THE NEW CITROEN Theieve thatthe automobiles, today, the almost exact equiv alent of che great Gothic cathedrals I mean, a great creation ‘ofthe period, passionately conceived by unknown artists, con sumed in is image, if no in is us, by an entire populace which propriate in ian enceely magical object. “The new Citroen manifestly falls ftom heaven insofar ast presents itself frst of alla a superaiveaject Te must noe be forgotten thatthe objec isthe supernanuel’s best mesenger: inthis object there is easily a perfection and an absence of or in, a completion and 3 brilinee, a transformation of life into ‘mater (mater being much more magical than lif) and alin all silencewhich belongs to the order ofthe marvelous. The DS (the Déest, or Gosiess has all the characterises (at least, ‘the public begins by unanimously arribusing chem to it) of ‘one of those objects from another world that nourished the neomania of the eighteenth century and that of ur science Sition the Déese is fit of alla new Nowilu “his is why it routes interest les in its subsance than in the joins of that substance, We know tha smooehnes is al sways an atribute of perfection because its contrary betrays 2 technical and entirely human operation of adjustment: Chriss tunic was seamless, just as the spaccthips of seience ction ace of unbroken metal. The DS 19 makes no claim ro being torilly smooth, though its general shape is nicely eounded however, its the enessing oft sections which most interests the public the edges of 8 windows are furiously tested, peo ple run their hands slong the wide rubber groowes which con pect the far window to is nickel surrounds. The DS has the beginnings of 2 new phenomenology of assembly, as if we were leaving a world of welded elements fora world of juxta posed elements held together bythe sole virtue oftheir mar- ‘elous shape, which, of course, is intended to introduce the notion ofa more readily cooperative nature ‘As forthe material ielf, there is no question that it pro motes a taste for lightness in a magical sense. Thre is reeurn to a certain aerodyamism, new insofar as itis less massive, les incisive, more relaxed than in ealierpesiods ofthis is fon. Here spend is exprested in less aggressive, less sportit signs, as if were shifting from a heroic form to a clasical ‘one, Such spirtulization can be discerned the importance, ‘the quality, and che actual substance ofthe glazed surfaces “The Décase is visibly an exaltation of glas, and the east metal isonlya base. Here the sheets of glass are not windows, open ‘ngs pierced in the dark shel, chey are lange spaces of empty sir having the smooth curvature and briliance of soap bub- bles, the hard chinness of a substance more entomological than mineral (the Citta emblem, with is arrows, has now become a winged emblem, a if2 change had occured fom ‘an order of propulsion roan order of independent movement, from an order ofthe engin ro that of the organism) We are now conftonted with a humanized art, and it may be that the DS marks a change in automobile mythology. icherto the superlative car belonged, one might sy, to the bestary of power, here it becomes at once more spiitul and smote objective, and despite certain neomaniaealconcestions (the empty steering wheel, fr instance, ts now more domes tie, more in accord with tht sublimation of uenslty we ree‘THENEW ¢ITROEN 171 ‘ognize in our contemporary household atts: the dashboard looks more like the worktable of modern kitchen than a fac- ‘ory contra room: the slender panes of matte rippled meta, the lcde levers with their white ball fils, the simplified di als, the very dscreteness of the chromium, everything indicates 4 sor of contro exerted over movement, henceforth conceived 1s comforc rather than performance, We evidently are shifting from an alchemy of speed to an appetite for driving. Icscems thatthe public has admirably divined the nosey ofthe themes proposed: incialy responsive to nologim (an {entire press campaign kept people on the alert for yeas), it ‘made every effort to adopt an attitude of adaptation and ten silty ("You've goto get used wo i”) In the exhibition hall the sample cars ar visited with an iene, affectionate care: his "he great race phase of discovery, the moment when the visual ‘marvelous will submit vo the reasoned ass of roaching (or touch is the most demystifjing of ll dhe senses, unlike sigh, Which i che most magical) sheet metal stroked, upholstery punched, seats tested, doors caresed, cushions fondled; behind ‘the stcering wheel driving i mimed with the whole body ere the objec is realy prostituted, appropriated: ypon leaving -Metropois heaven, the Déesse is medstized in Seen mints, ‘accomplishing in this exorcism the entre dumb show of pect bourgeois annexation, ELECTORAL PHOTOGENY (Certain eandidarsépmsscmbelish thei electoral prespecus ‘witha portrait. This hypothesis that photography ha a power ‘of conversion calls for some analysis. Fst ofall, the cand dates effigy etablishes a personal link berween electors and the candidate, who nor only offers a platform bue proposes 2 hysial climate, an aray of everday choices expressed in ‘morphology, a wardrobe, a pose. Photography thus tends to restore elections paternalistic basi, thei “repreentate” ma ‘tore somevshat unsettled by proportional representation and pany rule (such support seme of grester tse to the Right than tothe Left), To the degre thar photography isan ellipsis oflanguage and the condensation of an inefible sca rely, it constitutes an antineleetal weapon and tends to dodge “polities” (ie, 2 body of problems and solutions) forthe sake ‘of a “lfestyle"—2 sociomoral stars. We know tha this op- position beeen effigy and political engagement i one of the major myths of Povjadism (Poujade on television: “Look at re: Tam like you”, “Electoral photography i therfore the recognition of a cerain depth, an irational enterprise coextensive with poi tics. What is transmitted inthe candidate's photograph is not his project but his motives, ersain fuilyciecumstances as well ae mental, even erotic characteristics, an entire ste of 1g of which he is simultaneously the product, the example, and the appeal Ie is manifest that what mos of our candidates