The end of the chaotic government under Emmanuel Macron. Sarkozy’s prison infamy. We are witnessing the simultaneous collapse of Macronism and Sarkozyism, two variants of presidentialism that have run out of steam, caught between a loss of authority and an excess of communications.
In Don DeLillo’s novel, fallen man, an acrobat draws crowds in Manhattan every day. From the top of a skyscraper, he threw himself into the void, held only by a rope tied to his feet. Hanging in the air, it remained there, unmoving, under the gaze of passersby. This show, which appeared a few days after September 11, reminds us of the falling bodies from the burning towers. No doubt this is the reason for the appeal it provides to the masses. A few weeks later, the Guggenheim Museum invited the acrobat to repeat his performance from the top floor of the museum for three weeks. By moving from the street to the museum, the acrobatic performance enters a symbolic realm whose rules are repetition, redundancy, and one-upmanship. He became the symbol of an era unable to overcome its wounds, condemned to repeat them, reproduce them, amplify them to the point of caricature.
Our society filled with signs seems condemned to constantly repeat c
