Abstract
The article considers the aesthetic and political power of a childhood imagery in the work of contemporary artist Christian Boltanski. In the small French town of Vitteaux, he created an outdoor shadow theatre, projecting images of witches, black cats, bats and skulls on the facades of houses at night. We propose to examine Boltanski's collection of childish monsters through a reading of Walter Benjamin's thoughts on the forgotten world of childhood and the potentiality of coming through its sudden contact. By bringing these authors together, we want to show how aesthetic practices and political practices are intertwined and how the field of childhood can give rise to new ways of making, feeling and sharing a common environment.
Keywords:
childhood; aesthetic practices and political practices; Christian Boltanski; Walter Benjamin
