Any steeple could be fitted with a television antenna. At the summit of Mount Pilat, 15 meters apart, can be seen a giant cross and a television transmission tower.
Gilbert Simondon
simondon of the desert
film: François Lagarde
dialogue: Pascal Chabot
music: Jean-Luc Guionnet
HORS OEIL EDITIONS
A philosopher with no image
Significant and enigmatic in equal measure, the French philosopher Gilbert Simondon (1924-1989) had the misfortune, as the saying goes, to be born ahead of his time. A philosopher of technology and ontogeny, he created, in the 1960s, a set of concepts to describe our modern world. His language resonates with the most utopic of contemporary propositions in favor of a new accord between nature and technology. Known and read in his own time by only a handful of those closest to him, among them Gilles Deleuze, his philosophy has since found a world-wide audience.
As an individual, he appears solitary, fragile, always on the verge of mental collapse, but also endearing, honest, and sensitive. No image of him exists, but there exist certain access points, certain intersections of time and space, through which we can enter into his philosophy. From Lecce to Brest, from CERN in Geneva to the prehistoric caves of the Mas d’Azil, from the Collège de France to the mills of Flanders, contemporary thinkers recall how their encounters with Simondon influenced their own philosophical journeys. Lives and theories come together to convey the singularity of a philosophical worldview.
In the background, one nagging question remains: how could such a significant work, whose humanity and relevance are so striking to us today, have been hidden from view for so long?
Pascal Chabot, François Lagarde
SIMONDON OF THE DESERT
Film (image, sound, editing): François Lagarde
Dialogue: Pascal Chabot
Music: Jean-Luc Guionnet
Sound mixing: Mikaël Barre
Translation: Aliza Krefetz
Projection format: all regions Blu-ray Disc, 1920px/1080px, stereo sound or 5.1 surround sound
Film format: HD
Production: HORS OEIL EDITIONS
Production date: 2012
Film duration: 110’
Language: French
Sub-titles: English
Featuring:
Giovanni Carrozzini, biographer and Italian translator of Gilbert Simondon.
Jean-Hugues Barthélémy, philosopher, editor of the Cahiers Simondon book series.
Jean Clottes, expert on prehistory, national heritage curator.
Gilbert Hottois, professor emeritus of philosophy at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, member of the Belgian Royal Academy.
Arne De Boever, California Institute of the Arts, English translator of Gilbert Simondon.
Anne Fagot-Largeault, philosopher and psychiatrist, professor at the Collège de France, member of the Academy of Sciences.
Dominique Lecourt, philosopher, general director of the Institut Diderot.