbeiten)­in­the­future­anterior,­“in­order­to­formulate­
the­rules­of­what­will­have­been­done”.25­What­Duchamp­scholar­Thierry­de­
Duve­writes­of­the­feeling­elicited­by­the­appearance­of­Duchamp’s­readymade­
could­well­apply­to­Les Immatériaux:­“the­paradoxical­sense­of­the­future­that­a­
deliberatively­retrospective­gaze­opens­up.“26 
In­fact,­Lyotard­was­explicit­in­placing­Les Immatériaux­under­the­sign­of­
Duchamp.­A­site­in­zone­6­(in­the­“matériau“­or­“medium“­strand)­was­
named­Infra-mince,­and­featured­various­handwritten­notes­and­sketches­by­
Duchamp­related­to­the­latter’s­notion­of­“infra-thin“,­as­well­as­an­excerpt­
of­Marcel­Proust’s­Remembrance of Things Past­on­the­soundtrack.­In­zone­20­
(“matière“­or­“referent“­strand),­a­site­entitled­Odeur Peinte­­included­two­works­
by­Duchamp,­the­1959­Torture-Morte­and­Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette­from­1921,­
accompanied­by­a­reading­of­a­text­by­cultural­theorist­and­curator­Paul­Virilio.­
Duchamp,­in­other­words,­could­be­said­to­play­the­role­of­yet­another­dubious­
postmodern­“origin“,­after­the­mât­etymology­and­the­Egyptian­sculpture,­
both­for­the­Centre­Pompidou­and­for­Lyotard.­Indeed,­Lyotard’s­first­contact­
(Société­d’édition­et­de­réalisation­de­presse­écrite,­audiovisuelle­et­télématique),­a­
private­company­directed­by­Alain­Rey.
23­ “Conférence­de­Jean-François­Lyotard”­(PCA­1977001/130),­p.­19.
24­ See­Reesa­Greenberg,­“Remembering­Exhibitions:­From­Point­to­Line­to­Web”­in­Tate 
Papers­12­(2009):­http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/7264.
25­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­“Réponse­à­la­question:­Qu’est-ce­que­le­postmoderne?,”­in Le 
postmoderne expliqué aux enfants­(Paris:­Galilée,­1986),­p.­31.
26­ Thierry­de­Duve,­Kant after Duchamp­(Cambridge,­Mass.,­and­London:­MIT­Press,­1996),­
p.­86.­De­Duve­acknowledges­Lyotard’s­writings­in­the­same­book­(p.­40,­n.­15),­while­
Lyotard­refers­to­de­Duve’s­writings­on­Duchamp­in­“Réponse­à­la­question:­Qu’est-ce­
que­le­postmoderne?”,­p.­20.
78 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
with­the­Pompidou­took­place­in­1977,­when­he­contributed­to­the­catalogue­of­
its­inaugural­exhibition,­devoted­to­Duchamp.27
It­is­perhaps­a­symptom­of­both­the­transformation­of­the­postmodern­from­
a­term­of­historical­classification­into­a­more­allegorical­principle,­and­of­an­
increasing­awareness­of­the­value­of­exhibitions­as­performative­sites­for­his-
torical­reflection,­that­Les Immatériaux­is­now,­after­more­than­two­decades,­
entering­philosophical­and­art-historical­discourses.­However,­the­main­reason­
for­the­long-standing­exclusion­of­Les Immatériaux­from­these­discourses­was­
undoubtedly­Lyotard’s­own­reticence­to­discuss­his­1985­curatorial­project.­
Shortly­after­his­collaboration­with­the­Pompidou­came­to­an­end,­Lyotard­
wrote­of­“looking­forward­to­not­having­to­think­about­(to­suffer­from)“­Les 
Immatériaux­again.­He­went­on­to­describe­his­curatorial­experience­as­having­
prompted­an­“anamnesis“,­and­the­exhibition­itself­as­having­“mastered­us­
much­more­than­we­mastered­it”.28
Why­would­Lyotard­have­judged­his­work­on­the­exhibition­in­such­traumatic­
terms­as­“suffering“­and­“mastery“?­The­fact­that­the­public­and­critical­
response to Les Immatériaux­was­mostly­negative­may­have­been­a­factor.29 
“Decked­in­demanding­grey“,­the­exhibition­was­unlikely­to­have­ever­enjoyed­
widespread­popular­appeal,­but­the­“feeling­of­a­period­coming­to­an­end­
and­the­worried­curiosity­that­awakens­at­the­dawn­of­postmodernity“­–­
emotions­that­the­curators­sought­to­evoke­–­was­no­doubt­accentuated,­
albeit­unintentionally,­by­the­numerous­technical­failures­that­plagued­Les 
Immatériaux.30­The­headsets­–­a­prototype­then­being­tested­by­Philips­–­were­
particularly­prone­to­breaking­down,­forcing­the­exhibition­at­one­point­to­stay­
open­only­part-time­[Figure­3].31 
The­headsets­were­required,­not­optional,­and­came­at­a­fee,­which­provoked­
the­ire­of­those­wanting­to­see­the­exhibition­without­its­soundtrack.32 One 
27­ See­Lyotard,­“Etant­Donnés:­inventaire­du­dernier­nu”,­in­Jean­Clair­(ed.),­Abécédaire: 
Approches critiques, L’Œuvre de Marcel Duchamp,­vol.­3­(Paris:­Centre­Georges­Pompidou,­
1977).­As­Rajchman­wrote­in­an­early,­unpaginated­draft­of­his­article­“The­Postmodern­
Museum”­(now­in­the­Centre­Pompidou­archives),­Les Immatériaux­“may­be­the­first­
Duchampian­museum.”­(Cf.­“The­Postmodern­Museum,”­Art in America,­vol.­73,­no.­10,­
October­1985,­p.­110–117.)
28­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­“D’un­travail”,­Les Immatériaux (Au Centre Georges Pompidou en 
1985): Étude de l’événement exposition et de son public,­p.­147–148.
29 Les Immatériaux­does­not­seem­to­have­attracted­unusually­large­numbers­of­visitors,­
despite­its­budget­–­the­largest­at­the­time­for­an­exhibition­at­the­Centre­Pompidou.­See­
“Bilan­simplifié­de­la­manifestation­Les Immatériaux­and­“Le­point­sur­Les Immatériaux” 
(respectively­PCA­1977001/130­and­94033/667).
30­ See­the­letter­from­the­head­of­security­of­the­Centre­Pompidou,­dated­28­March­1985,­
who­complains­of­the­low­visibility­in­the­exhibition,­making­it­difficult­for­visitors­to­find­
the­exit­and­the­toilets­(PCA­1977001/130).
31­ Undated­fax­from­Chaput­to­Havre­Marine­Systèmes­(PCA­94033/227).
32­ Daniel­Birnbaum­and­Sven-Olov­Wallenstein­wrongly­claim­that­the­headsets­were­
“recommended”.­See­their­“Thinking­Philosophy,­Spatially:­Jean-François­Lyotard’s­Les 
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 79
[Figure­3]­Exhibition­visitor,­site­Arôme simulé­(Source:­Centre­Pompidou,­MNAM,­Bibliothèque­
Kandinsky,­photograph­by­Jean-Claude­Planchet).
letter­addressed­by­a­visitor­to­the­Pompidou­complained­that­the­exhibition­
discriminated­against­the­hearing-impaired.33­Another­particularly­scathing­
critique,­penned­by­Michel­Cournot­­in­Le Monde,­took­the­exhibition­to­task­
for­assaulting­the­visitor­with­incomprehensible­stimuli,­from­the­magazine­
handed­out­before­entering­–­impossible­to­read­in­the­darkened­exhibition­
space­–­to­the­unidentified­voices­streaming­through­the­headsets.34
Lyotard’s­rebuke­to­Cournot’s­criticism,­which­also­appeared­in­Le Monde,­
defended­the­exhibition’s­technological­let-downs,­arguing­that­such­is­the­
price­to­pay­for­experimentation:­“Mr­Cournot­wanted­to­revel­in­the­jubilation­
offered­by­the­new­mastery­promised­by­the­‘technologists’,­by­the­prophets­
of­a­‘postmodern’­break?­The­exhibition­denies­it,­and­this­is­precisely­its­
gambit­–­to­not­offer­any­reassurance,­especially­and­above­all­by­prophesying­
a­new­dawn.­To­make­us­look­at­what­is­‘déjà­vu’,­as­Duchamp­did­with­the­
readymades,­and­to­make­us­unlearn­what­is­‘familiar’­to­us:­these­are­instead­
the­exhibition’s­concerns.”­Lyotard­went­on­to­write:­“The­idea­of­progress­
bequeathed­by,­among­others,­the­Enlightenment,­has­faltered,­and­with­it­a­
Immatériaux­and­the­Philosophy­of­the­Exhibition”,­in­Thinking Worlds: The Moscow Con-
ference on Philosophy, Politics, and Art,­Joseph­Backstein,­Daniel­Birnbaum­and­Sven-Olov­
Wallenstein­(eds.)­(Berlin:­Sternberg­Press,­2008),­p.­142.­To­gauge­the­violence­of­the­vis-
itors’­response­to­Les Immatériaux,­see­the­exhibition’s­comment­book­(PCA­1977001/130).
33­ Letter­from­Marina­Devillers,­dated­29­April­1985­(PCA­1977001/130).
34­ Michel­Cournot,­“Un­‘Magasin­de­curiosités’,­naïf­et­macabre”,­Le Monde,­12­April­1985,­p.­
21.
80 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
triumphant­humanism.­Greatness­of­thought­–­Adorno’s­for­example­(must­I­
spell­his­name­out?)­–­is­to­endure­the­fright­derived­from­such­a­withdrawal­of­
meaning,­to­bear­witness­to­it,­to­attempt­its­anamnesis.”35
Beyond­its­negative­reception,­I­suggest­that­Les Immatériaux­proved­a­
particularly­difficult­experience­for­Lyotard­because­it­represented­a­failed­
attempt­at­recasting­“the­postmodern“,­an­expression­­his­book­La Con-
dition postmoderne,­first­published­in­1979,­helped­transform­into­one­of­the­
more­widely­circulated­theoretical­catchphrases­of­1980s.­When­asked­why­
he­was­invited­to­become­chief­curator­of­Les Immatériaux,­Lyotard­consis-
tently­professed­to­have­no­clue.36­Yet­this­slim­1979­volume,­whose­influence­
extended­to­both­sides­of­the­Atlantic,­must­have­played­a­major­role­in­
Lyotard’s­decision­to­lead­an­exhibition­project­devoted­­to­“new­materials“.
Of­course,­as­Lyotard­was­the­first­to­acknowledge,­the­problem­was­that­La 
Condition postmoderne­could­not­assume­the­responsibility­of­having­the­final­
say­on­“postmodernism“,­given­the­context­of­its­writing­–­a­commission­by­the­
state­of­Quebec­for­“a­report­on­knowledge“.37­As­Lyotard­scholar­Niels­Brügge­
has­remarked,­if­the­renown­of­La Condition postmoderne­weighed­so­heavily­
on­the­philosopher’s­subsequent­writing,­it­was­because­the­book­itself­is­
ambivalent,­describing­the­postmodern­at­once­as­modal­and­epochal­–­that­is,­
as­a­narrative­framework­in­which­certain­functions­come­to­the­fore­(such­as­
performativity­and­paralogy­in­language­games),­and­as­a­historical­moment­
marking­the­decline­of­legitimating­narratives­(for­example,­of­emancipation­
and­enlightenment).38
After­noting­the­absence­of­the­postmodern­in­Le Différend­–­the­book­
published­in­1983­which­Lyotard­was­finishing­when­he­embarked­on­Les 
Immatériaux­–­Brügge­writes­that­the­“postmodern­continued­to­haunt­
Lyotard’s­work“.39­Brügge­refers­to­an­essay­entitled­“Note­sur­les­sens­de­
35­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­“Qui­a­peur­des­‘Immatériaux’?”,­p.­3,­and­5­(PCA­94033/233).­The­
article­appeared­in­Le Monde,­3­May­1985.
36­ “Conférence­de­Jean-François­Lyotard”,­p.­1,­and­“Jean-François­Lyotard­discusses­the­
exhibition,­the­Immaterials,­with­Judy­Annear­and­Robert­Owen,­Paris­28­March­1985”,­p.­
6­(PCA­94033/667).
37­ Lyotard­is­forthright­about­the­book’s­modest­pretensions,­stating­in­its­Introduction­
that­“the­text­that­follows­is­a­product­of­circumstances”.­Jean-François­Lyotard,­La Con-
dition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir­(Paris:­Minuit,­1979),­p.­9.
38­ Niels­Brügge,­“What­about­the­Postmodern?­The­Concept­of­the­Postmodern­in­the­Work­
of­Lyotard”,­Yale French Studies,­no.­99,­2001,­p.­80–82.
39­ Brügge,­“What­about­the­Postmodern?”,­p.­90.­Brügge­also­acknowledges­–­uncon-
vincingly,­to­my­mind­–­the­presence­of­the­postmodern­in­Le Différend insofar as the 
postmodern­is­“claimed­to­be­inscribed­in­the­epochal­context­already­referred­to­as­
postmodern­in­The Postmodern Condition”­(p.­89).­Regarding­Lyotard’s­calendar­overlap­
between Le Différend­and­Les Immatériaux,­it­is­worth­noting­that­the­entire­schedule­of­
exhibitions­for­the­fifth­floor­of­the­Centre­Pompidou­was­reordered­to­suit­his­commit-
ment­to­finishing­the­book.­See­Blanquart ’s­“Note­à­Monsieur­Maheu”,­dated­7­June­1983­
(PCA­94033/669).
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 81
‘post-’”,­in­which­Lyotard­states­that­“understood­in­this­way,­the­‘post-’­
of­‘postmodern’­does­not­mean­a­movement­of­comeback,­of­flashback,­of­
feedback,­that­is,­of­repetition,­but­an­‘ana-’­process,­an­analytical­process,­a­
process­of­anamnesis,­of­anagogy­and­anamorphosis,­which­works­through­
[élabore]­an­‘initial­forgetting’.”­In­this­essay,­Lyotard­cites­painting­as­a­prime­
example­of­postmodern­anamnesis:
I­mean­that­to­properly­understand­the­work­of­modern­painters,­say­
from­Manet­to­Duchamp­or­Barnett­Newman,­one­should­compare­their­
work­to­an­anamnesis­in­the­analytic­sense.­Just­as­the­analysand­tries­to­
work­through­[élaborer] her or his current problem by freely associating 
apparently­inconsistent­elements­with­past­situations,­allowing­her­or­
him­to­uncover­hidden­meanings­in­her/his­life­and­behaviour,­so­we­
can­understand­the­work­of­Cézanne,­Picasso,­Delaunay,­Kandinsky,­
Klee,­Mondrian,­Malevich­and­finally­Duchamp­as­a­“perlaboration“­
(durcharbeiten)­undertaken­by­modernity­on­its­own­meaning.40
Les Immatériaux­offered­Lyotard­the­opportunity­to­work­through­the­haunting­
of La Condition postmoderne,­the­former­providing­him­with­a­stage­upon­
which­to­perform­the­transition­from­an­epochal­or­modal­postmodern­into­
an­allegorical­or­anamnesic­one.­Whereas­La Condition postmoderne was sub-
titled­“Report­on­Knowledge“,­one­of­the­subtitles­suggested­by­Lyotard­for­Les 
Immatériaux was “L’Esprit du temps“,­which,­to­use­the­more­common­German­
expression,­translates­as­Zeitgeist.41­By­suggesting­this­subtitle,­Lyotard­would­
have­been­making­a­clear­attempt­to­reclaim­the­postmodern­from­the­version­
of­the­term­made­fashionable­by­such­exhibitions­as­the­1982­Zeitgeist,­which­
sought­to­include­the­latest­expressionist­forms­of­painting­in­a­twentieth-
century­avant-garde­tradition.42­In­a­1985­interview­with­Blistène,­Lyotard­
accuses the supporters of a “return to painting“ of forgetting “everything 
that­people­have­been­trying­to­do­for­over­a­century:­they’ve­lost­all­sense­of­
what’s­fundamentally­at­stake­in­painting.­There’s­a­vague­return­to­a­concern­
with­the­enjoyment­experienced­by­the­viewer,­they’ve­abandoned­the­task­of­
the­artist­as­it­might­have­been­perceived­by­a­Cézanne,­a­Duchamp.”43 
Lyotard’s­own­version­of­a­postmodern­Zeitgeist­at­the­Centre­Pompidou­was­
an­affective­hovering­between­the­“post“­he­had­imprudently­prognosticated­
40­ Lyotard,­“Note­sur­les­sens­de­‘post-’”,­Le Postmoderne expliqué aux enfants,­p.­119.
41­ In­the­end­Les Immatériaux­did­not­retain­a­subtitle.­On­the­various­attempts­at­finding­
one,­see­page­2­of­a­document­drafted­by­L’Agence­Bélier,­the­marketing­agency­hired­to­
publicise­the­exhibition­(PCA­1977001/130),­and­the­unsigned­and­undated­document­in­
the­same­box­which­lists­another­subtitle­proposed­by­Lyotard:­“Entre­essor­et­déclin,­
nos­savoirs,­nos­pratiques,­nos­sensibilités”­(“Between­expansion­and­decline,­our­skills,­
our­customs,­our­sensibilities”).
42 Zeitgeist­was­curated­by­Christos­Joachimides­and­Norman­Rosenthal­at­the­Martin-
Gropius-Bau­in­Berlin.
43­ Blistène,­“A­Conversation­with­Jean-François­Lyotard”,­p.­131.
82 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
in­1979­and­a­lost­modernism­that­could­never­again­be­brought­back­to­life.­
This­paradoxical­temporal­stasis­would­provide­the­clearest­sign,­not­of­the­
decline­of­the­twentieth-century­avant-garde­as­such,­but­of­the­end­of­the­
possibility­of­recuperating­it­to­justify­an­increasingly­complex­and­progres-
sively­dehumanised­technoscientific­environment.­For­Lyotard,­the­historical­
break­in­the­telling­of­twentieth-century­history­is­marked­–­as­it­was­for­many­
before­him,­particularly­Adorno­–­by­the­mass­murder­of­the­Jews­during­the­
Second­World­War:
Following­Theodor­Adorno,­I­have­used­the­term­“Auschwitz“­to­indicate­
the­extent­to­which­the­stuff­[matière]­of­recent­Western­history­appears­
inconsistent­in­light­of­the­“modern“­project­of­emancipating­humanity.­
What­kind­of­reflection­is­capable­of­“lifting“,­in­the­sense­of­aufheben,­
“Auschwitz“,­by­placing­it­in­a­general,­empirical­and­even­speculative­
process­directed­towards­universal­emancipation?­There­is­a­kind­of­
sorrow­[chagrin] in the Zeitgeist,­which­can­express­itself­through­reactive,­
even­reactionary­attitudes,­or­through­utopias,­but­not­through­an­
orientation­that­would­positively­open­a­new­perspective.44
Anamnesis
It­is­striking­to­note­the­extent­to­which­this­element­of­“chagrin“­–­“sorrow“­
in­English­–­particularly­in­its­relation­to­“Auschwitz“,­is­overlooked­in­the­(still­
scant)­literature­on­Les Immatériaux.45­This­is­all­the­more­remarkable­given­
that­the­word­carries­–­in­France­at­least­–­inescapable­connotations­of­stalled­
remembrance­of­World­War­Two,­after­Marcel­Ophüls’s­well-known­doc-
umentary­from­1969­Le Chagrin et la pitié (The Sorrow and the Pity),­a­film­that­
gives­equal­time­to­testimonies­by­former­French­resistants­and­collaborators.
Le Différend­–­which,­as­I­mentioned,­Lyotard­was­completing­when­he­was­
approached­by­the­CCI­to­curate­the­exhibition­–­opens­with­the­prediction­
that­in­the­next­century­“there­will­no­longer­be­any­books“,­since­there­will­
be­no­time­to­read­and­the­aim­of­all­communication­will­be­to­absorb­“mes-
sages“­as­efficiently­as­possible.­Thus,­like­all­books­published­at­the­end­of­the­
twentieth­century,­Le Différend­stands­at­the­end­of­the­line­(“appartient … à 
une fin de série“ ).46­To­oppose,­or­at­least­defer­this­dystopian­outcome,­Lyotard­
theorises­“the­differend“,­the­irresolvable­difference­between­heterogeneous­
regimes­of­phrases.­“The­differend“­never­allows­one­to­conclude,­as­it­takes­
the interrogative form of Arrive-t-il?­(“Will­it­occur?“­or­“Is­it­coming?“),­a­
temporal­indecision­Lyotard­extends­to­“Auschwitz“,­an­event­he­takes­not­only­
44­ Lyotard,­“Note­sur­le­sens­de­‘post ’”,­Le Postmoderne expliqué aux enfants,­p.­116–117.
45­ Particularly­as­Auschwitz­was­brought­up­by­Lyotard­at­the­very­first­project­meeting­
for Les Immatériaux,­on­23­June­1983,­as­an­example­of­an­historical­“event”­–­see­the­
unsigned­handwritten­minutes­(PCA­94033/232).
46­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­Le Différend­(Paris:­Minuit­1983),­p.­13–14.
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 83
as­a­historical­break­(as­Adorno­did,­according­to­Lyotard),­but­as­a­linguistic­
one­(hence­the­use­of­quotation­marks).47
As­an­exhibition­rather­than­a­book,­and­as­a­dramaturgy­beginning­with­
images­referencing­the­Shoah­(through­Losey’s­“fictional“­cinematic­account),­
Les Immatériaux­staged­an­experience­of­“sorrow“­meant­to­give­rise­to­a­pro-
foundly­negative­feeling­–­a­feeling­the­visitor­could­not­possibly­have­escaped­
as­she­wandered­through­the­dark­maze­of­the­Centre­Pompidou,­confronted­
by­the­endless­choices­to­determine­a­trajectory­without­any­identifiable­goal­
in­sight.­As­Lyotard­put­it,­“The­exhibition­will­have­to­take­into­consideration­
this­aspect­of­sorrow­[chagrin]­and­this­form­of­‘continuation’­[poursuite] of 
technoscientific­development,­this­extraordinary­responsibility­of­a­hundred­
years­of­contemporary­or­avant-garde­art­where­all­the­big­questions­were­
posed­…­There­needs­to­be­this­aspect­of­sorrow­and­this­aspect­of­jubilation­
through­productive­questioning.“48
In Les Immatériaux­this­jubilation­never­arrives­–­as­Lyotard­reminded­Cournot­
in­their­heated­exchange­in­Le Monde.­Contaminated­by­doubt­instilled­from­
the­“pessimistic“­beginning­of­the­exhibition,­the­visitor­to­Les Immatériaux 
could­never­be­certain­that­what­should­occur­had,­in­fact,­occurred,­whether­
jubilatory­or­not.­“When­you­are­near­the­end­of­the­exhibition­maybe­there­
is­a­sort­of­optimism,­but­my­idea­and­that­of­the­organising­team­was­not­
to­be­optimistic­or­pessimistic:­the­exhibition­is­neutral­ground“,­Lyotard­
commented.49­Note­the­“maybe“,­for­it­suggests­a­fundamental­hesitation,­
a­circularity­and­endlessness­that­can­be­termed­“neutral“,­but­that­can­just­
as­easily­be­understood­as­Lyotard’s­indecision­that­after­“Auschwitz“­–­that­
is,­after­coming­to­terms­with­the­technosciences­not­as­the­enemy­of­art­(as­
per­the­Frankfurt­School)­but­as­complicit­in­an­increasing­complexification­of­
interaction­at­every­level­of­human­life­–­something­might,­indeed,­occur.50
As­the­visitor­entered­Les Immatériaux,­she­encountered­the­Ancient­Egyptian­
low-relief,­depicting­a­goddess­offering­the­sign­of­life­to­the­kind­Nectanebo­
II.­Looking­at­this­sculpture­in­the­exhibition’s­antechamber­–­“irreplaceable­
witness­for­us­of­what­‘we’­are­in­the­process­of­finally­losing”,­wrote­Lyotard­
–­the­visitor­would­have­heard,­through­the­headset,­the­sound­of­human­
breathing.51­The­visitor­then­proceeded­through­a­long­dark­corridor,­at­the­
47­ “The­‘Auschwitz’­model­would­designate­an­‘experience’­of­language­that­puts­a­halt­
to­speculative­discourse”­(Le Différend,­p.­132–133.).­On­the­troubling­implications­of­
quotation­marks­around­“Auschwitz”,­see­Elisabeth­de­Fonteney,­Une Toute autre histoire: 
Questions à Jean-François Lyotard­(Paris:­Fayard,­2006),­p.­81­et passim.
48­ “Conférence­de­Jean-François­Lyotard”,­p.­9.
49­ “Jean-François­Lyotard­discusses­the­exhibition,”­p.­3.
50­ On­Lyotard­and­the­Frankfurt­School,­see­“Gespräch­mit­Jean-François­Lyotard­von­Marie­
Luise­Syring­und­Clemens­Härle,”­p.­3­(PCA­94033/667).
51­ For­Lyotard’s­description­of­the­Egyptian­sculpture,­see­his­letter­to­Gaudibert­quoted­
above.
84 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
end­of­which­stood­a­large-scale­mirror,­which­in­turn­led­to­a­circular­open-
plan­space­entitled­Théâtre du non-corps,­where­she­faced­five­boxes,­one­per­
mat-­strand­coursing­through­the­exhibition.­Each­box­contained­a­miniature­
theatre­set­inspired­by­Beckett’s­plays,­designed­by­Beckett’s­stage­designer­
Jean-Claude­Fall­and­by­Gérard­Didier.­Antonia­Wunderlich,­in­her­important­
monograph on Les Immatériaux,­has­convincingly­argued­that­the­sequence­
formed­by­the­Egyptian­low-relief,­the­dark­corridor,­the­mirror­and­the­
circular­amphitheatre-like­space­with­the­five­miniature­theatre­sets­would­
have­suggested­to­the­visitor­that­the­origin­of­the­exhibition­lay­in­the­dis-
embodied,­objective­and­self-reflexive­gaze­of­modernity.52­For­Lyotard,­it­is­
this­gaze­that­allowed­the­goddess’s­sign­of­life­to­be­measured­“like­cattle“­by­
the­Nazi­doctor­pictured­in­the­fragment­of­Losey’s­film­projected­in­the­Nu 
Vain­site,­and­that­the­entire­exhibition­attempted­to­re-stage­in­the­light­–­a­
threatening,­uncertain­light­–­of­technoscientific­postmodernity.53­At­the­other­
end­of­Les Immatériaux,­the­visitor­once­again­encountered­the­same­Egyptian­
low-relief,­this­time­presented­as­an­image­cut­up­into­vertical­strips­projected­
onto­a­screen,­as­if­to­intimate­that­the­mythical­image­would­have­to­be­
thoroughly­transformed,­spliced­and­reassembled­before­“we“­could­begin­to­
re-imagine­another­founding­gesture,­another­community.
It­is­tempting­to­assimilate­this­final­blurred­projection­of­a­supposed­common­
cultural­heritage­to­a­sublimation­of­modernity­into­postmodernity,­or­to­a­
form­of­transcendence.­Lyotard­has­stated­that­the­sublime­was­very­much­
on­his­mind­while­working­on­Les Immatériaux,­particularly­as­he­was­lecturing­
on­“the­question­of­the­sublime“­at­the­Université­Paris­VIII­and­publishing­
widely­on­the­subject­at­the­time.54­But­while­he­was­preoccupied­by­the­sub-
lime,­and­would­remain­so­long­after­Les Immatériaux,­his­declared­area­of­
research­in­1984­was­“Philosophy­and­the­new­media­[les nouveaux supports] 
–­postmodernity.”55­One­could­argue­that­Lyotard­sought­with­Les Immatériaux 
to­disassociate­the­postmodern­from­the­sublime,­if­only­by­excluding­those­
artworks­he­had­previously­qualified­as­sublime,­such­as­Barnett­Newman’s­
paintings,­and­by­making­multiple­references­to­Duchamp,­whose­aesthetic,­
Lyotard­pointed­out,­“has­nothing­to­do­with­the­sublime“.56­Rather­than­simply­
produce­an­aesthetic­experience­illustrative­of­a­sublime­or­technoscientific­
future,­the­blur­performed­by­Les Immatériaux­might­then­allude­to­the­space­
of­Masaccio’s­frescoes­and­Cézanne’s­late­paintings­of­the­Sainte-Victoire­
52­ Wunderlich,­Der Philosoph im Museum,­p.­107­et passim.
53­ Lyotard,­“Qui­a­peur­des­‘Immatériaux’?”,­p.­5.
54­ See­“Gespräch­mit­Jean-François­Lyotard”,­p.­4.
55­ “Fiche­de­renseignements­à­produire­à­l’appui­d’une­demande­d’autorisation­de­cumul­
de­fonctions”,­filled­in­by­Lyotard,­dated­5­January­1984,­in­the­Centre­Pompidou­
archives.
56­ Blistène,­“A­Conversation­with­Jean-François­Lyotard”,­p.­129.­For­Lyotard’s­reflections­on­
Newman’s­sublime,­see­in­particular­“L’Instant­Newman”­in­L’Inhumain: Causeries sur le 
temps­(Paris:­Éditions­Galilée,­1988),­p.­89–99.
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 85
mountain,­in­which­Lyotard­recognised­the­deconstruction­of­representation­
in­order­to­intimate­a­sense­of­the­inevitable­decline­that­accompanies­the­
exhaustion­of­modernity’s­claim­to­pure,­total­and­objective­reason.­As­
Lyotard­wrote­already­in­1971,­“This­space­[of­Cézanne’s­late­paintings]­is­not­
at­all­­representational­any­more.­Instead,­it­embodies­the­deconstruction­
of­the­focal­zone­by­the­curved­area­in­the­periphery­of­the­field­of­vision.­It­
no­longer­makes­an­over­there­visible­d­according­to­geometrical­optics,­but­
manifests­Mount­Sainte-Victoire­­in­the­process,­as­it­were,­of­making­itself­
visible.”57
In­short,­the­space­embodied­at­Les Immatériaux­is­a­dynamic­one,­itself­based­
on­a­pictorial­one,­a­temporal­experiment­that­makes­manifest,­at­one­remove,­
the­spatial­experiment­of­the­painter­making­manifest­the­object­of­her­gaze­
in­the­process­of­becoming­visible.­In­the­documents­Lyotard­and­Chaput­
prepared­for­the­press,­they­defined­Les Immatériaux­not­as­an­exhibition­but­
as a “mise en espace-temps“,­a­“non-exhibition“,­a­“manifestation“.­By­fore-
grounding­this­last­expression,­the­two­curators­sought­to­“question­the­
traditional­presentation­of­exhibitions,­which­are­indebted­to­the­salons­of­the­
eighteenth­century­and­to­galleries“.58
“Painting“
For­Lyotard,­one­of­the­most­successful­“postmodern“­efforts­to­translate­the­
spatial­experience­of­the­exhibition­into­the­temporal­experience­of­a­man-
ifestation­was­the­philosopher­and­critic­Denis­Diderot’s­reports­on­the­Paris­
Salons­of­the­1760s,­which­relied­on­narrative­devices­that­played­upon­–­or­
deconstructed­to­endlessly­reconstruct­–­painting’s­power­to­elicit­the­sub-
lime.­In­Diderot’s­report­on­the­Salon­of­1767,­from­which­Lyotard­quotes­in­
the­preparatory­documents­for­Les Immatériaux,­the­eighteenth-century­critic­
imagines­himself­wandering­through­a­landscape­modelled­after­a­painting­by­
Joseph­Vernet,­in­the­company­of­a­fictitious­character­(a­priest)­who­claims­
that­painting­could­never­possibly­reproduce­the­sublime­beauty­of­the­land-
scape­–­which­is,­of­course,­based­precisely­on­a­Vernet­painting.­In­this­inter-
mingling­of­art­and­life,­of­realism­and­fiction,­Lyotard­sees­Diderot­performing­
“a­kind­of­rotation“­whereby­the­author­“settles­in­a­fictitious­space­rep-
resented­by­painting­and­from­there­defies­all­possible­painting“.59 This is how 
the­sublime­could­be­said­to­re-enter­Les Immatériaux,­by­way­of­a­derivation­
57­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­Discourse, Figure, Antony­Hudek­and­Mary­Lydon­(trans.)­
(Minneapolis,­London:­University­of­Minnesota­Press,­2010­[1971]),­p.­197.
58­ See­the­unpaginated­press­release­for­Les Immatériaux­distributed­before­the­press­
conference­on­8­January­1985­(PCA,­box­entitled­“1985­expo­‘Les Immatériaux’” ),­and­the­
second­project­description­for­Les Immatériaux­dated­April­1984­(PCA­1977001/130).
59­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­unpublished­document­entitled­“Après­six­mois­de­travail”,­in­this­
volume,­p.­52­(PCA­1977001/129).
86 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
from­the­illustration­of­the­sublime­(in­the­works­of­Newman,­for­example)­to­a­
non-representational,­second-degree­sublime­that­comes­to­the­fore­in­the­act­
of­manifesting,­or­trying­to­manifest­the­sublime­at­work­in­painting.60
As­opposed­to­the­Enlightenment­Bildungsroman­and­the­modern­city­though­
which­the­Baudelairian­flâneur­or­Situationist­chronicler­recorded­his­first-
person­impressions,­Les Immatériaux­refused­to­grant­primacy­to­the­sub-
ject’s­all-powerful­subjective­eye.­Had­it­aspired­to­showcase­the­sublime,­Les 
Immatériaux­would­have­taken­the­form­of­the­“blockbuster“­display­(among­
which,­for­example,­one­could­cite­Olafur­Eliasson’s­The Weather Project at Tate 
Modern,­London,­in­2003).­Instead,­Lyotard’s­and­Chaput’s­“manifestation“­
was­to­the­“large-scale­retrospective­what­Joyce’s­Ulysses is to the Odyssey”,­
that­is,­a­narrative­attempt­to­make­the­process­of­exhibiting­manifest.61 
Between­Ulysses­and­the­Odyssey,­the­relation­to­a­putative­origin­changes,­
as­does­the­flow­of­the­narrative:­chronological­and­sequential­in­the­latter,­
heterogeneous­and­non-linear­in­the­former.­In­describing­the­effect­sought­
by Les Immatériaux,­Lyotard­frequently­invoked­Virilio’s­notion­of­surexposition 
(“overexposure“­or,­equally,­“overexhibition“),­by­which­was­meant­the­
transformation of cities into sprawling “conurbations“ where “the opacity of 
construction­materials­is­reduced­to­nothing“­and­the­architecture­“begins­to­
drift,­to­float­in­an­electronic­ether­devoid­of­spatial­limits­yet­inscribed­in­the­
singular­temporality­of­an­instantaneous­broadcast“.62­What­distinguishes­this­
sublime­cyber-landscape­from­Lyotard’s­and­Chaput’s­stagecraft­is­precisely­
the­exhibition’s­opacity­and­depth­–­its­“difficult“­greyness­and­theatrical­
obscurity­–­which­impeded­the­seamless­mobility­and­translucency­of­Virilio’s­
futuristic­vision.63
The­fact­that­the­setting­for­this­alternate­vision­of­postmodernism­was­a­
“manifestation“­is­crucial,­for­it­is­through­an­exhibition­conceived­as­an­
immersive­theatrical­environment­that­the­singularity­of­the­modernist­eye­
could­be­transcended­and,­at­the­same­time,­that­transcendence­in­general,­
in the sense of Aufhebung,­could­be­shown­to­be­thoroughly­unpredictable,­
literally­unforeseeable.64­And­it­is­precisely­this­quality­that­undermines­the­
efforts­of­those­seeking­to­discuss­Les Immatériaux as a novel treatment of 
the­“exhibition­medium“.­Lyotard­aimed­to­challenge­Shannon­and­Wiener’s­
60­ This­transition­between­the­two­sublimes­is­discussed­by­Willem­van­Reijen­and­Dick­
Veerman­in­their­conversation­with­Lyotard,­“Les­Lumières,­le­sublime”,­in­Les Cahiers de 
philosophie,­no.­5,­1988,­p.­78.
61­ Early­project­description­of­Les Immatériaux,­p.­4­(PCA­92053/032).
62­ Paul­Virilio,­“Une­Ville­surexposée”,­Change  International,­no.­1,­1983,­p.­20­(PCA­
94033/0234).
63­ See­the­early­project­description­of­Les Immatériaux,­p.­11–12.­Lyotard­contrasts­Les 
Immatériaux­with­Virilio’s­surexposition­in­“Compte-rendu­de­la­réunion­du­19­décembre­
1983”­(PCA­94033/668).
64­ Lyotard­discusses­“manifestation”­in­relation­to­Hegel’s­Aufhebung in Discours, figure,­p.­
50–51.
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 87
communication­diagram,­in­which­“medium“­–­one­possible­translation­of­the­
French­“support“­–­is­the­central­term.65­Following­Diderot’s­allegorical­fable,­
Les Immatériaux­does­not­perform­a­“deconstruction“­of­an­exhibition­medium,­
but­rather­draws­attention­to­a­specific­“medium“­condition­–­that­of­painting­–­
through­the­specific­“exhibitionary“­form­of­a­heterogeneous­“mise en espace-
temps“, in­which­competing­discursive­genres­could­be­played­out.66
As­I­have­mentioned,­it­is­likely­that­the­inclusion­in­Les Immatériaux of 
Duchamp,­Monory­and­Buren­can­be­attributed­directly­to­Lyotard.­By­1985­
Lyotard­had­published­essays­on­all­three,­and­having­noted­the­conspicuous­
absence­at­the­Pompidou­of­“painterly“­painters­such­as­Newman­–­on­which­
Lyotard­had­also­written­–­one­can­infer­that­what­the­three­artists­have­in­
common,­in­relation­to­Les Immatériaux,­is­their­complex­relationship­to­the­
“medium“­of­painting­and­its­manifestation.­In­particular,­including­these­
“painters“­would­have­allowed­Lyotard­to­counter­the­Adornian­thesis­that­the­
technosciences­had­rendered­the­efforts­of­modernist­avant-gardes­obsolete,­
and­to­present­three­case­studies­in­which­“painting“­defied­the­repeatedly­
declared­“end“­of­its­medium­condition.­This­is­not­to­argue­that­the­covert­
presence of “painting“ in Les Immatériaux­constituted­proof­that­postmodern­
heterogeneity­effectively­challenged­the­divisions­modernism­had­upheld­
between­art,­science­and­popular­culture.­Rather,­the­incidental­presence­
of “painting“ in Les Immatériaux­articulated­one­way­in­which­the­most­
modernist­medium­could­relinquish­its­material­limits­in­order­to­manifest­
the­processes­by­which­it­makes­seeing­visible.­How­successful­one­judged­
this­demonstration­to­be­would­ultimately­determine­whether­one­found­Les 
Immatériaux­to­be­a­dramatisation­of­the­sorrow­prompted­by­the­spectacle­
of­the­decline­of­Enlightenment­ideals­or­of­the­uncertain­jubilation­elicited­by­
the­unfulfillable­promise­of­the­postmodern.
In­contrast­to­Duchamp,­Monory­appeared­in­only­one­site,­with­a­large­
four-panel­painting­from­1973­entitled­Explosion.67 On each of the panels was 
the­same­“hyper-realist“­depiction­of­a­commercial­aeroplane­exploding,­the­
image­progressively­fading­from­left­to­right­as­the­image­went­from­a­vivid­
blue-on-white­in­the­first­panel,­to­an­almost­white­monochrome­in­the­last.­
In­the­first­panel­on­the­left,­the­artist­copied­the­image­from­a­photograph;­in­
the­second,­only­the­lower­left-hand­corner­of­the­painting­was­painted­“free­
hand“,­while­the­rest­of­the­canvas­was­covered­with­light-sensitive­emulsion­
65­ Gallo,­Wunderlich­and­Birnbaum/Wallenstein­all­use­the­expression­“exhibition­medium”­
in reference to Les Immatériaux­(see,­respectively,­Les Immatériaux,­p.­34,­Der Philosoph,­
p.­14­et passim,­and­“Thinking­Philosophy”,­p.­143–144).
66­ For­the­expression­“mise­en­espace-temps”,­see­the­second­published­report­on­Les 
Immatériaux­(PCA­1977001/130).
67­ Monory’s­Explosion­occupied­the­Peintre sans corps­site­in­zone­9­of­the­“matériau”­strand.­
The­soundtrack­for­this­zone­featured­excerpts­from­texts­by­Maurice­Blanchot,­Octavio­
Paz­and­Henri­Michaux.
88 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
on­which­a­slide­of­the­same­image­was­projected­to­produce­a­photographic­
impression;­the­third­and­fourth­canvases­were­entirely­“photographic“,­with­
no­trace­of­the­artist’s­hand.­On­the­card­in­the­exhibition­catalogue­cor-
responding­to­the­site­of­Monory’s­Explosion,­Lyotard­adds­a­cryptic­note:­“The­
painter­confronts­the­two­ways.­Catastrophe­of­painting?“­As­Lyotard­specified­
on­the­back­of­the­card­–­an­excerpt­from­his­book­on­Monory­published­a­
year before Les Immatériaux­–­these­two­“ways“­are­not­to­be­understood­as­
“Cézanne­contra­Niépce”,­that­is,­as­different­mediums,­but­rather­as­two­
different­times­between­which­the­painter­oscillates:­the­time­of­capitalism­
(measurable,­accountable,­predictable)­and­libidinal­time­(gratuitous,­exces-
sive,­incapable­of­foresight­or­memory).68
Thus,­it­is­not­painting­in­the­era­of­generalised­technoscience­that­suffers­
the­catastrophe­of­its­own­demise.­Rather­it­is­painting­that­provokes­a­
chronological­catastrophe­by­cloaking­itself­in­the­dandy’s­melancholic­blue-
grey,­and­by­stalling­capitalism’s­unshakeable­positivism.­As­it­was­displayed­in­
Les Immatériaux,­Monory’s­painterly­disappearing­act­functioned­as­a­museo-
graphic­relic,­a­tangible­trace­of­two­contradictory­impulses:­on­the­one­hand,­
the­increasing­discrepancy­between­the­slowness­of­the­painter’s­hand­and­
the­immediate­act­of­recording­mass-mediated­“historical“­events;­and­on­
the­other,­in­its­very­disappearance,­painting­manifested­its­trans-medium­
resilience:­forced­to­abandon­a­“sublime­of­transcendence“,­it­now­engaged­
a­“sublime­of­immanence“,­as­a­way­to­expose­a­new­kind­of­questionable,­
technoscientific­sublimity,­one­capable­of­testifying­to­the­ever-expanding­
limits­of­experience­through­verifiable­and­accountable­facts.69­By­placing­a­
painting­on­a­wall,­Monory­allowed­Lyotard­to­come­the­closest­to­a­Salon-
inspired­hanging.­But­this­sublime­was­only­skin­deep,­immanent,­and­the­
clash­between­painting­and­the­“mass­media“­(in­this­case,­photography)­left­
only­a­paradoxical­quasi-monochrome­in­its­wake.­In­the­end,­it­is­colour­that­
appears­most­apt­at­recording­the­catastrophe­of­the­sublime’s­“défaillance“,­
its­seizure­or­failure.70
Colour,­in­both­Monory’s­Explosion­and­in­the­overall­scenography­of­Les 
Immatériaux,­underscored­the­distance­covered­since­modernism’s­“sublime­of­
transcendence“,­and­the­essential­witness­function­performed­by­the­“sub-
lime­of­immanence“.­According­to­Lyotard,­Buren’s­use­of­colour­fulfils­much­
the­same­function­as­Monory’s­–­that­of­testifying­to­a­foreclosed­logic­of­
presentation,­“in­favour­of­the­forbidden­‘colour’”.71­This­last­quote­is­from­an­
68­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­“Economie­libidinale­du­dandy”,­in­L’Assassinat de l’expérience par 
la peinture, Monory (Paris:­Le­Castor­astral­1984),­p.­48.
69­ Lyotard,­“Esthétique­sublime­du­tueur­à­gages”,­in­L’Assassinat de l’expérience par la 
peinture, Monory,­p.­152–154.
70­ Lyotard,­“Esthétique­sublime­du­tueur­à­gages”,­p.­143.
71­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­Que peindre? Adami Arakawa Buren,­vol.1­La­Vue­le­Texte­(Paris:­
Editions­de­la­Différence,­1987),­p.­110.
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 89
essay­Lyotard­published­on­Buren­in­1987,­in­which­one­cannot­help­but­notice­
a­similarity­between­Lyotard’s­descriptions­of­Buren’s­work­and­those­of­Les 
Immatériaux­two­years­before:­“For­Buren,­the­support,­the­site,­ideology,­are­
all­the­more­noticeable­as­pragmatic­operators­when­they­go­unnoticed,­and­
the­same­goes­for­their­exhibition.­It­is­not­a­question­of­educating,­but­rather­
of­refining­the­pragmatic­tricks­[ruses]­that­enable­the­works­to­be­effective.­
But­then,­for­whom,­if­it­goes­unnoticed?­What­is­the­destination­of­this­meta-
destined­work?­In­any­case,­rather­a­sub-exposure­(or­sub-exhibition).“72
Buren’s­significance­for­Les Immatériaux­could­easily­be­overlooked,­as­the­
artist’s­work­did­not­appear­at­all­on­the­fifth­floor­of­the­Centre­Pompidou,­
but only in the Epreuves d’écriture volume­of­the­exhibition­catalogues,­whose­
white­monochrome­cover­would­prove­the­ideal­foil­for­Buren’s­invisible­
“sub-exposure/-exhibition“.­In­concealing­the­work­of­a­painter­known­for­
his­seemingly­endless­variations­on­colour,­Lyotard­may­have­had­in­mind­a­
project­Buren­made­in­1977­entitled­Les Couleurs: Sculptures.­Buren’s­project,­
produced­for­the­Pompidou­in­its­inaugural­year,­consisted­in­flags,­bearing­
his­famous­motif­of­alternating­white­and­coloured­vertical­bands,­flying­from­
Paris­rooftops.­The­flags­were­to­be­seen­from­the­Pompidou’s­terrace,­where­
telescopes­were­available­to­help­visitors­locate­the­tiny,­often­scarcely­visible­
spots­of­coloured­cloth­on­the­horizon.­In­his­account­of­Les Couleurs,­Lyotard­
lays­particular­stress­on­the­difference­between­experiencing­the­project­after­
the­fact,­as­documented­through­photography,­and­the­actual­effort­of­trying­
to­spot­the­flags­across­the­cityscape.­While­Buren’s­own­photographic­records­
of Les Couleurs­are,­Lyotard­writes,­“monocular,­linear,­fixed,­definitive“,­the­
process­of­scanning­the­horizon­from­the­museum­had­the­effect­of­producing­
a­“melodic­curve“­capable­of­dispensing­“rhythms“­that­“disorganise­and­
organise­vision“,­revealing­in­the­process­“to­what­extent­the­art­gaze­[le regard 
d’art]­is­subject­to­generally­unconscious­chronic­conditions”.73­By­removing­
Buren’s­trademark­stripes­from­Les Immatériaux­altogether,­Lyotard­was­side-
stepping­the­medium-specific­modernist­distinction­between­Cézanne­and­
Niépce,­focusing­instead­on­the­far­more­critical­question­of­how­to­“visibly­
expose­what­is­not­visible­in­the­exhibition­itself“.74
For­Lyotard,­this­question­was­best­posed­by­paradoxical­artists­such­as­
Duchamp,­Monory­and­Buren,­for­whom­“painting“­represents­a­philosophical­
as­well­as­phenomenological­test­–­and­for­whom,­moreover,­the­ultimate­test­
resides­in­“painting”’s­colour.­Just­as­for­these­“painters“­colour­serves­both­to­
reveal­and­to­dissimulate­their­respective­mediums­–­pigment­in­the­service­
of­olfactory­experience­in­Duchamp’s­Torture-Morte­and­Eau de voilette, the 
bleached­canvas­turned­photographic­support­for­Monory,­and­Buren’s­elision­
72­ Lyotard,­Que peindre?,­p.108.
73­ Ibid.,­p.­90,­103,­and­110.
74­ Ibid.,­p.­99.
90 30 Years after Les Immatériaux
of­painting­from­the­museum­–­so­the­ominous­and­uniform­“demanding“­grey­
of Les Immatériaux­shrouded­visitor­and­artwork­alike­in­a­disorienting­and­
unbound­monochrome­that­simultaneously­obscured­the­museum­to­better­
expose­it­as­a­fundamentally­unmanageable,­complex­temporal­space­sub-
ject­to­“unconscious­chronic­conditions“.­As­Françoise­Coblence­has­­argued,­
the­presence­of­colour­in­Lyotard’s­work­“remains­insistent,­as­if­coming­
from­a­time­that­nothing,­no­postmodern­condition,­can­erase­and­which­the­
insistence­on­anamnesis­will­bring­back”.­Coblence­goes­on­to­suggest­that,­for­
Lyotard,­the­phônè­of­the­human­voice­is­to­the­silence­hidden­within­language­
what­colour­is­to­the­invisibility­immanent­in­“painting“.75
This­equation­between­the­immateriality­of­colour­or­human­voice­and­
the­essential,­ineffable­element­of­what­constitutes­an­artwork­seems­to­
lend­credence­to­Lyotard’s­and­Chaput’s­claim­that­Les Immatériaux “merely 
presents­to­the­eyes­and­ears­some­of­the­effects­[of­a­new­sensibility],­as­
would­a­work­of­art“.76­But­to­grant­Les Immatériaux­art-like­status,­a­number­of­
operations­of­working-through,­or­anamnesis,­must­first­be­performed:­of­the­
modern­in­the­postmodern;­of­the­pictorial­or­fictional­field­in­the­exhibition­
space­(as­Diderot­did­in­his­report­on­the­1767­Salon);­and­of­colour­(or­voice)­
in­the­pictorial/fictional­field­(as­manifested­in­Les Immatériaux,­in­particular,­
through­Duchamp,­Monory­and­Buren).­These­permutations­are­what­
destabilise­any­authorship­the­anthropocentric­“I“­may­have­over­a­“work“­–­be­
it­of­art­–­and­transform­the­singular­subject­into­a­participant­in­a­collective­
heterologia.77
We­may­debate­whether­Les Immatériaux­successfully­dramatised­these­
reversals;­whether,­that­is,­Lyotard­and­Chaput­managed,­as­Lyotard­put­it,­
to­“convert­anxiety­into­joyfulness“­and­“displace­the­tragic­nature­of­writing­
into­humour“.78­Yet­what­is­undeniable­is­that,­true­to­Freud’s­definition­of­
anamnesis­as­a­first­step­in­the­analytic­treatment,­the­working-through­of­
Les Immatériaux­has­only­just­begun­–­not­in­search­of­any­definitive­origin­
or­answer,­but­as­a­potentially­endless­chain­of­phrases­in­which­Lyotard’s­
commitment­to­an­“initial­forgetting“­at­the­Centre­Pompidou­in­1985­still­pres-
sures­us­to­take­part.79
75­ Françoise­Coblence,­“Les­Peintres­de­Jean-François­Lyotard”,­in­Corinne­Enaudeau­et al. 
(eds),­Les Transformateurs Lyotard­(Paris:­Sens­&­Tonka,­2008),­p.­93,­and­96.
76­ Early­published­press­release­(PCA­1977001/130).
77­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­“La­Philosophie­et­la­peinture­à­l’ère­de­leur­expérimentation”,­
in­Anne­Cazenave­and­Jean-François­Lyotard­(eds),­L’Art des confins: Mélanges offerts à 
Maurice de Gandillac­(Paris:­Presses­Universitaires­de­France,­1985),­p.­468–469.
78­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­“Post-scriptum”,­Epreuves d’écriture,­p.­262.
79­ On­an­“initial­forgetting”­see­Lyotard,­“Note­sur­le­sens­de­‘post ’”,­in­Le Postmoderne 
expliqué aux enfants,­p.­119.­For­a­clinical­definition­of­anamnesis,­refer­to­Sigmund­Freud,­
“The­Aetiology­of­Hysteria”­(1896),­in­Standard Edition,­James­Strachey­et­al.­(eds.),­vol.­III,­
(London:­Hogarth­Press,­1962),­p.­191–192.
From Over- to Sub-Exposure 91
This paper is a version of a talk given at the conference Landmark­Exhibitions:­Contemporary­
Art­Shows­Since­1968, a collaboration between Tate Modern and Jan van Eyck Academie with 
the Royal College of Art and The London Consortium, in October 2008. It appears here in a 
slightly edited version of the text originally published in Tate Papers 12 (2009): http://www.tate.
org.uk/download/file/fid/7267. The paper also appeared in Flemish in De Witte Raaf, no.142, 
November 2009. For theirs invaluable help, the author would like to thank Gilles Bion, Jean-
Philippe Bonilli, Monique Chardet, Jean Charlier, Gérard Chiron, Sara De Bondt, Henry Delangle, 
Pauline Hudek, Sarah Wilson, and Antonia Wunderlich.