Bass Diffusion Model

About

Julien Berthier - Gaelle Boucand - Valentin Carron - Julien Discrit Elise Florenty - Fabien Giraud - Swetlana Heger - Peter Joslyn - Pierre-Yves Mace Genet Mayor - Alexej Meschtschanow - Emilie Pitoiset - Magali Reus Clementine Roy - Clotilde Viannay - Marie Voignier - Christoph Weber The Mix (Christian Egger/ Manuel Gorkiewic /Christian Mayer / Yves Mettler Magda Tothova / Ruth Weismann / Alexander Wolff) curators: Gallien Dejean, Mathieu Larnaudie, Caroline Soyez-Petithomme The concept of this exhibition comes from the shared view of the three curators that some aspects of contemporary artistic practice could be analyzed through the analytical prism of writings of the 19th century French sociologist Gabriel Tarde (1843 - 1904). In The Laws of Imitation (1890), Gabriel Tarde described social logic as an extensive network of imitations, repetitions, and of individual inventions. According to his thesis, social fact is the result of a triple dynamic: imitation, opposition and adaptation. So that art, as well as fashion, ethics, or religion, is a realm governed by imitative flux. Thus, an encounter between two opposites does not necessarily mean a radical confrontation - where one would fail or disappear under the other - on the contrary, this event generates something different, a sort of innovative adaptation. The subtlety of Tarde's thought lies in the broad definition of 'imitation' which includes invention as well as counter-imitation. Tarde argued differently from the strict scientific understanding of imitation, reincorporating the conscious and unconscious dimensions of imitation, but also the importance of 'inter-spiritual' simultaneity (zeitgeist and chance). He claimed that 'social facts' - as much as they could seem on the surface to be repeating themselves - only become visible because of their damaged and interesting aspect, perpetually updated and infinitely diversified.