Diagrams of Power in Benjamin and Foucault: The Recluse of Architecture

342 Pages·2022·5.245 MB·English

by  Mark Laurence Jackson

Mark Laurence Jackson
Diagrams
of Power in
Benjamin
and Foucault
The Recluse of Architecture
Diagrams of Power in Benjamin and Foucault
“ThisisabookaboutFoucaultandBenjaminanditisgroundedinadeepknowledgeofandreflection
upontheirworks,butitisalsounderpinnedbyanimpressiveerudition.Therearereflectionson
HegelandHeidegger(centraltotheauthor)andDerrida,alongwithKierkegaard,andothers.This
leadstoarichandsuggestivediscussion…instagingaspatial-architectural-politicalconversation
betweenFoucaultandBenjamin.”
—AnonymousReviewer
“MarkJackson’sDiagramsofPowerinBenjaminandFoucault,TheRecluseofArchitecturejuxta-
posesandinterrogatesitstwoleadingactorssoastodrawfromandthroughthematheoryofarchi-
tecture,whichisinseparablefromitsrecluse.Indoingsoitelaboratesaseriesofcomplexconnec-
tionswiththeirvariousinterlocutorsandinspirations,Hegel,Heidegger,Derrida,theKabbalah,
Agamben,allegory,Marx,Deleuze,Klossowski,tragedy,capitalism,modernity,andsoon.Thelist
islongandimpressive.Thisisnotonlydonewithanextremelyhighdegreeofscholarship,butis
presentedinalight,lucidandverycompellingmannerinavoicebothpersonalandauthoritative.
Therecluseisthefigureofmimesisitself,theappearanceofawithdrawal,alwaysalreadyaruin.
Thisbooknotonlycontributesahighlyastutereadingofitsphilosophicalobjects,butitenactsthe
ontologyofthereclusethroughitsownunfolding,simultaneouslyrevealingandwithholdingthe
meaningofarchitecture‘assuch’,sothatwenotonlyunderstanditsmeaning,butfeelthepulsing
differentialofthebook’sobjectasifitwerealivewithinus.”
—StephenZepke,IndependentResearcher,Vienna
Mark Laurence Jackson
Diagrams of Power
in Benjamin and Foucault
The Recluse of Architecture
MarkLaurenceJackson
SchoolofArtandDesign
AucklandUniversityofTechnology
Auckland,NewZealand
ISBN 978-981-19-4448-2 ISBN 978-981-19-4449-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4449-9
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ForMaria,VictoriaandAlex
Preface: Alchemy of the Verb
DeleriumsII
ALCHEMYOFTHEVERB
Myturn.Thehistoryofoneofmyinsanities.
ForalongtimeIboastedIwasmasterofallpossible
landscapes,andthoughtthegreatfiguresofmodern
paintingandpoetrywerelaughable.
Ilovedabsurdpaintings,picturesoverdoorways,stage
sets,carnivalbackdrops,billboards,bright-coloured
prints,old-fashionedliterature,churchLatin,erotic
booksfullofmisspellings,thekindofnovelsour
grandmothersread,fairytales,littlechildren’sbooks,old
operas,sillyoldsongs,thenaïverhythmsofcountry
rhymes.
IdreamedofCrusades,unheardvoyagesofdiscovery,
republicswithouthistories,religiouswarsstampedout,
revolutionsinmorals,movementsofracesandof
continents;Ibelievedinallenchantments.
ArthurRimbaud,ASeasoninHell,p.49.
Commonplaces
In1972,theItalianliterarycritic,FurioJesi,publishedanessayonArthurRimbaud’s
“Bateauivre”(“Thedrunkenboat”)(Jesi,2021a).Jesi’saiminhisshortessaygoes
somewayindeveloping anapproach totheworkofart—forme,aswell,workof
architecture—thathovers betweentwoquiteantagonisticunderstandings ormean-
ings,whichistosay,hoversbetweentwoconflictualencounterswithhowtheword—
language—works on or with a work. Let’s call one of these conflictual extremes,
alchemy,a‘name’giventoaworkbyRimbaud(Rimbaud,2004).Though,already
withalchemy,asJesiisabletoexplain,somethingsplitsintoafurtherdualism,into
vii
viii Preface:AlchemyoftheVerb
further conflict or antagonism. There is, we can see with the poet, an alchemy of
theverb,afabulationormagicoftheletter,adeliriumorinsanityinlanguagethat
forevermetamorphosesthedrossofwordstogold.Yes,Jesiisabletoalludetothis
withRimbaud’sBateauivre.Thoughthisisnotwhatheemphasisesatthebeginning.
Rather,hecommenceswithdiscussingwhathecalls“commonplaces,”theextentto
whichsomeworksshowtheir“privilege”inbeingmadefrom“commonplaces.”The
problemhereforJesiisthat“badmoneydrivesoutgood.”RimbaudwritesBateau
ivre when seventeen, with the aim of heading to Paris, to show them what he has
done.AsJesisays,“theBateauivreismerchandiseonoffer,somethingthatcanbring
profit:andsomethingthatcanbringprofitisnecessarilymadeoutofthematterof
commonplaces”(24).The‘problem’,then,withalchemyoftheverbishowthepoet
encounters,handles,fashionsthecommonplacesthat,inturn,fashioncreationintoa
something.Betweentheinsanitieswithinencounterablethingsandthemarketplace
oftheirbuyingandselling,thepoet-architectfacesadoublingofthemetamorphosis
ofthecommonplace.
Though,Isuggestedthereisanotherencounterwiththeword,somethingantago-
nistictotheverynotionofthedrossofcommonplaceencountersthatdoublesitself
betweenshiningappearanceandprofit.Let’scallthisonevanityoftheverb.Ittoo
splitsapartatthemomentwegetclosetoit.Again,itisJesiwhoalertsustosomething
here,intheopeningtohisessayonRimbaud:
Intheseworks[ofcommonplacesbecomingcommonplace],theapparentprogressfromthe
noveltyparexcellenceoftheinflagranticreativeoperationtothenon-noveltyparexcellence
ofthestatueerectedbyposteritytothecreatorisinfactenclosedinasinglepoint:asortof
darkpustuleonthemarblesurface,inwhichalltheimpuritiesofthestonearegathered—a
salientblemish,areferencepoint.(22)
Jesi borrows a phrase from Mallarmé, “calme bloc ici-bas”—‘calm block here
fallen’—fromaMallarmépoemreferencingE.A.Poe’stomb.1AsJesinotes,wryly,
the field of poetry, marked by its monumental commonplaces, resembles a church
graveyard.HequipsorsnipesatHeideggeronthis,theHeideggerof“Whypoets?”
and the Heidegger who liked to spend time in graveyards (see Heidegger, 2002).
Hereisthatotherworkingoftheverb,avanityorvanitas thatseemstoleadusto
thetomb,butalsotoaliving,deathlydesireformortalimmortality,foreternityor
eternalreturn.Myaimwiththisbookistobegintoask,obliquely,perhapssecretively,
silently, something about architecture as a practice that hovers within a peculiar
spacing whose border regions become traced or marked by these two powers of
alchemy,andthesetwopowersofvanity,betweenacreativeplayingwiththemost
common of commonplaces fated or destined for merchandising, as much as for
monumentality,forsomethingalittleineffableorunknowable,andarecognisingof
existenceexistingungrounded.Allthewhile,wewanttotrytofindthat“reference
point” suggested by Jesi, that dark pustule on the monument’s surface, that points
nottoeternalremembrancebuttoruin’sforgetting.
1ThisisMallarmé’sThetombofEdgarPoe.Itsfinallinesread:“Calmblockherefallenfromsome
fardisaster/Thenletthisboundarystoneatleastsayno/TothedarkflightsofBlasphemyhereafter.
Preface:AlchemyoftheVerb ix
Though,thereisaNietzscheanwaytobegintorecognisejustwhatJesiisgetting
atbythisnotionofthe‘commonplace’.Inonesense,weallgetit immediately,as
ifwhatJesiisdescribingisitselfentirelycommonplace.Itiswhatwemostreadily
fallbackonto,inordernotsimplytomakesenseofourexistence,butalsotoinvent
orre-inventwhoorwhatwemightotherwisebe.Though,existenceisperhapswhat
wecannot,intruth,makesenseof,inthatwhateverwemightprofferastheground
oressenceofexistenceisonlyeveritselfexistenceexisting:truth’serranciesorart’s
willingerrancies,preservingusfromtruth’sdeathlydesire.ThiswillbeNietzsche’s
‘fable’ or fatum of the true world and the apparent both being abolished, from his
Twilightoftheidols(Nietzsche,1968).Theworldisfabula,fable,whichmeansthat
historicaltimebecomesmythictime,eternal.ItisPierreKlossowskiwhoalertsus
to this, rather than Jesi (Klossowski, 2007).2 Yet, this is what Jesi pursues more
generally,inwhathecallsthe“mythologicalmachine,”atermbrieflydiscussedin
hisRimbaudessay,thoughelaboratedonelsewhere(seeJesi,2014,2021b).Thisis
howwebegintothinkwhatcouldbemeantbyarecluseofarchitecture.Though,in
truth,wecannotbesureifwearethrowingbadmoneyaftergood,asJesisuggests
as the abyssal danger of allowing commonplaces to inhabit oneself such that all
that can happen is the commonplace. To enable us to follow some of the threads
within the labyrinthian passageways of memory and forgetting, of merchandising
andmonumentalising,wefollowafurtherseriesthatsplits,aseriesofantagonisms
inthehistorico-philosophicalwritingsofWalterBenjaminandMichelFoucault.We
callourtaskthatofdiscerningorfindinghowdiagramsofpowercanbeunderstood
withintheworksofBenjaminandFoucault.WeareespeciallyinterestedinBenjamin
andFoucaultbecauseeachbeginstodevelopanunderstandingofmodernityviaan
architecturalfigure,asamaterialspatialassemblage,inonecasetheParisianarcades
thatfirstappearedinthelastdecadeoftheeighteenthcentury,andintheothercase,
theutopicfigureofJeremyBentham’sPanopticon,thatalsoappearedattheendofthe
eighteenthcentury.Inasmuchasweareconcernedwithpower,wearenotespecially
concernedwithdiscussingahistoryofarcadesorahistoryofvariousbuildingsof
confinement(hospitals,workhouses,schools,barracks,prisons).Infact,verylittleis
actuallydiscussedthatwouldgotomakeupabookonarchitecture.Perhaps,thisis
abookof architecture.Bythat,wemeanwedonotdiscussthosecommonplaces—
mundaneorextraordinaryastheymightbe—thatconstitutethemerchandisingand
monumentalisingofhabitableorfunctionalspace.Ifwearesuggestingsomething
Nietzscheaninourapproach,itisinwonderinghowtheeternalreturnofthesame
2Klossowskiwill,inasense,recountNietzsche’sown‘version’oftheplightofthecommonplaces
describedbyJesi.HeisdiscussingtheaftermathofNietzsche’sownaccountofcreation,the‘six
days’ittooktocreatetheworldasrefabulation—abolishingthetrueandtheapparentworld(Niet-
zsche,1968,40-41).Aseternityoffable,abolishingisanactiveforgettingofthehistoricalsituation
ofanypresent,andthisisapreliminarynecessityforanyactofcreating:“…inforgettinghumans
sub-cometo(sous-vientà)thepastastheirfuture,whichtakesthefigureofthepast.Itisinthisway
thatthepastcomesto[advient]theminwhattheycreate;forwhattheybelievetheycreateinthis
waydoesnotcometothemfromthepresent,butisonlythepronunciationofapriorpossibilityin
themomentaryforgettingofthe(historicallydetermined)present”(Klossowski,2007,103).
x Preface:AlchemyoftheVerb
happens, such that something we recluse as architecture—let’s call it its will to
power—isunteachableyetexistsorpersistsasapower.Klossowskisays:
Whatisunteachablearethosemomentswhenexistence,escapingfromdelimitationsthat
producethenotionsofhistoryandmorality,aswellasthepracticalbehaviourderivedfrom
them,isshowntobegivenbacktoitselfwithnoothergoalthanthatofreturningtoitself.
Allthingsthenappearatoncenewandquiteold;everythingispossibleandeverythingis
immediatelyimpossible,andthereareonlytwocoursesopentoconsciousness:eitherto
keepsilent,ortospeak;eithertodonothing,ortoactsoastoimprintonone’severyday
quotidianambiancethecharacterofexistencegivenbacktoitself;eithertoloseitselfin
existenceortoreproduceit.(Klossowski,2007,100)
Both Benjamin and Foucault are, at times, (or perhaps eternally) Nietzschean.
Each recognises that imperative or fatum of the new and the ancient, possibility
and impossibility, silence and speaking, inoperativity and action, losing one’s self
inexistenceandreproducingit.Themannerwherebyeachactivatesthespatialising
assemblagesofanarchitecturalfigure,atoncemakesthatfigurespeakandcommits
it to silence, withdraws it from the historico-moral commonplaces of architecture,
whilemakingitafabula,mythicpotency.Crucially,though,thebookdoesnotdwell
onorinthosearchitecturalfigures.Rather,itdwellswithinthearchivesofBenjamin
andFoucault,withintheheterogeneityoftheiralchemyoftheverbandtheirvanity
of the verb, between the marketplace of their textual traces and the monumental
configurationsoftheirchurchyardtombs.3Though,weaimtosearchforthecommon
stain,theimpurity-in-commonthatperhapsbecomesthesecretoftheircalmebloc
ici-bas.
Itinerary
What, then, is our trajectory? Our strategic bet places alchemy on the scales and
then hold vanity up to the mirror of nothingness. Alchemy and vanity? We will
laterinthisbook,byChapter5,parsethesewordsintermsofLetterandSpirit,the
afterlifeoftheLetter,andthelivingfleshofSpirit:alchemyofaliving-on,andthe
death-and-resurrectionofeternalsacrifice.Thiswouldalsobehowwereadhistory
inmonumentsandinmerchandising:graveyardtombsandsouvenirs.Butthisisalso
architecture,theeddyingofitsappearing-and-disappearing.Theopeningchapteris
titled,“EmptyLinks.”TheexpressioncomesfromG.W.F.Hegel,todescribethe
3That‘verb’is,ofcourse,theverbtobe—being—itsalchemyanditsvanity,itsself-creatingand
its eternalising. Klossowski alerts us to its Nietzschean reading when discussing just what, for
Nietzsche,isthe‘deathofGod’:“Whatbecomesapparent,then,isthattheeventofthe‘death
ofGod’stirstheerosofthesoulatitsroot;itawakenstheinstinctofadoration,thisinstinctthat
generatesgods,whichinNietzscheisbothacreativewillandawilltoeternalization.The‘death
of God’ means that a rupture is introduced into this eros, which is then split into two contrary
tendencies:thewilltoself-creation,whichisneverwithoutdestruction,andthewilltoadore,which
isneverwilledwithoutwillingeternalization”(Klossowski2007,120).WhatNietzschecallsthewill
topoweramountstothisconflictualpairoftendencies,tosomethingintherootoferosconstituting
“theuniversalcapacityformetamorphosis”(120).
Preface:AlchemyoftheVerb xi
relationofnamingtothings,orthinkingtothings:‘wethinkinnames’,ashesays.
Thisquestionofthenamebecomesanimportantthemeforthebook,inpartbecause
itisessentialtounderstandingBenjamin’sonto-theologyofnamingassociatedwith
histheoryoflanguage,andalsobecausewereferenceJacquesDerridawonderingif
thereisorcanbeanewnameforarchitecture.Thebook’stitle,Diagramsofpower
inBenjaminandFoucault,suggestswewillbelookingtoanespeciallyFoucauldian
orientation to understanding how architecture enters the thinking of both critical
writers, and how we come to understand how each works with an understanding
of power. The expression comes from Foucault, as does the notion of power that
weareespeciallyinterestedin.WewonderifBenjamin’sunderstandingof‘constel-
lation’ bears any similarity to Foucault’s ‘diagram’. This becomes a starting point
for our research. The chapter aims to approach Benjamin and Foucault indirectly,
commencingwithaquestionmorepertinenttounderstandingarchitecture,itsfateor
destinyinthenineteenthcentury,withG.W.F.Hegel’spronouncementontheend
ofartandarchitecture.
WeapproachthisHegelianprognosisinitiallyviathewritingsofthetwentieth-
century philosopher, John Sallis, who questions the ‘having been’ of architecture,
suggestingHegel’spronouncementmaywellbethoughtotherwise.Sallismightbe
characterisedasa‘deconstructiveHeideggerian’.Atleast,hisdetractorsthrowthis
labelathim.Thenotionof‘havingbeen’ isitselfexplored inanextended wayby
lookingtoMartinHeidegger’s understandingofwhathaspassed inrelationtohis
understandingofbeing-at-home,ofdwelling.TheseresponsestoHegelareextended
to Jacques Derrida’s discussion of Hegel’s understanding of Egyptian architecture
andPauldeMan’squestioningofsignandsymbolinHegel’sAesthetics.Thetitle,
‘EmptyLinks’,whilereferencingHegel,mayalsorefertohowwethinktherelation
of Benjamin to Foucault, or Hegel’s prognosis on the metaphysical culmination
ofarchitecture and what,forSallis,comes after.This chapter introduces us tokey
issueswewilltakeupinChapter2’sdiscussionconcerningWalterBenjamin.Perhaps
‘empty’linkingbecomesourmethodologicalapproach,tobereadorunderstoodin
apeculiarlyNietzscheanmannerastheplayofphantasmsandsimulacra,masksand
masksuponmasks.
Chapter2,“DivinityandViolence,”openswithreferencetoDerridaquestioning
thename,‘architecture’,wonderingifanewnameisrequiredorifoneisemerging.
This concern with naming and memory introduces a key motif of the chapter
concerningwhatmemoryandthenameareforWalterBenjamin.Benjamin’sunder-
standingofmemoryiscontrastedtothatofHegel,inquiteanextendedanddetailed
discussionofhowbothmemoryandexperiencearedevelopedinHegel’sPhilosophy
ofsubjectivespiritandhisPhenomenologyofspirit.Thetitletothischapteralludes
toHegel:thedivinityoftheAbsoluteandtheviolenceofself-consciousness,ofits
sovereignpower(Gewalt).ItmightequallyalludetoBenjaminondivineviolence
and messianic redemption. Detailed engagement with Hegelian understandings of
memoryandknowingenableaclosecomparativereadingofanumberofBenjamin
essays,includinghisessayonhisBerlinchildhoodandhisessayonMarcelProust.
ThisleadstodetaileddiscussionofBenjamin’sTrauerspielstudy,commencingwith