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The Arcades Project - Operi

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commentating naturalist theater of Chirac housed the <strong>The</strong>tre de Verite, in<br />

which one-act plays were performed by a nude couple. To day, one still finds in<br />

the Passage Choiseul the Bouffes Parisiennes, and if the other theaters have had<br />

to close their doors, the small bare booths of the ticket agents open <br />

like a secret passage to all theaters. But this gives no idea of how strict the<br />

correlation between arcade and theater originally was. Under -, it was the<br />

custom to name fancy-goods shops after the most snccessful vaudevilles of<br />

the season. And since such shops, by and large, made up the most elegant part<br />

of the arcades, the gallery was, in places, like the mockup of a theater. <strong>The</strong>se<br />

magasin.s de nouveautis played a particular role here. <br />

Claretie speaks of the "stifled perspective" of certain pictures and compares it to<br />

the airlessness of the arcades. But the perspective of the arcades can<br />

itself be compared to this "suffocated" perspective, which is precisely that of the<br />

stereoscope. <strong>The</strong> nineteenth century <br />

Energies of repose (of tradition) which carry over from the nineteenth century.<br />

Transposed historical forces of tradition. What would the nineteenth century be<br />

to us if we were bound to it by tradition? How would it look as religion or<br />

mythology? We have no tactile relation to it. That is, we are trained to<br />

view things, in the historical sphere, from a romantic distance. To account for the<br />

directly transmitted inheritance is important. But it is still too early, for example,<br />

to form a collection. Concrete, materialistic deliberation on what is nearest is<br />

now required. "Mythology;' as Aragon says, drives things back into the distance.<br />

Only the presentation of what relates to us, what conditions us, is important. <strong>The</strong><br />

nineteenth century-to borrow the Surrealists' terms-is the set of noises that<br />

invades our dream, and which we interpret on awaking. <br />

A walk through Paris will begin with an aperitif-tllat is, between five and six<br />

o'clock. I would not tie you down to this. You can take one of the great railroad<br />

stations as your point of departure: the Gare du Nord, with trains leaving for<br />

Berlin; the Gare de l'Est, with departures for Fraukfurt; the Gare Saint-Lazare,<br />

where you can take off for London; and the Gare de Lyon, with its into<br />

the P.L.M. If you want my advice, I'd recommend the Gare Saint-Lazare. <strong>The</strong>re<br />

you have half of France and half of Europe around you; names lil

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