From: "jon roffe" <i_mimesis-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: The unpresentable
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 18:21:25 PDT



>Julie Manning Brovkin wrote:
>> 
>> Can you lead me to the best sources in understanding Lyotard's idea 
of the
>> unpresentable in art?
>> 
>> How is the unpresentable related to the differend -- is the differend 
a witness
>> of the unpresentable, or are they two unrelated concepts?
>> 
>> Is the unpresentable related to other postmodern criticisms of the 
possibility
>> of presence in art?
>> 
>> Thanks for your help!  I really look forward to a great dialogue 
about these
>> ideas.
>> 
>> Julie Brovkin
>-AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT--AT-

Well, I have a little to offer here.  Lyotard is very interested in 
Kant's version of the sublime, and from what I've read, this is where 
aesthetics links with his more general work - this is the key point it 
seems to me. Lyotard's interest in art is not just a hobby or side 
interest.  The notion of the unrepresentable is a political notion too, 
for Lyotard, ie. what is unrepresentable is important to issues of 
identity, power etc.

Some things to read if you're up for it - "Heidegger and 'the jews" by 
Lyotard touches on some of the issues surrounding what is 
unrepresentable.  

More specifically on art, you might want to check out his book on 
Duchamp (which I haven't as yet read): "Duchamp's trans/formers" [has 
anyone out there read this?]

But a very interesting secondary text that looks at the place of 
aesthetics and its relation to critical thought in Lyotard, Foucault and 
Derrida is "Paraesthetics" by David Carrol. [has anyone read this?]

I don't know how helpful these will be, but they're worth a look

cheers,
Jon

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