The Postmemory Paradigm: Christian Boltanski’s Second-Generation Archive A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Jenna A. Altomonte June 2009 ©2009 Jenna A. Altomonte. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled The Postmemory Paradigm: Christian Boltanski’s Second-Generation Archive by JENNA A. ALTOMONTE has been approved for the School of Art and the College of Fine Arts by _______________________________ Jennie Klein Assistant Professor of Art History ______________________________ Charles A. McWeeny Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT ALTOMONTE, JENNA A., M.A., June 2009, Art History The Postmemory Paradigm: Christian Boltanski’s Second-Generation Archive (133 pp.) Director of Thesis: Jennie Klein As a second-generation survivor of the Holocaust, Christian Boltanski incorporates his familial heritage into his performance and photographic installations. Boltanski’s status within the context of the postmemory generation, an era defined by the memories of primary Holocaust survivors, materializes as a constant theme throughout his visual oeuvre. He appropriates elements of his personal history in the discursive space of the postmemory archive, merging personal and collective histories commonly associated with a traditional archive. As a traditional space for storing mnemonic documents and artifacts, the archive serves as the primary media form to represent the task of memorializing the deceased through material remembrance. The second- generation of Holocaust survivors in the post-World War II era sought to develop a dialogue with the primary generation of survivors. The main goal of this thesis is to examine Christian Boltanski’s oeuvres within the space of the postmemory archive. I argue that Boltanski’s position as a second-generation survivor working within postmemory results in the creation of archival works based in his familial heritage. Approved________________________________________________________________ Jennie Klein Assistant Professor of Art 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Ohio University department of Art History, especially my advisor Jennie Klein for the valuable guidance throughout the entirety of this thesis. I would also like to thank my committee members Jaleh Mansoor and Matthew Friday for their time and contribution. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………3 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….4 List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..7 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………10 Chapter I: Postmemory and the Nachgeborenen………………………………………...18 The Survivor: The Essential Postmemory Form……………………………….19 Postmemory: Fragments Reconstructed……………………………………….21 Trauma and Postmemory………………………………………………………24 The Postmemorial Object: The Photo as Witness……………………………...25 The Photo as Memory………………………………………………………….27 The Postmemory Response: The Object as Art………………………………..32 Chapter II: The Post-War Aesthetic: “Art after Auschwitz”…………………………….39 The Post-War Aesthetic: Adorno and Celan…………………………………...41 Post-War and Kitsch…………………………………………………………...47 The Myth of Joseph Beuys…………………………………………………….50 Adorno and Beuys……………………………………………………………...58 Chapter III: The Early Years of Boltanski……………………………………………….61 Boltanski’s Early Life: The Nachgeborenen…………………………………...65 Situationist International: Guy Debord and Beyond…………………………...67 Les evenements de mai, 1968………………………………………………….75 La vie impossible de Christian Boltanski………………………………………79 6 The Breakdown of the French Art Scene: Boltanski’s Ascendance…………...83 Early Displays of Collecting: Boltanski’s Albums…………………………….87 Chapter IV: The Archive as a Mnemonic Device: Boltanski’s Monuments, Archives, Le Lycee Chases……………………………………………………………………………..96 The Initial Archive: Early Roots……………………………………………….99 The Post-War Archive......................................................................................106 Christian Boltanski’s Archival Connection: Monuments.................................111 Boltanski: Archives and Le Lycee Chases……………………………………116 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...122 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………128 Appendix A: “Todesfuge” By Paul Celan (Original German Text)……………………133 7 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Christian Boltanski, Monuments, black and white photographs, metal frames, light bulbs, wire, 1986…………………………………………………………………...11 Figure 2: Christian Boltanski, detail Monuments, black and white photographs, metal frames, light bulbs, wire, 1986…………………………………………………………...13 Figure 3: Christian Boltanski, Monument: The Children of Dijon, black and white photographs, metal frames, glass, light bulbs, wire, 1986……………………………….30 Figure 4: Christian Boltanski, detail from Monument: The Children of Dijon, black and white photographs, metal frames, glass, light bulbs, wire, 1986………………………...31 Figure 5: Margaret Bourke-White, Buchenwald, black and white photograph, 1945…...33 Figure 6: Art Spiegelman, cover from Maus II…………………………………………..35 Figure 7: Yitzhak Uri Katz and various unknown, Tower of Faces at the USHMM, black and white and color photographs, multiple dates...............................................................36 Figure 8: Christian Boltanski, Photographic Compositions, color photographs mounted on board, 1977…………………………………………………………………………...49 Figure 9: Joseph Beuys, Auschwitz Demonstration 1956-64, vitrine with sculptures and objects, 1968……………………………………………………………………………..52 Figure 10: Joseph Beuys, detail Auschwitz Demonstration 1956-64, vitrine with sculptures and objects, 1968……………………………………………………………..52 Figure 11: Photograph of a performance by Joseph Beuys, 1969……………………….53 Figure 12: Photograph from Documenta 5……………………………………………...55 Figure 13: Joseph Beuys, photographic still from I Like America and America Likes Me (Coyote), performance, 1974…………………………………………………………….57 Figure 14: Joseph Beuys, photographic still I Like America and America Likes Me (Coyote), performance, 1974…………………………………………………………….57 Figure 15: Christian Boltanski, Lettre manuscrite demandant de l’aide, (Handwritten letters asking for helping), ink on paper, 1969-1970…………………………………….63 8 Figure 16: Christian Boltanski, Entrée des Tures a Van (The entry of the Turks into Van), oil on board, 1961………………………………………………………………………..68 Figure 17: Photograph of Guy Debord, date unknown…………………………………..69 Figure 18: Photograph of the SI, date unknown…………………………………………71 Figure 19: Guy Debord, Image still from Society of the Spectacle, film, 1973………….73 Figure 20: May 1968 Protest Banner…………………………………………………….77 Figure 21: Photograph of street riots from the May 1968 riots………………………….77 Figure 22: Christian Boltanski, La vie impossible de Christian Boltanski (The impossible life of Christian Boltanski), mixed media/film, 1968……………………………………80 Figure 23: Marcel Duchamp, Miles of String, mixed media/string, 1942……………….81 Figure 24: Christian Boltanski, still from La vie impossible de Christian Boltanski (The impossible life of Christian Boltanski), mixed media/film, 1968………………………..81 Figure 25: Christian Boltanski with Jean Le Gac and Gina Pane, La Concession a perpetuite (Grant in perpetuity), mixed media, dirt, fabric, metal, plastic, 1969………..84 Figure 26: Christian Boltanski with Jean Le Gac and Gina Pane, detail from La Concession a perpetuite (Grant in perpetuity), mixed media, dirt, fabric, metal, plastic, 1969………………………………………………………………………………………86 Figure 27: Example yizker bikher or memorial books…………………………………...89 Figure 28: Christian Boltanski, Album de photos de la famille D., 1939-1964, (Photo Album of the Family D), black and white photographs, tin frames, 1971………………91 Figure 29: Christian Boltanski, detail of Album de photos de la famille D., 1939-1964, (Photo Album of the Family D), black and white photographs, tin frames, 1971……….91 Figure 30: Christian Boltanski, Reference Vitrine, wood vitrine with objects, 1970……94 Figure 31: Example of Alphonse Bertillon’s archive………………………………..…100 Figure 32: Hannah Hoch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany, mixed media collage, 1919-20.................................103 Figure 33: Guy Debord and Asger Jorn, page from Fin de Copenhague, mixed media/artist book 1959.....................................................................................................105 9 Figure 34: Gerhard Richer, Atlas, mixed media/album photographs, 1972……….…...108 Figure 35: Gerhard Richer, detail from Atlas, mixed media/album photographs, 1972…………………………………………………………………………..…………109 Figure 36: Hannelore Baron, Untitled, mixed media, 1981…………………...………..111 Figure 37: Christian Boltanski, Monuments, black and white photographs, metal frames, light bulbs, wire, 1986-91………………………………………………………………115 Figure 38: Christian Boltanski, detail from Monuments, black and white photographs, metal frames, light bulbs, wire, 1986-91……………………………………………….115 Figure 39: Christian Boltanski, Archives black and white photographs, glass, metal screens, lamps 1987…………………………………………………………………….117 Figure 40: Christian Boltanski, variation of Le Lycee Chases, black and white photographs, tin drawers, lamps, 1988…………………………………………………121 Figure 41: Christian Boltanski, detail from Le Lycee Chases, black and white photographs, tin drawers, lamps, 1988…………………………………………………122 Figure 42: Micha Ullman, Bibliotek, 1996……………………………………………..126 Figure 43: Jochen Gerz, Place of the Invisible Memorial, 1997……………………….127 Figure 44: Jochen Gerz, cobblestone detail from Place