Stetoscope

I have just read a rww post about Visible Past. This project looks amazing. You can visit historical sites in virtual 3D and find some information while visiting. We all can see how great it can be. Nevertheless, the information is based on a wiki-format and I am more and more unease with this way of presenting information.

As to me, a text that is telling historical facts cannot be objective. It is always oriented in way by the writer or the group of writers that produced it. It would not be a problem if it were not presented as “truth”. I mean the wiki-format is the result of a common agreement of several writers on a text, that does not mean it is true. In my opinion the idea of “truth” must be abandonned since it has been interpreted by a human being. So all the format that gives the idea of “truth” ( and there are a bunch of them : newspapers, TV news,…, wiki-format) must be cast in doubt.

That does not mean I do not believe that information is impossible. I do believe that discussions are always more powerful than a unique source because they give the idea a diversity by their inner form. And when it comes to historical pieces, we always should consider all the discussions that the historical has generated.

The story Origin of the world of Gustave Courbet is really interesting to this point. First, it is has been comissioned by a Turkish Diplomat called Khalil Bey. Ruined by gambling, the painting passes from hand to hand some of them were pretty famous Edmont de Goncourt, the red army, Jacques Lacan and is now exposed at the musée d’Orsay in Paris. During this journey, the provocative masterpiece has generated a lot of discussions, it has been hidden behind a curtain, behind a wood pane, exposed and duplicated in Jacques Lacan living room and eventually exposed to everyone at the MET and at Orsay. Today, they are still discussion about the Origin of the world, its title and its subjects. Religious people will contest it whereas positivist will applaud. The fascinating thing would be to follow the discussion from the turkish erotic painting amator to the last visitors of Orsay today. Is there any truth there?

I do not believe in truth, I believe in discussion.