Art does not know a particular type of reality; it contrasts with knowledge. It is the very event of obscuring, a descent of the night, an invasion of shadow. To put it in theological terms. Art does not belong to the order of revelation. Nor does it belong to that of creation, which moves in just the opposite direction. A statue realizes the paradox of an instant that endures without a future. Its duration is not really an instant. Within the life, or rather the death, of a statue, an instant endures infinitely: eternally Laocoon will be caught up in the grip of serpents; the Mona Lisa will smile eternally. Eternally, the smile of Mona Lisa about to broaden will not broaden. An eternally suspended future floats around the congealed position of a statue like a future forever to come. Emmanuel Levinas, Reality and its Shadow, Les Temps Modernes, 1948.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 16:08:58 +0000
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