Slow Motion Suicide: Paul Virilio and the Aesthetics of Disappearance

by

Dr. John Armitage
Division  of  Media  &  Communication
School  of  Arts  &  Social  Sciences
Northumbria  University

Date:	3pm, 3rd September 2008
Location:	AS7, Level 6 (The Shaw Foundation Building) Research Clusters Meeting Room A

Abstract:

The aim of this illustrated lecture is to examine the significance of the aesthetic work of French cultural theorist Paul Virilio for critics of art and technology. The lecture is intended for those initially approaching or possibly contemplating deploying Virilio’s extensive writings on The Aesthetics of Disappearance, his essay on the world as we see it and its passing and related philosophically informed work on human perception with an eye to clarifying his and others’ theoretical perspectives on the cultural critique of perception. Such a point of view calls for a commentary on Virilio’s life history as well as an analysis of his ideas concerning photography, science, and cinema. In addition to the central theme of the aesthetics of disappearance, Virilio’s fundamental notions concerning the age of the aesthetics of disappearance is introduced, and, alongside questions of art, explored as an example of a Virilian outlook on the contemporary vulnerability of the human condition. It is established and argued that although a Virilian standpoint on the field of contemporary aesthetics and perception at first might seem inappropriate to conventional cultural critics, a multifaceted investigation uncovers its value for understanding recent events and contemporary artistic and cultural practices. The innovation and import of the lecture arise from its consideration of Virilio’s pioneering cultural theory in light of the irresistible project and projection towards a ‘technical beyond’ or slow motion suicide.