Symbolisation et augmentation : la forme symbolique à l’ère du numérique

An updated and operational conception of the notion of symbolic form is less the revival of a single tradition (Cassirer) than the articulation of several genealogies of philosophical and semiotic thought that have focused on the same question from different perspectives. In this sense, the symbolic form invites us to pay attention to the description of a recursivity of semioses that do not remain paratactic or paradigmatic (options for giving meaning), but that implicate each other reciprocally through the re-entry of the semantic impacts of some on the access to meaning provided by others. This re-entry operates on two planes of relevance, one offering a model of exemplification, the other an instrumental model, in order to constitute a circuit of meaning that is both promising and critical. These qualities are due to the continuous exchange between the symbolization of innovative examples and the diagrammatic re-examination of conventional practices. In this contribution, we attempt to show how this conceptualization of symbolic form can make a major contribution to the history of forms and to art theory. This re-analysis is even more crucial when we consider the development of tool-assisted analysis of works of art and augmented reality devices for images that are increasingly used in museum institutions.