Childhood ghosts with Boltanski and Benjamin

Abstract

The article considers the aesthetic and political power of a childhood imagery in the work of contemporary artist Christian Boltanski. In the small French town of Vitteaux, he created an outRésumé L’article fait remarquer la force esthétique-politique d’un imaginaire associé à l’enfance, dans le travail de l’artiste contemporain Christian Boltanski, dans la petite ville française de Vitteaux, 1 1 Uma primeira versão desse artigo, intitulada “Fantasmagorias da infância com Boltanski e Benjamin”, foi apresentada no IV Colóquio do Núcleo Walter Benjamin da Faculdade de Letras da UFMG: “Fantasmagorias”, realizado entre 17 e 20 de setembro de 2014, em Belo Horizonte. Agradeço especialmente aos colegas do Núcleo Walter Benjamin, Sabrina Sedlmayer, Elcio Cornelsen e Georg Otte pela acolhida e feedback ao meu trabalho. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1517-106X/172-227 ROSANA KOHL BINES | Assombrações da infância com Boltanski e Benjamin ALEA | Rio de Janeiro | vol. 17/2 | p. 227-245 | jul-dez 2015 228 door shadow theatre, projecting images of witches, black cats, bats and skulls on the facades of houses at night. We propose to examine Boltanski’s collection of childish monsters through a reading of Walter Benjamin’s thoughts on the forgotten world of childhood and the potentiality of coming through its sudden contact. By bringing these authors together, we want to show how aesthetic practices and political practices are intertwined and how the field of childhood can give rise to new ways of making, feeling and sharing a common environment.