Ut pictura poesis. From One plus One to the « Godardesques » in contemporary aesthetics

Abstract

The article deals with Jean-Luc Godard's interventions in the multimedia arts, known as « fraternal arts », and ut pictura poesis to reconsider the audiovisual juxtaposition of fiction and documentary in the late sixties and « cinema effects » in contemporary art installations. It retraces some of the main elements of the film One plus One directed by Jean-Luc Godard and addresses its role and importance in the clandestine nature of artistic creation by revealing the interconnections between « musical history in the making » and the aesthetics of graffiti, Brechtian quote, and distancing (Verfremdungseffekt). In the second part, the essay draws on Burgin and Dubois to examine how so-called « Godardesques » emerges in the context of contemporary museum installations. By approaching artistic works, our wish is to reveal the forms of reconstitution of the Godardian One plus One. These works loosely linked to classical cinema can be considered, following Burgin, as cinematic heterotopias.