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7/27/2019 A Blank for a Title - Jean Luc Nancy
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Il y a Blancde Titre
Jean-LucNancy
S. Fritscher (ed.), Blank of Title Springer-Verlag/Wien 2012
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II y a blanc de titre et cest peut-tre ainsi que a commence. Quoi ? On ne
peut pas le dire. On ne peut pas dire au commencement ce qui commence.
On ne peut mme pas dire au commencement que a commence. Quand
on le dit, quand on dit a commence , cest dj commenc et cest par
consquent dj fini de commencer : a commence finir. On ne peutpas dire o a commence, ni quand ce qui est la mme chose, une mme
chose despace-temps quon ne peut pas dire.
Mais cela ne veut pas dire quil faudrait le taire, ni que le blanc de titre
correspondrait une immobilisation religieuse lentre dun sanctuaire.
Cela ne veut pas dire quil faudrait rserver et prserver le secret de
ce commencement et de cette fin de commencement de cette fin qui
commence en lui plus avant que lui, de cette fin qui commence le commen-
cement, qui entame son ouverture. Cela ne veutpas dire quil y aurait lun mystre silencieux, et quil faudrait contempler dans le silence.
Car ce quil y a l nest rien, nest pas quelque chose qui aurait lieu, ni dans
lespace-temps du monde, ni hors de lui et comme dans un autre monde
hors de ce monde-ci. Ce quil y a l, cest l il y a , cest lavoir-lieu lui-mme,
ce nest pas quelque chose, cest le commencement-et-fin de quelque
chose. Cest Il y a soi-mme et en personne, autant dire : personne ni
aucune chose, mais la chose elle-mme,telle quen elle-mme le paratrela noie et la chose y consent.
On ne peut pas le dire, parce quil ny a rien dire: rien du tout, rien dune
totalit qui serait de substance et de forme, de surface et de fond, de
commencement et de fin, et rien par consquent daucune partie dun tout
qui sest absent dans la prsence. On ne peut mme pas dire quon ne
peut pas le dire. Celui qui viendrait dire ici et maintenant quon ne peut pas
le dire, celui-l devrait tre venu dailleurs et avoir dj dit ou entendu
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ire, ai eurs, ce quon peut ire et ce quon ne peut pas ire. I evraitavoir e savoir e ce mon e et un autre mon e, e ce sens et un autresens, e ce ire et un autre ire qui consisterait se taire.
Mais ici et maintenant personne nest j venu. a vient seu ement, et acommence. a finit justement de venir dailleurs et de se prcder dansun pass. Le pass lui-mme est pass (cen est fini de finir, autant que
e commencer), cest-- ire qui ne sest rien pass et on ne peut mmepas ire qui ne sest rien pass encore , car i ny a aucun espace-tempspour un te pas encore . I ny a pas eu e vei e, pas attente, ni eprparation, ni e gense, ni e promesse, ni angoisse. Et ce a mme, quiny a rien eu, nest rien quon oive taire, puisqui ny a rien qui serait
ire ou taire. I ny a pas e , pas e - as cac , per u, a sent.
I ny a pas a sence. Ou ien, cest a sence mme en prsence. Cestpour cette raison quon ne peut pas ire on ne peut pas e ire . I ny a niimpossibilit de parler, ni obligation de silence. Ce qui signifie quil nya ni ap asie, ni extase, ni in umanit, ni re igion. I y a que a commence ce a mme, trs exactement : e commencer-ici-et-maintenant sans ai eurs,ni pass, ni futur. Cela par quoi il y a un ici-et-maintenant . Il ny a pas
e taire, et ny a onc pas non p us e ire, comme si ctait que quec ose e pos , evant mon intention e ire, comme une c ose inerte,informe ou obscure, qui attendrait quon vienne la saisir et la ptrir de
signification. Il ny a pas du sens cach, ni une machine faite pour lexpr -mer. Le sens qui y a est ispos tout autrement : comme une vi ence,comme vi ence e que que c ose qui se montre et qui se it, qui se iten se mon ran .
Il ny a rien dire : il y a commencement, et donc tout la fois, tout duncoup, ans e anc e titre, a c ose et e ire et eur y a . Le i y a entant que le la fois de la chose et de son dire. Le sens en tant que lesens e tre- . I ny a pas ire ce sens- , mais i y a ire et c ose a
fois. La manifestation est elle-mme dire et chose la fois: profrationdune prsentation, prsentation dune profration. Il ny a pas la chose
une part, et autre part e ire. Lavoir- ieu e a c ose, son commencement-et-fin, est la fois dire et chose. Cest la mme chose : mais diffrente en e e-mme.
Ainsi, par consquent, on dit, a se sera dit cette fois: i y a anc e titre .Cette fois, cest--dire: loccasion de cette peinture de Susanna Fritscher.
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Loccasion, la rencontre, ce qui na ni commencement ni fin, ce qui tienttout entier ans instant, un attement entre eux sries, entre c ose et
ire, entre ieu et ieu. Le attement une ouverture, comme on it enmusique une ouverture : une partie o se retient e tout, o e commen
cement prend son thme dans la fin, une cadence ou une mesure qui seretire e a succession, qui ne se mesure pas se on e continu, qui rompt econtinu avant qui ait continu.
I y a anc e titre nest pas une p rase, et ce nest pas non p us un silence. Ce nest pas une phrase bien forme, il lui manque une syntaxe, etavec ce e-ci, i ui manque u sens. Mais ce nest pas pour autant un mys-tre, ce nest pas un autre sens pour initi, pour visionnaire ou pour evin.Cest un commencement et qui onc pourrait tre initi au
commencement? Cest le commencement tout la fois un ire et unec ose, un et autre ancs au ieu e eur titre: ne se signant pas, nerenvoyant pas lun lautre. Ne faisant pas de sens, disant pourtant cequi est p ein e sens : voici, i y a.
Lorsquil y a un titre, il faut que de deux choses lune ait prcd: ou biena c ose-c ose, avec en e e que que c ose qui aurait commenc, initi
que que c ose un sens proposer, in iquer ou voquer; ou ien ac ose- ire, avec en elle quelque indication ou signification do la chose
aurait pris son an. Mais ici ni une ni autre na commenc, une etlautre ont fini ensemble, lintersection dune peinture et dun propos, cette intersection quil ny a ni peindre, ni dire, et qui fait louverture
e une et e autre c ose, ou p utt ouverture e ce qui es spare Ie eu ui-mme e intersection. Et cest ien cette ouverture que uneet autre c ose est c acune ouverte pour soi comme avec autre. Cest au
attement commun un anc e titre.
I y a anc e titre ne sert pas e titre pour supp er a sence e titre
onn par Susanna Fritsc er. (Notez- e, ce a mme peut scrire e euxmanires:ou ien a sence e titre onn , ou ien a sence e titre
onne . E e naura pas onn e titre, ce qui peut aussi revenir engar er un secret, ou ien e e aura onn pour titre a sence et e anc
e titre. Peut-tre a peinture onne tou ours a sence au titre, et
criture un titre a sence). Ce nest pas une supp ance e titre, ni untitre par dfaut. Cela indique mais nindique pas cela expose mais sansmontrer cette a sence e e-mme en tant que e commencement e a
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c ose. La peinture en tant que commencement e a c ose. La peinturevient l o les titres finissent, si du moins les titres ont vraiment pouronction de dire ce que cest que cette peinture, do elle vient, o elle va,
ce que e veut ire. (Mais on sait ien qui nen est rien, et que es titres
ne isent amais rien que eur propre intersection avec a peinture, quipour sa part ne it rien mais touc e seu ement au or es titres, y touc epar son retrait. En ce sens, tous es titres sont ancs, sont es ancs
e peinture. Et cest a mme c ose pour es titres es c oses crites.
I y a anc e titre nest a p ace aucun titre a sent. Ce a nvoqueni ne mime aucun sens retenu, tenu par Susanna Fritsc er ni par qu -conque. Si ctait, ma gr tout, a p ace e que que c ose, ce serait seu e-ment a p ace u nom e S. F. Mais a p ace un nom propre, i ny a
rien, i ny a pas e p ace. La p ace un nom propre nest e e mme queespace-temps un commencement, espacement un temps, e temps
dun espacement: la naissance de cette femme.
II y a est onc aussi ien sa p ace je veux ire, sa p ace e e,celle qui peint ces toiles. la place de son geste de peindre. Son geste detouc er a toi e et a peinture, e touc er a toi e avec a peinture,et de faire se toucher la peinture, sans commencement ni fin, uste au
commencement et la fin de la peinture, semportant le long delle mme,
g issant isse sur e e- me, par couc es consentantes es unes sur esautres, touc ant au e ors par tout son e ans.
Mais cela mme fait aussi, malgr tout, un titre. Car un titre nest ni un nompropre, ni un nom commun. Il ne signifie pas, il ne dsigne pas non plus.Le titre nest pas un signe. Au contraire. Le titre est tou ours un cart, uncartement e a c ose, a marque un anc entre a c ose et e e-mme:son commencement mme et sa fin, lespace par lequel a souvre eta tient ouvert. Le titre ne it rien : i in ique que tout est ire, ou rien.
Le titre ne fait rien que toucher la chose ferme, la clture quil fautpour que a souvre, pour quil y ait ouvrir. Le titre ferme et ouvre dunseu geste: cest ouverture.
I y a que que c ose: a commence. I y a cest e titre u -mme, e titrede tout titre et le blanc du titre , il y a appartient la fois au direet a c ose, et ne revient ni un ni a autre. I y a est commun au
ire et a c ose, qui nont rien en commun. Cest entre es eux, cest
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exactement entre- eux, e partage u ire et e a c ose. Le va-et-viente un autre. Ltre ans e ire et e ire ans tre, un ors e autre,
lun touchant lautre, lun commenant o finit lautre, lun commenantlautre finissant lun.
Quelque chose vient au bord du dire, ne disant rien, mettant fin au direavant qui ait commenc. Une c ose va par er e son propre commen-cement, ne parle pas, met fin ce commencement, commence tre danscette fin. Pas de cause ni de production, pas de raison, pas de fond doproc er : seu ement un geste, un passage, une cou e tenue, isse, avan-ce et immo i ise sur e e-mme. Seu ement une tec nique, cest-- ireun art e passer mme a c ose, e passer en e e, e passer par e e,
a er e e en e e-mme, continment, iscrtement, tou ours a imite,
mais a imite p oye sans imites.
On peut nommer ce a : peinture. Ce mot onne un support mais i pose unobstacle, la fois. Quest-ce que peindre? Ce nest ni reprsenter, ni couvrirune surface. Cest toucher un y a, son a solu sans fin ni commencement. Une c ose consent tre : e e occupe son ieu, e e a ieu , e efait sens seulement ouvrir ce lieu. Pein re cest consentir ce consente-ment. Ce nest pas ire vnement e cet avoir- ieu, ce nest pas e tenir enlaisse de signification. Cest consentir lcart qui dpose et expose la chose.
Cest e mouvement ou e e se per re en soi-mme et e souvrir aue ors: e se per re en souvrant, ouvrir ce qui se per sa perte mme.
Sa perte est son ouverture : ce nest pas une perte, car rien ntait gagnni poss . Mais sa mer en soi est ouverture. E e ouvre ceci : e e-mme e e-mme, a c ose, couc es sur couc es ta es, passes une anslautre en sorte quil ne reste rien que la prsence qui se drobe en faisantsurface. On ne saurait dire quelle parat. Il apparat plutt quil y a l delapparatre, et quil est d retourn en soi, d fini dapparatre.
Louverture nouvre rien et nouvre sur rien : ni paisseur, ni profondeur. Laprofondeur elle-mme est un blanc. Louverture ouvre la fois cequi reste o stinment c os ans ouverture mme, et ce qui est tou ours
ouvert, ce qui sest tou ours entrouvert. Cest aussi pourquoi
elle finit le commencement et commence la fin. Cela na rien dun eu, rienun c iquetis ver a . Cest e revers u ver a . Cest a patience e con-
sentir tre- .
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Le gris consent au blanc, qui consent lui, lun lautre se donnant fin, com-mencement, un se onnant autre. De un autre i y a m ange etcsure, partage, et cest tout ce qui y a. Mais ce partage ne partagerien e tranc ni e istri u. Ce nest pas un c ange, ni une rpartition.
Cest un partage du mme au mme, la diffrence mme, la distinctioncomme commun sir, commune attraction. Ce qui tire un autre et un
e lautre est la communaut e leur consentement iffrer lun elautre. Mais diffrer de manire insensible, car lun nest rien que lalimite de lautre. Lautre se prolonge donc en lun, insensiblement, indfniment en sy per ant pourtant.
Comment consentir insensi e ? Comment avoir e sens e insensi e,et sy accorder, y trouver son rythme ? Il faut que linsensible soit lui-mme
sensible, insensiblement sensible : aucune froideur, aucun retrait, aucuneindiffrence, mais en quelque sorte, le sentir lui-mme, suspendu surui-mme, ouvert sur ui-mme. Lintrieur gris- anc u sentir.
En vrit, on ne peut pas ire gris, n anc, pas p us quon ne peut par erici ni de support , ni de surface , ni de tableau ni de motif ,ni de figure . Gris et blanc ne sont que les ples de cette coule de laumire en soi par quoi i y a umire ( e noir est une autre umire, qui
ne oue aucun r e ici: a umire e a vrit, son a me). Gris et anc sont
le-commencement-la-fin de lapparatre. Il ny a donc en eux que leiscontinu u continu, vnement e tre: qui nest quvnement,
et que vnement nest pas. Gris et anc ne peuvent pas tre compris ici comme es noms e cou eurs ou e teintes, ou e eurs rsu tantesou rso utions. La cou eur est tout simp ement a sente. I ny a rien eor re e a cou eur en tant que a cou eur est ce qui appartient une
surface en dehors de ses dimensions. Prcisment, il ny a que les dimen-sions. I ny a que a mesure et e rapport. Ainsi, puisqui est impossi edavoir une surface sans couleur, on peut dire quici, il ny a pas de surface.
On dira indiffremment quil y a pure profondeur, ou quil y a pureimension. Cest a mme c ose: i y a ouverture, espacement. I y a
comme une eau, ouverte et ferme la fois, en elle-mme.
De mme, un ca re autre ans es agencements iptyques, triptyquesou monotypes, et entre ces agencements, entre ces coupes ou entreces re evs, i y a u jeu et u rapport, continu et iscontinu, temps etcontre-temps, iscrtion e cart et u touc er, imminence et contigut.
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Lexactitu e na rien voir avec a prcision. La prcision approc eindfiniment, elle est une affaire de reproduction, de rcupration, dap-proximation. Lexactitude est absolue ou nest rien. Elle est affaire desurgissement, instant.
II me sem e que nous pourrions ire: nous consentons exactitu e.Ce nest pas a mme exactitu e, ce e qui est peinture et ce e qui est cri-ture, assurment et surtout, i ny a aucune exactitu e e une autre,aucune p rase exacte sur a peinture, aucune peinture exacte sur a p rase. Mais nous con-sentons pourtant e mme a mme exactitu e
(cest-- ire aussi que nous y consentons, nous a mettons ensem eet de mme faon).
Nous consentons exactitu e, parce que ce e-ci nest rien quon puissecomman er, ni matriser: on ne peut quy consentir (et on ne peut consen-tir, en gnra , qu ce a mme, exact). On ne peut sen approc er. Onne peut quy tre.
(Pourtant, tout e travai consiste sen approc er, nen approc antamais, approc ant pourtant par une ente imination e toute tentative
approc er. La patience e a peinture est carter toute approc e,pour aisser a c ose souvrir).
K ee a it un our qucrire et essiner taient a mme c ose. Cest par er
u point e vue e exactitu e en a traitant pourtant comme une proximit acheve, comme une extrme prcision: cest donc faux. La vrit deexactitu e, et u consentement, cest que ce nest pas a mme c ose,
et quaucun art nest e mme quun autre (et que art est ce prix).
onsentir exact: ce serait pour moi, au our ui, e mot e a peinture
comme si nonait ainsi e or e criture, e or e a trace u ire.
De fait, cela revient dire en ce sens que rien ne doit subsister qui nesoit exactement it, et que rien nexiste qui ne e soit. Car ce qui nest pas
it nexiste pas, et ce qui nest pas it avec exactitu e nest pas it u tout.
Mais ire avec exactitu e, cest a er usquau out u ire usqu sa
in, usqu son commencement. Cest mettre le doigt du dire sur le bord dea peinture. Cest a ors taire , ou se taire mais en ce sens exact o
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taire que que c ose, mais a taire peinture, cest comme ire cettec ose. Non pas a ire en un autre angage: mais a ire au revers u an-gage, trs exactement. Ne pas a ire, onc, mais ire tout, a ire toute,a mettre sans rserve et sans arrire-mon e.
La peinture, ce quon appe e ainsi, serait a or ce a et e serait aussians criture: g isse ans criture usqu son extrmit, p us ancienne
son geste que son geste mme. Ce serait eau e criture, eau eencre, encre qui se per ans son eau, criture comme a imite insen
si e e encre et e eau.
Ce que tu ois taire, tu ois e ire. Tu ois e ire usqu insensi e, ans
insensi e mme. Quest-ce onc que ce sens quon ne sent p us et qui
ne sent p us que son propre vanouissement ans vi ence? Tu ois eire usqu extrmit, usqu son excs et usquau anc, usquau
gris u ire.
Tu ois consentir tout ire, parce que tout est it. Tout est it parce quetout sarticu e un i y a. Mais tout y a snonce un anc, ou snonce
anc- anc-ou-gris. De tout ce qui est it ainsi, et qui est e tout, e toutce qui y a, i ny a pas e tota it. Tout i y a nest que chaque fois, ici etmaintenant, chaque fois espac du tout, de toute totalit possible.
Consentir: sentir avec. Sentir chaque fois aveccette fois-l. tre sur leseuil qui spare cette fois de tout autre fois, et qui fait leur rapport, leurcommune mesure. Consentir cet tre, cest-- ire ce sur e seui .Autrement it encore : consentir sentir insensi e ouverture e tre- ,ci et maintenant.
exte pu i ans e cata ogue e exposition e Susanna Fritsc erau Centre art Contemporain Ivry e Cre ac en 1994.
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Pr- ou post-face
surface peut-tre, ddicace en tout cas, pour ce texte en 2012.
Ctait jai vrifi en 1994, il y a donc 18 ans jai calcul. Cest un bel ge
pour une jeune fille, un jeune homme. Mais pour un texte ? Je ne meprononcerai pas, bien entendu. Au reste, jvite de vraiment relire celui-ci.
Jentrevois que je pourrais tre mcontent ici ou l. Par exemple ceci,
piqu au hasard : si le verbe de la peinture tait : consentir cela ne
sentirait-il pas laffterie ? On pourrait trouver l une pose dabsolu qui
agace. Je ne rcuse pas le motif du consentement tel que je lemployais,
mais le tour faussement inspir de cette phrase.
Faussement ? aprs tout, ce nest mme pas sr ! Et je ne suis pas l pour
discuter avec moi-mme. Si Susanna veut republier ce texte, elle a debonnes raisons et cela suffit me faire consentir sans rserves. Au demeu-
rant je nai rien de capital, rien dessentiel redire pas plus au sens de
reprocher qu celui de dire nouveau .
Rien dire de neuf non pas parce que Susanna naurait rien fait de neuf :
elle na pas cess dinnover, cest--dire dans son cas de dplacer par
millimtres, par couches inframinces (pour user du mot duchampien), par
passages lgers, dplacements lents et subtils de dplacer sur place
la transparence quelle mettait en jeu, le blanc . Mais justement parcequelle na pas cess dinnover en douceur dans le mme blanc. Non pas
dans la mme blancheur, mais dans le blanc : dans sa craie, dans son linge,
dans son lait, sa neige, sa puissance albescente, opaline. Elle la fait plus
arien, plus ostensiblement translucide et tremblant oui, voil peut-tre
un mot bien venu, le blanc tremblant de Susanna Fritscher. Plus napp,
plus enlev, plus rayonnant ou lumineux, plus color parfois ou plus
humide, ou plus fragile.
Mais enfin cest toujours lui, cest toujours elle. Et par consquent cela mereconduit mon point de dpart, ce blanc de titre qui stait impos
(impos, oui, imprieux, presque implacable). Et qui me signifiait, plus que
je ne le laissais entendre, que non le titre seul mais tout le discours
devrait rester blanc.
Cela ne voudrait pas dire muet . Mais silencieux, parlant la parole du
silence, dune voix de silence. Et qui serait aussi parole de consentement,
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comme nonce a maxime :qui ne it mot consent. Car ce qui ne peutmanquer tre en oint qui crit sur es c oses e art, ce qui ne peutpas ne pas appe er, inviter, entraner, cest un certain si ence, cest unecertaine paro e e si ence. Non pas tout uniment se taire, mais par er ans
un essaisissement e iscours, e sens, e matrise. Ne pas interposerun iscours entre a c ose a c ose ite art et nous (ses amateurs, sesamis, ses aimants). Mais aisser sour re une paro e epuis a c ose mme :
epuis e anc, e trem ant, e trou ant.
Ce qui trouble en effet cest que le blanc soit autant ingal lui-mme, aussimultipli dans ses incidences, dans ses profondeurs, dans ses consis-
tances. Quil soit tout la fois aussi labile, languide, immobile et frmissant.Fixe et fuyant. Continu, insistant, drob, dissip, dissmin. Vague,
vaporeux, pur, trac. Ce qui trou e est a iance es contraires qui sonttous siens et qui pourtant ne sont ni es contraires, ni es a is maissimp ement ui-mme.
Lui-mme qui est un autre, comme tout e mon e. Qui onc est un e ,oui, cest lui le su et. Pensiez-vous que ce ft Susanna ? non, cest le blanc,cest e trou ant impi e, e ro uste trem ant qui est e sujet. Voyez : ivient, i traverse, i ouvre espace et i occupe. I mesure toutes c oses. I
onne voir, perte de vue. Il se drobe, il fait voir trs ouvertement
comment il garde son secret. Il fait comprendre que ce nest pas un secret,cest son vi ence. Serait-ce peut-tre a quon appe e e art ? Quequelque chose ici une teinte, l une ligne, ailleurs un reflet, une note,une saveur entre ci ment en scne titre e sujet. Et que nous yconsentions.
Moi, e suis . Qui a par ?
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a blankfor a title
Jean-LucNancy
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A blank for a title and perhaps that is how it begins. What? We cannot say
that. We cannot begin by saying that it is beginning. We cannot even say
at the beginning that it is beginning. When we say that, when we say it is
beginning, it has already begun and has already finished beginning: it
has begun to finish. We cannot say where it begins, or when which is thesame thing the same thing in space-time that we cannot say.
However this does not mean that we would have to remain silent, or that
the blank of the title would correspond to the mesmerising religious
experience of entering a shrine. It does not mean that we have to reserve
or preserve the secret of this beginning and of the end of this beginning
of this end that begins in the beginning long before the beginning itself
begins, or of the end that begins the beginning, that initiates its opening.
This does not mean that there would be a mysterious silence or that wewould have to sit and contemplate in silence.
For there is nothing here, nothing that could take place, either in the
space-time of the world or outside of it, as if in some other world beyond
this one. There is is all that there is, the taking-place itself. This taking-
place is not a thing; it is the beginning-and-end of something. It is there
is itself and in person; in other words: no-one and nothing else, but the
thing itself, the appearing that merges the thing in itself and the thing
agrees to this.
We cannot say it because there is nothing to be said: nothing at all, nothing
of what would be the unity of substance and form, of surface and foun-
dation, of beginning and end, and so too, nothing as regards any part of a
whole that absents itself within presence. We cannot even say that we
cannot say it. If someone came and said here and now that we cannot
say it, they would need to have come from somewhere else and have
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a rea y sai , or ear someone e se say, w at we can an cannot say. T isperson would have to know something about this world and aboutanother world, about this meaning and another meaning, about thissaying and another saying, one that would consist of remaining silent.
Here an now, owever, no-one as come. It on y comes, an it egins.It inishes precisely by coming rom somewhere else and by moving aheadnto the past. Even the past is past (it has as much inished inishing ast has finished beginning); in other words, nothing has come to pass and
we cannot even say that nothing has yet come to pass since there isno space-time for such a not yet. There has been no vigil, no waiting,no preparation, no inception, no promise, no anguis . Nor, too, as t ere
een anyt ing a out w ic we cou remain si ent, since t ere is not ing
there about which we could either speak o or remain silent about. Theres no there, no over there, hidden, lost, absent. There is no absence. Or
perhaps, there is the very presence of absence. And it is for precisely thisreason t at we cannot say we cannot say t at. T ere is neit er t e impossibility o speaking nor the obligation to remain silent. This meanst ere is no ap asia, no ecstasy, no in umanity, no re igion. T ere is t eact that it begins and this alone: the beginning here-and-now, no else-
where, past or future; through which the here-and-now is created. Theres no silencing it and no saying it, as if before any intention to spea
on my part t ere was somet ing t ere, set own t ere, i e an inert orormless thing simply waiting to be taken and be moulded into signi -
cation. T ere is no i en meaning, no mac ine constructe to expressthis. Here, the meaning is set up quite di erently: like evidence, likethe evidence o something that shows itsel by speaking o itsel , thatspeaks of itself by showing itself.
T ere is not ing to say: t ere is t e eginning an t us, at t e same time,n the blank o the title, the thing and the saying and their t ere is. T e
there is and the at the same time o the thing and o its saying meaningas existence. There is no saying in this sense; but there is the simultan-eity of saying and the thing. This expression is itself both saying and thething: the utterance of a presentation, the presentation of an utterance.
There is not the thing, on the one hand, and saying, on the other. The
taking-place of the thing, its beginning-and-end, is both saying and the
thing itsel . It is the same thing, but di erent in itsel .
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It is neither a substitute for a title, nor a title by default. This indicates (butdoes not indicate), this exposes (but without showing) the absence itselas the beginning of the thing. Painting as the beginning of the thing.Painting comes into play where titles end, at least if the role of a title is to
say what this painting is, where it comes from, where it is going, what itmeans. (As we now, owever, t is is not t e case; tit es never say any-thing other than their own intersection with the painting, which, for itspart, says nothing either but simply skirts around the edges of titles,touc ing t em as it wit raws. In t is sense, a tit es are an , are painteblanks. And the same goes for the titles of written things.
A blank for a title does not take the place of an absent title. It neitherevo es nor mimics any i en meaning, wit e y Susanna Fritsc er or
by anyone else. If, despite everything, it did take the place of something,t is cou on y e Susanna Fritsc ers name. But not ing can ta e t e p aceof a name, a proper noun, there is nothing, there is no place. The place of aproper noun is merely the space-time of a beginning, the spacing of time,the time of a spacing: the birth of this woman.
T ere is ..., t en, just as easi y ta es er p ace, y w ic I mean, t e p aceof the woman who paints the canvases; the place of her gesture of painting. Her gesture of touching the canvas and the paint, of touching the
canvas with the paint, of the gesture through which paint touches itself,without beginning or end, merely the beginning and end of the paint,sweeping along itself, sliding smoothly over itself, through co-ordinatinglayers, on top of each other, outwardly touching through all that is inward.An yet, espite a t is, it oes act as a tit e. For a tit e is neit er a propernoun nor a common noun. It does not signify, any more than it designates.T e tit e is not a sign. On t e contrary. T e tit e is a ways a gap, an aper-ture in the thing, the mark of a blank space between the thing and itself:its beginning and its end, the space through which it opens itself and
holds itself open. The title says nothing: it indicates that everything ornot ing can e sai . T e tit e oes not ing more t an touc upon t ething closed in on itself, upon the closure that is needed so that it can open,so t at t ere can e an opening. T e tit e opens an c oses wit a sing egesture: t e overture.
There is something: it begins. There is this is the title itself, the title oall titles and the blank for a title there is belongs both to saying and the
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t ing wit out correspon ing to eit er. T ere is is common to sayingan to t e t ing, w ic ave, nevert e ess, not ing in common. It ies e-tween t em; it is exact y in- etween, t e ivision etween saying an t et ing; t eir comings-an -goings etween eac ot er. Being in saying, an
saying in eing, outsi e one anot er, touc ing one anot er, oneeginning where the other finishes, beginning and ending one another.
Something reaches the very limit of saying, saying nothing, bringing anend to saying before it has begun. A thing speaks of its own beginning,
oes not spea , ringing t is eginning to an en , eginning to e in t isend. No cause nor creation, no reason nor solid ground from which toproceed: merely a gesture, a passage, a flow sustained, smoothed over,advanced, immobilised upon itself. Merely a technique, that is, an art
t at continua y, iscreet y, passes y t e t ing, passes into it, t rougt, rus ing against t e t ing, a ways at t e imit, ut at t e imit t at
unfol s without limits.
We can ca t is painting. T e wor certain y e ps, ut a so poses aproblem: for what does it mean to paint? It is not representation, norcovering a surface; rather, it is to touch upon the absolute of a ere is,wit out en nor eginning. A t ing agrees to exist: it occupies its p ace,t e p ace w ere it ta es p ace; it ma es sense on y y opening t is p ace.
To paint is to agree to this agreement. It is not to speak of the act of thistaking-place, nor to hold signification in check. To paint is to agree to thegap t at eposes an exposes t e t ing.
It is the dual movement of losing itself, in itself, and opening onto theoutside, of losing itself by opening itself, of opening what is lost to its veryoss. Its oss is its opening: w ic is not, strict y spea ing, a oss, since
there is nothing to be won nor gained. But to give oneself over the abyss isn itself an opening. It opens this the thing to itself, layer upon staggered
layer, moving between them in such a way that nothing is left but thepresence that conceals itself by constituting a surface. We could say that itappears. T at it appears rat er t an eing an appearance, an t at ithas already turned back in upon itself, has already finished appearing.
T e opening opens not ing an opens onto not ing, neit er ensity norept . Dept too is a an . T e opening opens ot t at w ic remains
obstinately closed in the opening itself, and that which is already open,
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which is always already half-open. This is why it finishes the beginning andbegins the end. There is nothing playful in this, no aimless rattling. It isthe flip side of the spoken. It is the patience of agreeing to exist.
Greyyie s to w ite, w ic , in turn, yie s to grey, eac t e eginning anend of the other, each giving itself to the other. Between them is mergingan rupture, ivision an not ing e se. Yet t is ivision ivi es not ing;it oes not istri ute nor a ocate. It is neit er an exc ange nor a partition.Rather, it is the division of the same among the same, difference itself,
istinction as a common esire, a common attraction. T e communa itygenerated by their agreeing to differ from each other is what draws whiteto grey, and grey to white. Such difference, however, is largely imper-ceptible, each merely constituting the limit of the other. Each persists in the
other, imperceptibly, indefinitely and loses itself therein.
How are we to agree to the imperceptible? How can we get a sense of whatis impercepti e an armonise wit it, iscover its r yt m? W at isimpercepti e must ecome percepti e, impercepti y percepti e: notdisdain, withdrawal nor indifference, but, in some way, the act of perceiv-ing itself, suspended upon itself; opened upon itself. The grey-whiteinterior ofperception.
In truth, we cannot speak o nor o w it , any more t an we can speaere of support, surface, painting, motif or figure. Grey and white are
merely the twin poles of this flowing of light through which there is lightac s a erent n o g t, one t at as no part n a t s: t e g t
of truth is its abyss). Grey and white are the-beginning-the-end of appear-ing. Therefore, between them there is only the discontinuity ocontinuity, the event of being: the fact that there is only the event and thatt e event s not. Here, grey an w ite cannot e un erstoo as t enames of colours or tones or as the result or resolution thereof. Colour is
quite simply absent. There is nothing remotely like colour here, insofaras colour is what belongs to a surface irrespective of its dimensions. Moreprecise y, t ere are on y imensions. T ere is on y measure an re ation.Thus, since a surface without colour is impossible, we can say that there isno surface here. Or we could say that there is pure depth or that there ispure imension. Or w at amounts to muc t e same t ing; opening anspacing. As in water, there is simultaneous opening and closing into itself.Equally, from one frame to another of the diptych, triptych or monotype
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an etween t ese arrangements, etween t ese cuts, etween t eses etc es, t ere is ot p ay an re ation, continuity an iscontinuity, timeand counter-time, the discretion of distance and intimacy, immediacy andcontiguity. T ere is tact, or in German a t r yt m an t e measure
eat of time.
T ere is measure, t at is, re ation an magnitu e. T e re ation ies inaffinity and distance, the magnitude in closure and distance. Measure is ther yt m etween t em, etween s a ow an ig t, eginning an en .Yet this is itself without measure: it surpasses all measure, lying in the verysite of this passage, severed, held like transition and division.
The measure without measure is in fact an agreement to t ere is. T is
s not the acceptance of everything that there is, but rather the agreementt at there is and that the latter is the measure or the rule for knowingwhat we must or must not accept. It is the measure or the rule for thatw ic as no measure: t at t ere is. What there is all of it has colouran form. But t at t ere is t is is w ite an grey, t e- eginning-t e-enof everything.
nd if the action of painting were to agree?
T is ver , t is act, not its magic wor , nor its sacre name; on t e contrary,this absolute severance of the verb from the noun, a severance thatruptures signification, that shatters any referential constant. The referentof a noun is a sub ect or a substance; the referent of an ad ective is a qua
ity of a substance and thus remains substantial. However, the referentof a verb is an action, which is not a state; it is in the very least the action omaintaining a state, of persevering with being (when it is not the actionof stepping outside of oneself, of the act of existing or creating excitement).Action is a ways transitive. T ere is no intransitive ver . None, not even
t e ver to e. Per aps, a ove a , not t e ver to e.
To agree does not mean to resign oneself, to submit, or go along withsomething out of weariness or passivity. Nor does it mean to agree to aconsensus. But it does mean admitting there is a gap, one of anguish, theanguish that you speak of, the anguish that we all speak of and dispelby doing so; and yet, not anguish, or anguish itself immediately openedinto somet ing e se, a transition.
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To agree to this: to its own gesture insofar as it goes without saying,insofar as it goes much further or simply goes somewhere else to which noact of will could have forced it to go. And yet not abandoned, or if aban-doned, then abandoned in the very precise sense of being abandoned to
its own exactitu e.
Exactitude is not the same thing as precision. Precision is indefinite, amatter of reproduction, of recuperation, of approximation. Exactitude isabsolute or is nothing at all. It is a matter of arising, of the instant.
We could put it this way: we agree to exactitude. The exactitude of paint-ing and the exactitude of writing are assuredly not the same thing and a ove a t ere is no exactitu e etween t em, t ere is no exact p rase
t at matc es t e painting, no exact painting t at matc es t e p rase.A t e same, we can sti agree t at it is t e same exactitu e (t at is,by agreeing to this, we allow both of them together and in the same way).
We agree to exactitu e since it is not somet ing t at can e comman eor contro e : we can on y agree to it (an we can on y agree in genera to t at w ic is exact). We cannot approac it. We can on y e t ere(Nevert e ess, our wor consists in approac ing it, in never approac ingit, in approaching it by the slow elimination of every attempt at approach.
The patience of painting is to remove any approach, to allow the thingto open).
K ee once sai t at writing an rawing were t e same t ing. T is is tospeak from the perspective of exactitude while actually treating it liketrue proximity, an extreme precision; it is, therefore, false. The truth of ex-actitude and of agreement is that they are not the same thing and thatno art is the same as any other (and such is the price of art).
To agree to the exact: this would mean for me, here, today the word opainting, as if this could express the very limit of writing, the limit of thetrace of what is sai .
In fact, this amounts to saying in the sense that nothing should remaint at is not sai exact y an t at not ing exists ut t at w ic is sai ex-act y. For t at w ic is not sai oes not exist, an t at w ic is not saiexact y is not sai at a .
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To speak with exactitude, however, is to go right to the limit ofsaying rightto its end, right to its beginning. It is to put your finger of what is beingsaid at the limit of painting. As such, it means to be silent or to fall silentn the exact sense of keeping something quiet, eeping quiet a out it
n painting is t e same t ing as saying it. Not saying it in anot er Ianguage,ut saying it on the flip side of Ianguage. Not saying it, then, but saying
everyt ing, saying everyt ing a out it, a mitting it unreserve y anwit out any ac -wor .
Thus, that which we are calling painting, would, from the outset, be whatas s ippe into writing, rig t up to its very imit, o er t an t e gesture
that defines it. This would be the water of writing, inky water, ink that islost in water, writing as the imperceptible limit of ink and water.
Whereofyou cannot speak, thereofyou must tell. You must say it, right upto the point of imperceptibility; say it from within the imperceptible itself.
at, t en, is t is sense t at we no onger sense? T is sense t at meansnot ing more t an its own isappearance into evi ence? You ave to goon saying it, rig t up to t e imit, to excess an to t at w ic is an ,right up to the grey of what is said.
ou ave to agree to say everyt ing ecause everyt ing is sai . Every-
thing is said because everything is articulated from a t ere is. But everyt ere is is expressed from a blank or expresses a blank grey-or-white.So far as everything that is thus said is concerned and hence so far as every-thing is concerned, the whole of w at t ere is t ere is no tota ity. Everyt ere is is, each time, here and now, is merely a particular instance of thewhole, of every possible totality.
To agree or to consent: to feel with. Feeling each time wit t at particu artime. To stand on the threshold that separates that particular time from
every ot er, t e t res o t at raws t em toget er, t at gives t emcommon measure. To agree to this way of being, to this s ep over t ethreshold. Put somewhat differently: to agree to feel the imperceptibleopening of existence, here and now.
Text pu is e in t e cata ogue accompanying t e ex i ition ySusanna Fritsc er at t e Centre art Contemporain Ivry e Cre acn 1994.
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Preface or postface perhaps even surface but in any case, a dedication for this text in 2012.
It was I checked in 1994; eighteen years ago I worked it out. A fine
age for a young woman or a young man. But for a text? I am not going totell you my opinion of course. Besides, I did not really re-read it. I havea feeling that I might not be too happy with some of it. A random example:And if the action of painting were to agree? hard to not udge thisas affectation. It could be perceived as a rather irritating absolute position.I do not ob ect to the motif of agreeing I used at the time, but to the turnt at t is p rase eceptive y inspires.
Deceptive y? In ee , I am not even sure a out t at. An I am not ere to
discuss things with myself. If Susanna wants to republish the text she willhave good reasons for doing so and all I have to do is agree unreservedly.In fact I have nothing to add, nothing important to change no more in thesense of reproach than in the sense of saying in different way.
I ave not ing new to say, yet t is is not ecause Susanna as not createanyt ing new: s e as never stoppe innovating. Here, t is means mov-ing mi imetre y mi imetre, u trat in (to use t e Duc ampian term) y
ultrathin layer, via miniscule transitions, slow and subtle transfers
manipu ating transparency in t is p ace, t e an , t e w ite. It is exact yecause s e as quiet y continue innovating wit in t e same w ite. Not
wit in t e same w iteness ut wit in w ite: in er c a , e inen, mi ,snow, er a escent, iri escent power. Now er wor is more aeria , morevisi y trans ucent an trem ing per aps t at is t e rig t expression the trembling white of Susanna Fritscher. More glazed, more vibrant, moreradiant or luminous, sometimes more colourful or more humid, moreragile.
But in the end, it is always Susanna, she is always herself. Which brings meback to my point of departure, to this lank for a title w ic was imposeitself upon me (yes imposed, imperious, almost implacable). And whichI un erstoo to mean more t an I imp ie at t e time t at not on y t etit e, ut t e entire iscourse was to remain an .
W ic is not t e same t ing as eing um . It means eing si ent,speaking the words of silence, with a silent voice. And would also be the
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words of agreement, as stated by the maxim: o ot ing s tacitagreemen . A certain si ence; a certain spo en si ence: t is is w at is as eof those who write about art, that which cannot but be called upon,nvite , e . It is not t at we a simp y remain si ent, ut t at we spea
within a diminishing of discourse, of meaning, of mastery. To not positioniscourse between the thing the thing said of art and ourselves (the
admirers, friends, lovers of art). Instead to allow the spoken word to riseup out of the thing itself: from the blank, the trembling, the troubling.
Indeed, what troubles us is the fact that the blank is as changeable totself, as it is multiplied in its incidences, in its depths, in its consistencies.
W ic are simu taneous y unsta e, angui , immo i e an quivering.Fixed and fleeting. Continued, insistent, concealed, dispersed, diffused.
Vague, vaporous, purge , trace . W at trou es us is t e a iance etweenopposites t at is comp ete y its own an yet t ese are not opposites,nor allies; it is simply itself.
Itself, which is another, as is everyone. And this I: yes, it is the subject.Do you t in t is is Susanna? No, it is t e an ; it is t e c ear trou ing, t eso i trem ing t at is t e su ect. Ta e a oo : it comes; it crosses; it openst e space an occupies it. It measures everyt ing. It gives us somet ing
to look at, as far as we can see. It conceals; it displays very openly how it
eeps its secret. It ma es us un erstan t at it is not a secret; it is itsevi ence. Per aps t is is w at we ca art? T at somet ing ere a co our,there a line, elsewhere a reflection, a note, a flavour makes its forcefulentrance as t e su ect. An we agree to t is.
Im ere. W o sai t at?
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SPEKTRUM 4FILM, 2011SUSANNAFRITSCHER