The Sublime in the Interpretation of Postmodern Art: J.-F. Lyotard’s Conception for the Art Exhibition The Immaterial

Abstract

The art exhibition "The Immaterial" that took place in 1985 in Pompidou Centre in Paris was intended to demonstrate the influence the new technologies exert on our attitude towards knowledge, culture and art. As one of the event’s curators, J.-F. Lyotard aimed at creating a representation of his philosophic concept of the postmodern as related to the notion of the sublime. He shows how the modern art practices, by means of associations, of the dialogue between the various technical media, by combining sound, motion, on-screen images, macro- and microshooting, create a gesture clearly pointing to the non-existence of any non-representable form.