L’économie de la visibilité

L’exemple de l’exposition « Musik im Leben der Völker » en 1927

Abstract

In 1927, the city of Frankfurt am Main in Germany organized an exhibition about music. Among the visitors was the sociologist Theodor Adorno, who takes a critical look at what he considers to be an “encyclopedia for the eye” intended for an audience that does nothing but passively contemplate. Adorno highlights evidence that art is no longer defined in terms of its auratic aspect, which mobilizes a historical and social context, but of its unique immediate presence. Adorno’s observations are thus a prelude to the critical construction of the sociological theory of exhibition value, which postulates the goal of commercializing visibility. This work will determine to what extent the exhibition is the result of advertising promotion which contributes to the commodification for a public and to the intensification of the lived experience in a logic of entertainment.