Introduction Yuk Hui and Andreas Broeckmann The Postmodern in Les Immatériaux In­1985,­the­French­philosopher­Jean-François­Lyotard,­together­with­the­ design­theorist­Thierry­Chaput,­curated­the­exhibition­Les Immatériaux at the­Centre­Georges­Pompidou­in­Paris.­He­had­accepted­an­invitation­by­the­ Minister for Culture­and­the­Center for Industrial Creation (CCI).­Six­years­after­ Lyotard’s­report­on­The Postmodern Condition (1979),1­the­exhibition­dem- onstrated­the­hypothesis­which­he­had­described­in­the­report.­The­objects­ and­artworks­shown­expressed­his­observations­of­what­was­happening­in­ domains­such­as­art,­science­and­philosophy,­under­the­new­condition­of­com- munication­technologies.­Lyotard’s­report­is­considered­to­be­a­response­to­ another­report­by­Simon­Nora­and­Alain­Minc,­in­the­1970s,­which­proposed­ the “computerisation of society”2.­Nora­and­Minc’s­project­lead­to­the­devel- opment­of­the­French­Minitel­system.­According­to­Lyotard,­the­new­“post- modern”­condition­demanded­a­new­sensibility,­as­he­stated­in­the­principle­ proposition­for­the­exhibition:­“The­insecurity,­the­loss­of­identity,­the­crisis­ is­not­expressed­only­in­economy­and­the­social,­but­also­in­the­domains­of­ the­sensibility,­of­the­knowledge­and­the­power­of­man­(futility,­life,­death),­ the­modes­of­life­(in­relation­to­work,­to­habits,­to­food,­…­etc.).”3­A­constant­ return­to­the­postmodern­condition­became­a­general­method­of­Lyotard’s­ philosophical­thinking­to­go­beyond­the­modern­imagination,­and­guided­the­ construction­of­the­exhibition­which­was,­in­his­own­words,­a­“manifestation”,­ a­“non-exhibition”. 1­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­La Condition postmoderne­(Paris:­Éditions­de­Minuit,­1979). 2­ Charlie­Gere,­Art, Time and Technology­(Oxford:­Berg,­2006),­p.­139. 3­ Les Immatériaux catalogue, Album (Paris:­Centre­Pompidou,­1985),­p.­26. 10 30 Years after Les Immatériaux The­title­of­the­exhibition­Les Immatériaux­demonstrates­a­form­of­resistance­ against­the­modern­conception­of­materiality.­The­original­title­for­the­project­ that­the­CCI­had­initiated­already­in­1981,­before­Lyotard­got­involved­in­1983,­ was Création et matériaux nouveaux.­This­title­was­changed­several­times:­ Matériau et création,­Matériaux nouveaux et création,­La Matière dans tous ses états,­before­it­was­finally­announced­to­the­public­as­Les Immatériaux.4 The etymological root mât­refers­to­making­by­hand,­to­measure,­to­construct.­ The­moderns­since­Descartes­conceive­a­dualism­and­hence­an­opposition­ between the res cogitans­and­the­res extensa;­the­thinking­mind­becomes­the­ foundation­of­knowledge­and­also­the­judge­of­what­is­real.­As­Lyotard­wrote:­ “In­the­tradition­of­modernity,­the­relation­of­the­human­with­materials­is­fixed­ by­the­Cartesian­programme:­to­become­master­and­possessor­of­nature.­A­ free­will­imposes­its­ends­to­the­given­sense­data­to­divert­them­away­from­ their­natural­sense.­It­will­determine­their­end­with­the­help­of­language­which­ allows­it­to­articulate­what­is­possible­(a­project)­and­to­impose­it­upon­what­is­ real­(matter).”5 Hence­Lyotard­considered­that­a­title­such­as­matériaux nouveaux would­ only­perpetuate­the­modern­conception,­while­using­the­prefix­im-­could­ introduce­a­moment­of­self-reflection:­“The­exhibition­[manifestation]­entitled­ Les Immatériaux­has­the­purpose­of­presenting­[faire sentir] how much this relation­is­altered­by­the­fact­of­new­materials.­In­this­extended­sense,­the­new­ materials­are­not­only­new­materials,­they­interrogate­an­idea­of­the­human­ who­works,­who­projects,­who­remembers:­of­an­author.”6 The immaterial is fundamentally­material.­The­point­was­not­to­appreciate­the­new­materiality­ brought­by­the­telecommunication­technologies,­but­rather­to­question­the­ relation­between­man­and­his­desire­to­become­the­master­of­matter.­The­ aim­of­calling­it­“immaterial”,­like­the­designation­of­the­“postmodern”,­was­ to­liberate­man­from­the­modern­paradigm,­and­to­release­material­from­the­ prison­of­the­industrial­revolution. At­the­time,­Lyotard­had­just­finished­writing­Le Differénd,­a­book­dedicated­ to­the­philosophy­of­Kant­and­Wittgenstein,­in­which­Lyotard­wanted­to­ re-read­the­history­of­philosophy­according­to­what­was­called­the­linguistic turn.7 The differend­refers­to­an­unresolved­conflict­due­to­the­lack­of­rules­or­ metanarratives­which­are­common­to­two­different­systems­of­discourse.­We­ should­also­recognise­that­language­was­always­at­the­centre­of­his­thoughts,­ as­was­already­evident­since­his­PhD­thesis,­which­was­later­published­as­ 4­ Antony­Hudek,­“From­Over-­to­Sub-Exposure:­The­Anamnesis­of­Les Immatériaux”,­in­this­ volume,­p.­72. 5 Les Immatériaux catalogue, Album­(Paris:­Centre­Pompidou,­1985),­p.­16. 6­ Ibid. 7­ Jean-François­Lyotard, Le Différend­(Paris:­Minuit,­1983). Introduction 11 matière [referent] référent [referent] destinateur destinataire [sender] [receiver] maternité message matériel [maternity] [message] [hardware] matériau [support] code [code] matrice [matrix] [Figure­1]­Communication­diagram­(Source:­Petit Journal,­28­March–15­July­1985,­Paris,­p.­2.­ Centre­Pompidou,­MNAM,­Bibliothèque­Kandinsky). Discours, Figure­(1971).8­The­question­of­language­was­hence­fundamental­ to­Lyotard’s­conceptualisation­of­this­exhibition,­especially­since­telecom- munication­technology­had­created­a­new­materiality­of­language­between­ senders­and­receivers;­or­more­fundamentally,­it­served­as­the­basis­of­the­ postmodern­turn.­The­conception­of­language­as­a­tool­also­characterises­ modernity,­because­“modernity­presupposes­that­everything­speaks,­this­ means­that­so­long­as­we­can­connect­to­it,­capture­it,­translate­it­and­inter- pret­it,­there­is­no­fundamental­difference­between­data­and­a­phrase;­there­ is­no­fundamental­difference­between­a­phenomenon­of­displacement­in­an­ electromagnetic­spectrum­and­a­logical­proposition”.9­But­it­is­also­such­an­ equivalence­that­allows­Lyotard­to­develop­an­ontology­of­the­material­or­ immaterial­according­to­a­model­of­telecommunication:­matériau/medium,­ matériel/receiver­(destinataire),­maternité/emitter­(destinateur),­matière/ referent,­and­matrice/code­[Figure­1].­The­new­materiality­was­mapped­onto­ the­model­of­telecommunication.­The­objects­and­artworks­in­the­exhibition,­ as­well­as­the­60­sites­at­which­they­were­presented,­were­also­classified­and­ ordered­according­to­these­five­categories. Art and Science in Question Lyotard­compared­the­displacement­of­the­electromagnetic­spectrum­and­log- ical­propositions,­and­continued:­“given­this­fact,­in­this­face-to-face­relation­ to­a­universe­that­is­his­to­dominate­–­a­heroic­relation,­I­would­say­–­in­order­ to­make­himself­the­master­of­it,­man­must­become­something­else­entirely:­ the­human­subject­becomes­no­longer­a­subject­but,­I­would­say,­one­case­ among­others,­albeit­a­case­which­retains­this­privilege,­until­proven­otherwise­ 8­ Jean-François­Lyotard,­Discours, Figure­(Paris:­Klincksieck,­1971),­translated­into­English­by­ Antony­Hudek­and­Mary­Lydon,­Minneapolis­MN:­University­of­Minnesota­Press,­2011). 9­ From­Lyotard’s­report,­“Après­six­mois­de­travail”;­see­this­volume,­p.­33. 12 30 Years after Les Immatériaux (which­is­extremely­improbable)”.10 It was clear to the curatorial team that technology­was­not­the­cause­of­a­rupture,­but­rather­the­sign­of­the­decline­ of­the­figure­of­the­modern,­and­that­at­the­same­time­technology­made­ this­modern­project­reflect­upon­itself,­and­destabilise­itself.11­In­Lyotard’s­ words,­technology­places­humanity­once­again­in­a­condition­of­childhood,­ of­immaturity.­This­reference­to­immaturity­is­in­direct­contrast­to­what­Kant­ defined­as­the­project­of­the­Enlightenment,­namely­to­overcome­the­con- dition­of­Unmündigkeit. Unmündigkeit,­however,­is­not­opposed­to­maturity;­rather­it­is­opposed­ to­authority,­or­more­precisely,­to­the­authority­that­legislates­as­the­sole­ voice.­Scientific­knowledge­has­been­such­an­authority,­which­not­only­ demythologises­the­universe,­but­also­has­a­demoralising­impact­upon­what­ Lyotard­calls­the­problem­of­legitimation.12­The­postmodern­also­questions­ a­certain­hegemony­of­authority­and­hence­radically­opens­up­the­way­that­ knowledge­is­acquired­and­narrated.­The­arrival­of­the­postmodern­demands­ a­sensitivity­to­the­material­conditions,­at­the­same­time­as­it­gives­us­a­ new­sensibility­of­living.­In­the­1980s­and­‘90s,­we­saw­the­celebration­of­the­ postmodern,­as­a­liberation­from­the­shackles­of­rules,­codes,­oppositions,­ and­especially­of­the­modern;­a­celebration­which­was­evident­in­almost­ all­domains­listed­in­the­exhibition:­alimentation,­perfume,­architecture,­ urbanism,­art,­astrophysics­and­physics,­biology­and­genetics,­writing,­habitat,­ mathematics,­money,­music,­theatre,­dance­etc.­The­setting­of­the­exhibition­ is­probably­the­best­illustration­of­this.­It­presents­us­with­a­labyrinth­in­which­ every­object­is­at­once­familiar­and­strange.­Envisaging­the­construction­of­ the­exhibition­space,­Lyotard­proposed­to­go­back­to­an­idea­of­Denis­Diderot­ who,­when­reviewing­the­paintings­of­Claude­Joseph­Vernet­in­the­1767­Salon,­ presented­them­not­as­pictures­to­be­viewed­following­the­traditional­logic­ of­the­division­of­gallery­space,­but­rather­described­them­as­real­sites,­in­the­ form­of­disorientations­of­space. The­exhibition­arose­from­an­effort­to­move­the­concept­of­the­postmodern­ outside­of­books­and­to­find­its­support­in­other­objects,­such­as­scientific,­ industrial­and­art­objects.­This­approach­reflected­a­global­vision,­without­