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[The following is quotation. My commentary is bracketed in red.]
Liquid Rhythm
Francis Bacon
Triptych, 1972
Painting 70 of Deleuze's
Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation. Tome II - Peintures
Painting [70] of the English translation
and Painting [70] of the Seuil 2002 French
A 1972 Triptych [70] shows a Figure whose back is "diminished," but whose leg is already complete, and another Figure whose torso has been completed, but who is missing one leg and whose other leg runs. These are monsters from the point of view of figuration. But from the point of view of the Figures themselves, these are rhythms and nothing else, rhythms as in a piece of music, as in the music of Messiaen, which makes you hear "rhythmic characters." (Deleuze 2003: xv)
This would be the augmentation-diminution opposition. There can be an extraordinary subtlety in what one chooses to add or take away: here we enter into a more profound domain of values and rhythm, since what is added or subtracted is not a quantity, a multiple or submultiple, but values defined by their precision or "brevity." In particular, an added value can sometimes be produced by random spurts of paint, which Bacon likes to utilize. But perhaps the most striking and most moving example is in the triptych of August 1972 [70]. If the attendant in the center is furnished with elongations and a well-defined mauve oval, we find a diminished torso in the Figure on the left, since a whole portion of it is missing, while the torso on the right is in the process of being built up, half of it having already been added. But then everything changes with the legs. In the left panel, one leg is already finished, while the other is in the process of being defined; in the right panel, it is just the opposite: one leg is already amputated, while the other is flowing away. Correlatively, the mauve oval in the center changes status, turning into a pink pool lying next to the chair, in the left panel, and a red discharge from the leg, in the right panel. In this way, Bacon uses mutilations and prostheses in a game of added and subtracted values. It is like a collection of hysterical "sleepings" and "awakenings" affecting the diverse parts of a body. But it is above all one of Bacon's most profoundly musical paintings. (Deleuze 2003: 56b.d)Ce serait l'opposition augmentation-diminution. Il peut y avoir en effet une extraordinaire subtilité dans le choix de quelque chose qu'on ajoute ou qu'on retire : on entre plus profondément dans le domaine des valeurs et du rythme, pour autant que ce qu'on ajoute ou qu'on soustrait n'est pas une quantité, un multiple ou un sous-multiple, mais des valeurs définies par leur précision ou leur « brièveté ». Il peut se faire notamment que la valeur ajoutée soit un jet de peinture au hasard, comme les aime Bacon. Mais peut-être l'exemple le plus frappant et le plus émouvant est-il dans le triptyque d'août 1972 : si le témoin est fourni au centre par les allongés, et par l'ovale mauve bien déterminé, on voit sur la Figure de gauche un torse diminué, puisque toute une partie en manque, tandis qu'à droite le torse est en voie de se compléter, s'est déjà ajouté une moitié. Mais aussi tout change avec les jambes : à gauche une jambe est déjà complète, tandis que l'autre est en train de se dessiner ; et à droite, c'est l inverse : une jambe est déjà amputée, tandis que l'autre s'écoule. Et corrélativement l'ovale mauve du centre trouve un autre statut, devenu à gauche une flaque rose subsistante à côté de la chaise, et à droite un écoulement rose à partir de la jambe. C'est ainsi que les mutilations et les prothèses chez Bacon servent à tout un jeu de valeurs retirées ou ajoutées. C'est comme un ensemble de « sommeils » et de «réveils » hystériques affectant diverses parties d'un corps. Mais c'est surtout un des tableaux les plus profondément musicaux de Bacon. (Deleuze 2002: 76d.77b)
[Messiaen finds that rhythmic patterns can have a certain character, like how each different bird-call has its own character. (For more on rhythmic characters, see the Messiaen part of this entry, or for even more detail, see this entry). In fact, we might think of such rhythms as themselves being characters that actors might play. He distinguishes three: active, passive, and attendant. The active acts-upon the passive. It is like a sort of violence. Concretely, what we see is the active rhythmic character increases in some magnitude, while the passive decreases. It gives us the impression that the active one is striking-down upon the passive. All the while, there is an attendant rhythm, an observer if you will. His magnitude remains relatively constant. Perhaps the idea with the attendant rhythm is that it is like the frame of reference in physics, considered unmoving, all while the other motions move in relation to it.
Deleuze finds similar rhythmic characters in Bacon's painting, again, active, passive, and attendant. On the one hand, these rhythms express themselves in concrete features of the painting. For example, one figure might be holding a camera and for that reason seem to be observing the other figures. On this basis, he analyzes particular features of the paintings. But in a more profound way, there are such rhythms that are found in how our nervous systems are affected by the paintings. There is a rhythm of our sensations. So the active, passive, and attendant are really more like functions that the figures take-on. And they can exchange and circulate these functions, in accordance with how our bodies are affected by the painting at any given moment.
The figure in the center panel seems to have been elongated by horizontal forces.
It seems to be neither increasing nor decreasing. So it does not give us a feeling of augmentation or diminution. For this reason, it serves as the stable attendant rhythm.
All the while, the left figure's torso is concaving inward. It gives us the feeling of diminishment. So it expresses the passive rhythmic character.
But in the right figure, we see his torso convexing outward. When we sense this augmenting force, the figure takes-on the active rhythmic character.
Yet the figures are not so simple, Deleuze observes. One leg gives us the feeling that it is completed. So sense in it the attendant rhythm. The other leg on this figure seems like it is coming into being, and hence is the active character.
Yet in the right figure, one leg seems already amputated, while the other, seems to be floating away. Perhaps they provide the passive rhythm.]
The presence of a body without organs under the organism, the presence of transitory organs under organic representation. A clothed Figure of Bacon's is seen nude in the mirror or on the canvas (Two Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer,1968 [50]). The spastics and the hyperesthetics are often indicated by wiped or scrubbed zones [71], and the anesthetics and paralytics, by missing zones (as in the very detailed 1972 triptych [70]). (Deleuze 2003: 36ab)Présence d'un corps sans organes sous l'organisme, présence des organes transitoires sous la représentation organique. Habillée, la Figure de Bacon se voit nue dans le miroir ou sur la toile [69]. Les contractures et les hyperesthésies sont souvent marquées de zones nettoyées, chiffonnées [70], et les anesthésies, les paralysies, de zones manquantes (comme dans un triptyque très détaillé de 1972 [73]).
[The figures in Bacon's paintings affect us in continually varying ways. They cause us to encounter differences upon differences, all while we feel forced to try to make sense of what we see. Consider the non-sense in Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. On the one hand, we feel compelled to make sense of what is going on, while on the other hand, the inherent non-sense prevents us from doing so. Bacon's paintings are similar in this way: we feel compelled to aesthetically put-together what we see, all while the rhythm of the random variations prevents us from being able to do so. This is a sort of non-sense of our aesthetic senses. It sends our bodies into disarray. Its parts no longer work together concordantly and organically. Hence our bodies become disorganized, and in a sense, a body without organs (see this entry for more on the Body without Organs). Deleuze points-out that in these paintings, Bacon depicts bodies with amputated organs.]
(With my gratitude to
[The armature] can consist in the action of a very particular section of the field that we have not yet considered: the field occasionally includes a black section, sometimes quite localized (Pope No. II, 1960 [27]; Three studies for a Crucifixion, 1962 [29]; Portrait of George Dyer Staring into a Mirror, 1967 [45]; Triptych, 1972 [70]; Portrait of a Man Walking down Steps, 1972 [68]), (Deleuze 2003: 104c)[l'armature peut] consister dans l'action d'une section très particulière de l'aplat que nous n'avons pas encore considérée : en effet, il arrive que l'aplat comporte une section noire, tantôt bien localisée (« Pape n° 2 » 1960 [45], « Trios études pour une crucifixion » 1962, « Portrait de George Dyer regardant fixement dans une miroir »1967, « Triptyque » 1972, «Homme descendant l'escalier » 1972), (Deleuze 2002: 140c.d)
[We might notice how Bacon's backgrounds seem flat. This gives us the sense that the figures would drop out the painting's bottom if they were not secured somehow. Deleuze identifies parts of Bacon's paintings that act like sculpting armatures: they prop the figure up and hold it in place. In this case, Deleuze says that the black squares in the background serve this function.]
Many large contours, for example, are treated as rugs (Man and Child, 1963 [32];Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1966 [38]; Portrait of George Dyer Staring into a Mirror, 1967 [45]), and seem to constitute a decorative regime of color. This third regime can be seen even better in the existence of the small contour, within which the Figure is erected and which can deploy delightful colors - for example, the perfect lilac oval in the central panel of the 1972 Triptych [70], which gives way to an uncertain rose-colored pool in the left and right panels; or the gold-orange oval that radiates from the door in the 1978 Painting [81]. (Deleuze 2003: 106.c)et par exemple beaucoup de grands contours seront traités comme des tapis ( « Homme et Enfant » 1963, «Trois études pour un portrait de Lucian Freud »1966,«Portrait de George Dyer dans un miroir » 1968, etc.). On dirait un régime décoratif de la couleur. Ce troisième régime se voit encore mieux dans l'existence du petit contour, où se dresse la Figure, et qui peut déployer des couleurs charmantes : par exemple dans le « Triptyque » 1972 [70], l'ovale parfait mauve du panneau central, qui laisse place à droite et à gauche à une flaque rose incertaine ; ou bien dans « Peinture » de 1978 [23], l'ovale orange-or qui irradie sur la porte. (Deleuze 2002: 142c.d)
[We also find that Bacon's figures are often enclosed by some shape or object. There will be a contour to what encases the figure. In this case, Deleuze notices smaller contours filled-out by color. They are the rose-colored pools and the lilac oval.]
Deleuze, Gilles. Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation. Transl. Daniel W. Smith. London/New York: Continuum, 2003.
Deleuze, Gilles. Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation. Paris: Seuil, 2002.
Deleuze, Gilles. Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation. Tome II - Peintures. Paris: Editions de la différence [Littératures], 1981.
Images obtained quite gratefully from:
Triptych – August 1972
Oil on canvas
198 x 1475 mm each
© The Estate of Francis Bacon/DACS 2008
Deleuze, Gilles. Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation. Tome II - Peintures. Paris: Editions de la différence [Littératures], 1981.
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