Georges Didi-Huberman's 'Atlas' explores knowledge through images

An excerpt from Georges Didi-Huberman's forthcoming book 'Atlas ou le gai savoir inquiet' was published, accompanying the exhibition 'Atlas, comment remonter le monde' at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. The book, to be released in France by Les Éditions de Minuit, redefines the atlas as a visual form of knowledge that disrupts traditional epistemic and aesthetic models. Didi-Huberman argues that the atlas, unlike a dictionary or a definitive catalog, is an inexhaustible tool driven by imagination, revealing hidden correspondences between disparate images. He contrasts this with Platonic and Albertian traditions that prioritize unity and purity, citing Panofsky, Alberti, Greenberg, Fried, and Baudelaire. The atlas, he claims, introduces impurity, multiplicity, and montage, breaking frames and opening up interstitial zones of exploration. The text emphasizes that imagination is not fantasy but a capacity to perceive intimate relations, as Baudelaire wrote. The excerpt challenges conventional reading and viewing practices, positioning the atlas as a dangerous yet generous object that subverts both scientific and artistic certainties.