’Pataphysics
Encyclopedia
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
or pseudophilosophy
Pseudophilosophy
Pseudophilosophy is a term applied to philosophical ideas or systems which are claimed not to meet mainstream academic standards. The term is almost always used pejoratively and is often contentious...
dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
. The term was coined and the concept created by French writer Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
(1873–1907), who defined 'pataphysics as "the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments." Jarry considered Hippocrates of Chios
Hippocrates of Chios
Hippocrates of Chios was an ancient Greek mathematician, , and astronomer, who lived c. 470 – c. 410 BCE.He was born on the isle of Chios, where he originally was a merchant. After some misadventures he went to Athens, possibly for litigation...
and Sophrotatos the Armenian as the fathers of this "science". A practitioner of 'pataphysics is a
Etymology
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
term (ta epi ta metaphusika – "that which is above metaphysics"), which is a humorous variation of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's work Metaphysics
Metaphysics (Aristotle)
Metaphysics is one of the principal works of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name. The principal subject is "being qua being", or being understood as being. It examines what can be asserted about anything that exists just because of its existence and...
, in Greek "" (ta meta ta phusika – "that which is after physics", meaning "the works after (Aristotle's) Physics
Physics (Aristotle)
The Physics of Aristotle is one of the foundational books of Western science and philosophy...
").) So literally,
Jarry mandated the inclusion of the apostrophe in the orthography "to avoid a simple pun". The term
History
The term first appeared in print in the text of Alfred Jarry's play Guignol in the 28 April 1893, issue of L'Écho de Paris littéraire illustré. Jarry later defined it as "the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments." (Gestes et opinions du Docteur FaustrollExploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician
Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, pataphysician is a novel by French surrealist author Alfred Jarry. The book was published in 1911...
, II, viii). Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
has described 'pataphysics as resting "on the truth of contradictions and exceptions."
The Collège de 'pataphysique, founded on 11 May 1948 in Paris, is a group of artists and writers interested in the philosophy of 'pataphysics. The motto of the college is Eadem mutata resurgo
Eadem mutata resurgo
Eadem mutata resurgo is a Latin phrase that literally translates to "Although changed, I shall arise the same." The phrase was first known to be used by Jakob Bernoulli , a member of the famous Swiss mathematical family, and appears on his tombstone in Basel...
(I arise again the same though changed), and its head is His Magnificence, Baron Jean Mollet. According to Warren Motte, noted members of the college have included Noël Arnaud (Regent of General 'Pataphysics and Clinic of Rhetoriconosis, as well as Major Confirmant of the Order of the Grand Gidouille), Luc Étienne also known as Luc Etienne Périn
Luc Etienne Périn
Luc Etienne Périn, also known as Luc Étienne, was a French writer and a proponent of 'Pataphysics. He was born on the 8th September, 1908, in the small town of Neuflize, in the Ardennes, and died on the 27th of November, 1984, in Reims....
(Regent), Latis
Latis
In ancient Celtic polytheism, Latis is the name of two Celtic deities worshipped in Roman Britain. One is a goddess , the other a god , and they are both known from a single inscription each.-Dea Latis:...
(Private General Secretary to the Baron Vice-Curator), François Le Lionnais
François Le Lionnais
François Le Lionnais was a French chemical engineer and mathematician, perhaps best known as a founder of the literary movement Oulipo....
(Regent), Jean Lescure
Jean Lescure
- Biography :In 1938 Jean Lescure published his first plaquette of poems, "Le voyage immobile", and launched the review "Messages" ....
(Regent of Anabathmology), and Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
(Transcendent Satrap). As such, its members are linked with Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...
. Publications of the college include the Cahiers du Collège de 'Pataphysique and the Dossiers du Collège de 'Pataphysique.
The authors Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
, Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
, Eugene Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
, Boris Vian
Boris Vian
Boris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered today for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of their...
and Jean Ferry
Jean Ferry
Jean Levy known as Jean Ferry was a French writer and follower of the 'pataphysical tradition'.- See also :* La Loi des rues * Le Saint prend l'affût...
have described themselves as following the 'pataphysical tradition. 'Pataphysics and 'pataphysicians feature prominently in several linked works by science fiction writer Pat Murphy. The philosopher Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
is often described as a 'pataphysician and identified as such for some part of his life. One American writer, Pablo Lopez, has developed an extension of the "science" called the pataphor.
Although France had been always the center of the 'pataphysical globe, there are followers up in different cities around the world. In 1966 Juan Esteban Fassio was commissioned to draw the map of the Collège de 'Pataphysique and its institutes abroad. In the 1950s, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in the Western Hemisphere and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in Europe were the first cities to have 'pataphysical institutes. London, Edinburgh, Budapest, and Liege, as well as many other European cities, caught up in the sixties. In the 1970s, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, The Netherlands, and many other countries showed that the internationalization of 'pataphysics was irreversible.
In the 1960s 'pataphysics was used as a conceptual
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
principle within various fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
forms, especially pop art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. Works within the 'pataphysical tradition tend to focus on the processes of their creation, and elements of chance or arbitrary choices are frequently key in those processes. Select pieces from the artist Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
and the composer John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
characterize this. At around this time, Asger Jorn
Asger Jorn
Asger Oluf Jorn was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International...
, a 'pataphysician and member of the Situationist International, referred to 'pataphysics as a new religion. Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
and Heath Robinson were artists who contrived machines of a 'pataphysical bent.
During the Communist Era, a small group of 'pataphysicists in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
started a journal called PAKO, or Pataphysical Collegium. Alfred Jarry's plays had a lasting impression on the country's underground philosophical scene.
In music
- Reverend Fred LaneReverend Fred LaneReverend Fred Lane is the stage name of the Tuscaloosa, Alabama born singer, songwriter, and visual artist T.R. Reed , who released two relatively obscure yet critically appreciated albums in the 1980s on the Shimmy Disc label...
released two critically appreciated albums influenced by 'pataphysical theories as a part of his involvement with the Raudelunas art collective in Tuscaloosa, AlabamaTuscaloosa, AlabamaTuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
. - Professor Andrew Hugill, of De Montfort University, Leicester, is a practitioner of 'pataphysical music. He curated Pataphysics, for the Sonic Arts NetworkSonic Arts NetworkSonic Arts Network was a UK-based organisation, established in 1979, that aimed to enable both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound through a programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects...
's CD series. A CD entitled' Pataphysical Piano; the sounds and silences of Andrew Hugill is available on the UHRecordings label, cat. no. 020011008. - British progressive rockProgressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Soft MachineSoft MachineSoft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
has songs "Pataphysical Introduction" parts I and II on their 1969 album Volume Two. - Japanese psychedelic rockPsychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band Acid Mothers TempleAcid Mothers TempleAcid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. is a Japanese psychedelic band, the core of which formed in 1995. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians, but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with only a few core members and frequent guest...
refer to the topic on their 1999 release Pataphisical Freak Out MU!!. - AutoluxAutoluxAutolux is an avant-garde rock group consisting of Eugene Goreshter , Greg Edwards and Carla Azar...
, LA based noise pop band, have a song "Science Of Imaginary Solutions" in their second album Transit TransitTransit Transit-External links:***...
. - "'Pataphysical science" is mentioned as a course of study for Maxwell Edison's first victim, "Joan", in the song "Maxwell's Silver HammerMaxwell's Silver Hammer"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by The Beatles, on their album, Abbey Road, sung by Paul McCartney. It was written by McCartney, though credited to Lennon–McCartney.-Background:...
" on the album "Abbey Road" by the BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. - The debut album by Ron 'Pate's Debonairs featuring Rev. Fred Lane (his first appearance on vinyl) was entitled Raudelunas 'Pataphysical Revue (1977), a live theatrical performance. A review in The WireThe Wire (magazine)The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
magazine said, "No other record has ever come as close to realising Alfred Jarry's desire 'to make the soul monstrous' – or even had the vision or invention to try."
In visual art
American artist Thomas ChimesThomas Chimes
Thomas Chimes was an influential painter and artist from Philadelphia. His work is in some important public collections, including those of the Philadelphia Museum of Art , the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts .-...
developed an interest in Jarry's pataphysics, which became a lifelong passion, inspiring much of the painter's creative work.
In 2010 the artist KCF Ferreira began a visual exploration into the imaginary solutions for the constructs of reality (pataphysics=pata art). The exhibit SpektrumMEK that resulted from this endeavor has been put into the book "SpektrumMEK: a pataphysical gestation to the birth of Lil' t"
The League of Imaginary Scientists
The League of Imaginary Scientists
The League of Imaginary Scientists is a Los Angeles-based art group specializing in Pataphysics, Interactive Art and Art/Science Collaborations. The League was founded in 2006, and has since created work for many venues, including The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, The Museum of...
, a Los Angeles-based art collective specializing in 'pataphysics-based interactive experiments. In 2011 they exhibited a series of projects at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
.
'Pataphor
TheMetaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
as metaphor exists from non-figurative language. Whereas a metaphor is the comparison of a real object or event with a seemingly unrelated subject in order to emphasize the similarities between the two, the 'pataphor uses the newly created metaphorical similarity as a reality with which to base itself. In going beyond mere ornamentation of the original idea, the 'pataphor seeks to describe a new and separate world, in which an idea or aspect has taken on a life of its own.
Like 'pataphysics itself, 'pataphors essentially describe two degrees of separation from reality (rather than merely one degree of separation, which is the world of metaphors and metaphysics). The 'pataphor may also be said to function as a critical tool, describing the world of "assumptions based on assumptions," such as belief systems or rhetoric run amok. The following is an example.
Non-figurative:
- Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line.
Metaphor
- Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line; two pieces positioned on a chessboard.
'Pataphor
- Tom took a step closer to Alice and made a date for Friday night, checkmating. Rudy was furious at losing to Margaret so easily and dumped the board on the rose-colored quilt, stomping downstairs.
Thus, the 'pataphor has created a world where the chessboard exists, including the characters who live in that world, entirely abandoning the original context.
See also
- AbsurdismAbsurdismIn philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
- Atlas PressAtlas PressAtlas Press began publishing in 1983, and specialises in extremist and avant-garde prose writing from the 1890s to the present day. Atlas Press is the largest publisher in English of books on Surrealism and has an extensive list relating to Dada, Surrealism, Expressionism, the Oulipo, the Collège...
- Church of the SubGeniusChurch of the SubGeniusThe Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
- DadaDadaDada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
- DiscordianismDiscordianismDiscordianism is a religion based on the worship of Eris , the Greco-Roman goddess of strife. It was founded circa 1958–1959 after the publication of its holy book the Principia Discordia, written by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst after a series of shared hallucinations at a...
- ExternismExternismExternism is a fictional philosophical theory proposed by the famous fictitious Czech genius Jára Cimrman. This character appears in many plays by authors from the Jára Cimrman Theatre in Prague. The first act of the theatre performances is usually filled with a lecture on Cimrman's personality,...
- Firesign Theatre (a comedy troupe whose jokes often rely on 'pataphors)
- Non-philosophyNon-philosophyNon-philosophy is a concept developed by French philosopher François Laruelle . Laruelle published on non-philosophy throughout the 1980s and 1990s...
- OuxpoOuxpoOuxpo is an acronym for Ouvroir dX Potentielle. It is an umbrella group for Oulipo, Oubapo, Outrapo, etc. The term 'ouvroir', originally used in conjunction with works of charity, was reused by Raymond Queneau for a blend of 'ouvroir' and 'œuvre' and roughly corresponds to the English 'workshop'...
External links
Collège de ’Pataphysique Philosophie pataphysique- London Institute of 'Pataphysics
- 'Marcel Duchamp and 'Pataphysics' Autoclave di Estrazioni Patafisiche Istituto di Patafisica Partenopeo
- (Czech) Patafyzický občasník Clinamen De Nederlandse Academie voor 'Patafysica Institut für 'Pataphysik
- Dr. Andrew Hugill, 'Pataphysical Music
- Pataphysics by Jean BaudrillardJean BaudrillardJean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
(translated by Drew Burk) - Jean Baudrillard's Pataphysics by Joseph NechvatalJoseph NechvatalJoseph Nechvatal is a post-conceptual art digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses.-Life and work:Joseph Nechvatal was born in Chicago...