Patricia Signorile's 'Le cadre de la peinture' Rethinks the Frame

In her work 'Le cadre de la peinture', Patricia Signorile, a poïetics instructor at Université Paul-Cézanne, delves into the concept of the frame in art, a topic first theorized by Alberti in De Pictura. She contends that frames serve as enclosed representations that dismiss their surroundings, turning viewers into analytical interpreters. This perspective mechanizes cognition and commercializes art, foreshadowing future dilemmas. The frame enforces a prevailing Western narrative that categorizes and regulates representation, resonating with Marcuse's notion of the one-dimensional man. From Alberti's time to the present, a mechanistic outlook influenced by Descartes' Third Meditation dominates, equating 'seeing' with 'knowing', with even off-frame artists like Rothko and Barnett Newman embodying this all-encompassing logic.