METHODS OF DETOURNEMENT, by Guy-Ernest Debord

METHODS OF DETOURNEMENT, by Guy-Ernest Debord

Detournement can be seen in every kind of art, like poetry, writing, cinema, architecture, clothing…. or even in the advertising industry. Detournement is to bring again in current scene old works of art. In a way, it is a reaction to the past and can have three options. The first option can be to ridicule existing and important works of art, like Duchamp who drawn a mustache on the Mona Lisa of Da Vinci. But a constructive and deductive criticism, which can bring progress, requires comments plus suggestions and this is something that appears as the second option of detournement. It is similar to the deconstruction, because it forms new combinations from existing elements. William Forsythe in the realm of dance and Frank Gehry in the realm of architecture are both using existing elements which place them in a new context. The last option of detournement is a renovation or an adaptation of an act, like Pina Bausch did in “Le Sacre du Printemps”. Detournement can live the history alive, but also the point is not to loose the present and the future. The point is to go beyond the past and create new works of art.