Le buveur d'absinthe - Eduard Manet
The flâneur from French is a stroller, someone who walks for pleasure; he is a lounger, someone who wastes time; he is a saunterer, someone who walks at leisurely pace; he is a boulevardier, he is an urban explorer and a conoisseur of the streets. He is the essential figure of the modernity, he is an urban spectator, an amateur detective and investigator of the city. More than this, the flâneur is a sign of alienation of the city and of capitalism. To the uncertainty of its economic position corresponds the uncertainty of its political function. The flâneur still stands on the threshold of the metropolis as of the middle class. In neither is he at home. He seeks refuge in the crowd.
Baudelaire in Le peintre de la vie moderne, express his doubts in defining an artist as an artiste(1)
rather than homme du monde. An artiste is someone who is a specialist, he is a man tied to his
colour palette as a slave is tied to the glebe; an homme du monde is the man of the whole world, he
is the flâneur (2). He is interested at the whole world, he wants to know, understand, appreciate
entirely all what is passing through our spheroid.
1 Artiste from French means artist and is counterposed to the homme du monde that means man of the world. This comparison is used by Charles Baudelaire to define the role of the artist in the 19th century.
2 The flâneur from French is a stroller, someone who walks for pleasure; he is a lounger, someone who wastes time; he is a saunterer, someone who walks at leisurely pace; he is a boulevardier, he is an urban explorer and a conoisseur of the streets. He is the essential figure of the modernity, he is an urban spectator, an amateur detective and investigator of the city. More than this, the flâneur is a sign of alienation of the city and of capitalism. To the uncertainty of its economic position corresponds the uncertainty of its political function. The flâneur still stands on the threshold of the metropolis as of the middle class. In neither is he at home. He seeks refuge in the crowd.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baudelaire, C., (1885) Le peintre de la vie moderne. Paris: Calmann Lévy.
Benjamin, W., Translated, H.E., McLaughlin, K. and Eil, H. (1999) The arcades project. 2nd edn. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Canevacci, M., edited by Lombardozzi, A., Neri, C., Scotto Lavina, E. (2005) Cultural syncretism. Funzione Gamma, [online]. Available at: http://www.funzionegamma.it/cultural-syncretism/
Artemel, A.J., (2013) Retrospective: Archizoom And No-Stop City, Architizer, [online]. Available at: http://architizer.com/blog/archizoom-retrospective/
Baudelaire, C., (1885) Le peintre de la vie moderne. Paris: Calmann Lévy.
Benjamin, W., Translated, H.E., McLaughlin, K. and Eil, H. (1999) The arcades project. 2nd edn. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Canevacci, M., edited by Lombardozzi, A., Neri, C., Scotto Lavina, E. (2005) Cultural syncretism. Funzione Gamma, [online]. Available at: http://www.funzionegamma.it/cultural-syncretism/
Artemel, A.J., (2013) Retrospective: Archizoom And No-Stop City, Architizer, [online]. Available at: http://architizer.com/blog/archizoom-retrospective/