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oa Fin-de-siècle vibratie-manie
Synesthetische lichtprojecties in het spoor van Jean Delville
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: De Moderne Tijd, Volume 6, Issue 2/3, Oct 2022, p. 232 - 262
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- 01 Oct 2022
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Abstract
Fin-de-siècle vibration-mania. Synesthetic light projection in the wake of Jean Delville’s art
Jean Delville (1867-1953), a Belgian symbolist artist and a pivotal figure in fin-de-siècle occultism in Brussels, was inspired by numerous synaesthetic performances: shadow plays, serpentine dance, and colour organs. These performances were perceived as musical paintings or experiments with colour-hearing, audition-colorée, or farbenhören and often made use of projection techniques. This contribution sheds light on the artistic, spiritual, and even therapeutic context of synaesthetic projection closely intertwined with Jean Delville’s interests and activities. It demonstrates how the lantern projector turned into a ‘magic lantern’ in synaesthetic performances. By materialising (in)visible vibrations, it paradoxically propagated an antimaterialist vision of life.