Le subtil plaisir de ne pas tout voir

To seduce is to foster in another person a relationship with illusion, Plato says in the Gorgias.

To not show everything, to make oneself inscrutable, to let mystery work and imagination grow… seduction readily thinks of itself as an art. Conversely, could art think of itself as a form of seduction? Three specialists will try to answer this question.

• 17h — 18h The secret is sexy! Prestidigitation, or the captivated watcher Lecture by philosopher Alain Poussard

Faced with a magician’s gestures, the prospect of the secret being fully exposed remains blocked, opening up a space for an erotics of watchfulness, turning the spectator-witness into a determined watcher, spying on every sign that might feed their suspicion. This game of seduction without a seducer is a game within another game—a doubled game, or a game squared, far removed from the suspect and corrupted forms of seduction associated with power, consumption or pleasure, abuse or malfeasance.

We will try to characterize the cunning but fair structure of such a game, in which surrender and resistance are forced to go hand in hand, and the greatest detachment does not preclude total involvement. Above all, we will focus on the temporal texture of this experience: not the time in which it takes place, but the original temporal mode it establishes, along two opposing and overlapping axes, each with its own direction, delay and rhythm.

“Not yet, but soon.” This is the phrase faithful Morgiana whispers in the ears of the 40 thieves before boiling them one by one. In prestidigitation, the breathless impatience of “not yet” is felt every second under the threat of “too late,” which in reality has always already overtaken it. This “too late” that we try to ward off, but which is also the secret object of desire. - Alain Poussard

• 18h15 — 19h15 Should a work of art be seductive? Lecture by art historian Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen

Aesthetic philosophy is reluctant to think about works of art in terms of seduction. The concepts it uses—beauty, the sublime, harmony—reveal the seriousness with which it regards art, but are difficult to reconcile with what this word encompasses. And yet, since Plato, art’s original sin has been precisely what seduction sums up: to seduce is to lie; art cultivates illusion. Is it really that simple? An artist painting or sculpting the Virgin Mary or Christ aims to express a spiritual, if not physical, truth by giving it form. Another, more contemporary objection: kitsch, prettiness, cuteness and all the “saccharine” works designed to please and encourage purchases are now welcomed into “high art” institutions. An exhibition this autumn at the Louvre-Lens is devoted to them. Whether “serious” or not, is a work of art destined to seduce in order to exist, including through unavowable means? Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen

• 19h30 — 20h30 Songs of seduction Lecture by musicologist Esteban Buch

Can a song seduce? Can a song help someone seduce? Answering yes to both questions may seem obvious, given how closely music is linked to romantic and sexual rituals in so many cultures. Yet these questions point to a more general inquiry into the power of music. Since Antiquity, it has been understood that this power is so formidable, because of its influence on morals, that the state or religious institutions must be wary of it, or even forcibly restrict it. Today, listening platforms and other devices take on this role of control, if in the benevolent form of recommendations. However, the way this power of musical sounds actually works remains little understood. Sometimes a recorded song seems to touch us deeply, as if the virtual person became a romantic partner for the duration of the listening experience. At other times, it acts more like a third presence, slipping into a relationship between two people: some will remember it fondly, others as the awkward object of an imposed coexistence. In any case, music’s power of seduction, with its animistic logic, raises questions about the human and non-human elements in the full range of cultural artifacts.