Franck Cormerais on Digital Poetics and Social Sculpture
In artpress, Franck Cormerais explores a concept he terms the 'poetics of the digital,' which emerges as a contemporary artistic framework shaped by Joseph Beuys's notion of 'social sculpture' and the work of Nicolas Schöffer. This concept seeks to reintegrate the sublime into everyday life, critiques the commercialization of art, and addresses the demands of cultural industries. Cormerais advocates for a 'transvaluation' of art via collective appreciation, blending theory with practice in a process he calls 'enœuvrement.' He also highlights a new art regime called 'interposition,' which focuses on art's relevance in daily existence. Additionally, he introduces 'po(e)litics,' which combines poetic and political elements, promoting a fresh political approach through 'public fabrication.' The goal of digital poetics is to cultivate an 'art of living' that encourages creative practices and engages with the world in a poetic manner.
Key facts
- Franck Cormerais writes in artpress about a 'poetics of the digital'.
- The concept builds on Joseph Beuys's 'social sculpture' and Nicolas Schöffer's work.
- It draws on Gilbert Simondon's 'collective individuation' and Abraham Moles's cybernetics.
- The poetics responds to the 'de-definition of art' (Harold Rosenberg) and cultural industries.
- It opposes the 'hatred of art' exemplified by Gunther von Hagens and Jeff Koons.
- Cormerais identifies a third regime of art: interposition, after mimesis and form juxtaposition.
- The shift is from plastic arts to brain plasticity and a 'fabric' against kitsch and neuromarketing.
- The poetics critiques Andy Warhol's factory and contrasts it with Marcel Duchamp's ready-made.
- New procedures of enœuvrement and collective creation occur in labs (crea labs, media labs, fab labs).
- Cormerais coins 'po(e)litics' as the contraction of poetic and political.
- The poetics revives ancient sophrosyne (grace) linked to poiesis.
- It aims for an 'art of living' that constructs innovative habits and inhabits the world poetically.
Entities
Artists
- Joseph Beuys
- Nicolas Schöffer
- Gunther von Hagens
- Jeff Koons
- Andy Warhol
- Marcel Duchamp
- Allan Kaprow
- Franck Cormerais
- Michel Ragon
- Gilbert Simondon
- Abraham Moles
- Harold Rosenberg
- Bernard Stiegler
- László Moholy-Nagy
- Paul Valéry
- Theodor Adorno
- Jean Baudrillard
- Clement Greenberg
Institutions
- artpress
Locations
- New York