Tag Archives: taboo

Damnatio memoriae

Recarving Nero

Portrait heads of the emperor Octavius Augustus. “The Joslyn portrait displays clear indications that it was recut from another person’s likeness, limiting the sculptor by dissimilarities to Augustus’ features in the original subject. Recut portraits in general exhibit asymmetries, undercutting, and unnatural planar features where a chisel or other implement has been used to remove […]

All form is a face looking at us

If as Serge Daney writes, “all form is a face looking at us“, what does a form  become when it is plunged into the dimension of dialogue? What is a form that is essentially relational? It seems worth while to discuss this question taking Daney’s formula as a point of reference, precisely because of its […]

Tabou

Words banned by proclamation and restored through expiatory ceremonials. The Abipones as declassifiers? Dans la langue des Abipones du Paraguay, on introduit des mots nouveaux chaque année, car on supprime par proclamation tous les mots qui ressemblent aux noms des morts et on les remplace par d’autres. On comprend que de tels procédés liquident la […]