Norbert Hillaire's 'La Fin de la modernité sans fin' Explores Art and Digital Milieu

Norbert Hillaire's 'La Fin de la modernité sans fin' (published by L'Harmattan) extends his earlier work 'L'Expérience esthétique des lieux' (2008), examining art's relationship with new technologies as an environment rather than mere tools. The book argues that generalized digitization creates a present that struggles to recognize itself, with 'a future that is already behind us.' Hillaire connects future to past to overcome the dead ends of modernity and a circling postmodernity. The work blends European modernist critical and literary tradition with philosophical constructivism, avoiding both technophile messianism and technophobic melancholy. It offers ingredients to live in the present as an exciting period from which future forms emerge. Additionally, Hillaire's 'Double vue' (Somogy) presents fifty short texts inspired by the work of artist-theorist Julien Friedler, creating a mirror play between depth and poetry. The review was written by Catherine Mathis.