Historical discontinuity and anthropological continuities in contemporary art. An interview with Thierry Dufrene

Abstract

Taking as a starting point the main subjects of research of Thierry Dufrene, director of Centre Pierre Francastel, this dialogue deals with the ruptures that arrived in contemporary art after World War JI. Hence, taking the examples of Giacometti and Dalí, we can see the historical and política! ruptures between their pre-war and post-war works. However, we can also find anthropological continuities. The problems of psychic projection, which has been studied by neurologists, or of real movement, show a continuity between surrealism and contemporaneity that must be comprehended from a wider, anthropological point ofview. From this enlarged position, they can be seen as close to those stated by automatons and the anthropological double.