On Paul Virilio’s "Aesthetics Of Disappearance"

"The aesthetics of disappearance" is an important proposition put forward by contemporary French speed thinker,cultural theorist and technical art critic Paul Virilio.The accelerated technology has shaped people’s new ways of perception,especially the way they watch."The aesthetics of disappearance" is an artistic philosophy that attempts to explain the way people watch and its characteristics in society as well as its process of disappearing.It is also a theoretical construction of acceleration on people’s aesthetic perception and experience.Under the accelerated technology,people watch and perceive the world through technology,and this way of technological perception has "disappeared".In essence,"the aesthetics of disappearance" is a kind of accelerated aesthetics.From the perspective of phenomenology,things appear through the restoration of body perception.Acceleration has caused the loss of time continuity and space extension,the appearance of various things has become a direct and instant "presence" and finally a digital image that experiences from appearance to disappearance at one moment when light is illuminated.Therefore,"the aesthetics of disappearance" is the aesthetic thinking and perceptual understanding that the "appearance" and "disappearance" of various things in body perception under the background of acceleration.This article interprets the specific connotation of "the aesthetics of disappearance" from the three dimensions of body,technology and art,and explores its internal connection with accelerationism.From the perspective of the body,"the aesthetics of disappearance" originates from the frequent breaking and bonding of consciousness caused by the formation and division of the body,which is "lapse".The instrumental division of subjective perception and reappearance brings unprecedented limitations to vision and forms a "disappearance of aesthetics".With the growth of individual life,the body organs of adults are gradually weakened,and can only rely on various kinds of fake technical devices such as movies and mobile phones as extensions of the body to regain the perception experience of "lapse".Virilio calls these "fake devices" as "technical prosthesis".From the perspective of technology,various technologies havegradually evolved into a unique aesthetic skill and thinking while rapidly increasing and upgrading,creating a series of " the aesthetics of picnolepsy ",and then evolving into "the aesthetics of disappearance ".These accelerated technologies have changed people’s perception system,brought about changes in people’s perception of time,space and reality,and created aesthetic experiences of lapse,shock,vertigo and panic.From the perspective of art,"the aesthetics of disappearance" is the boundary between traditional art and emerging art.Art has evolved from stable and static "the aesthetics of appearance" characterized by simulated images to "the aesthetics of disappearance" characterized by fleeting digital images that exist on the retina.The persistence of materials has become the persistence of visual cognition,the form of art has changed,and the boundaries of traditional art have begun to disappear,moving towards a merciless and boundless art.In Virilio,things are revealed through physical restoration.We perceive the world through the body,and the world is also a part of the body.Technology acceleration has changed people’s perception experience and shaped a new perception system.In the end,technology,as the perceptual substitute of the body,is mixed with art,and traditional aesthetics gradually turns to a "disappearing aesthetics"."The aesthetics of disappearance" is based on the background of acceleration,and "acceleration" brings "disappearance",which is endowed and perceived by body perception."Body" is abstract speed and the premise of perception.It brings unprecedented perception experience.As technology accelerates,technology,as a representation of speed,replaces the body and mixes with art.The traditional material art has become an accidental and disappearing art.The world we see has become a "disappearing" world,no longer a traditional aesthetics,but a "disappearing aesthetics".In this kind of aesthetics,people’s perception is paralyzed,unable to see and think,individuals fall into panic and become a kind of "mass individualism",leaving only forgetting,anxiety and waiting for accidents.