Abraham Moles

Abraham André Moles (1920, Paris - 1992, Strasbourg) was a French communication theorist, engineer of electrical engineering and acoustics, and a doctor of physics and philosophy. He was one of the first researchers to establish and analyze links between aesthetics and information theory.

Moles studied engineering before coming to head the Hermann Scherchen Laboratory for Electro-Acoustic Music in Switzerland.

He taught sociology and psychology at the Universities of Ulm, Strasbourg, San Diego, Mexico, Compiègne, and founded the Institute of Social Psychology of Communication in Strasbourg.

Information aesthetics

In 1956, Moles defended his dissertation on a relationship between information theory and aesthetic perception, which he expanded into book form in 1958 (in English in 1966), synchronously to similar research into information aesthetics conducted by Max Bense in Stuttgart.

Moles' work was more focused on perception theory and he tried to offer an explanation of super sign building in aesthetic perception. He investigated the capability of the human brain to perceive information, looking for evidence as to which ratio between order and complexity would be perceived as pleasant. From here, Moles developed a theoretical framework for super signs. In his theory, elementary signs are combined in human perception with more complex signs (super signs). This approach not only derives from perceptual psychologist Rudolf Arnheim's gestalt theory, but also goes deep into contemporary psychological theories. His student Helmar Frank later studied with Max Bense and tried to prove Moles's more theoretical considerations empirically. (Klütsch 2012:86 [1])

Works

(in French unless noted)

Monographs

• Physique et technique du bruit, Paris: Dunod, 1952.
• La création scientifique, Genève: Kister, 1957.
  • Sao Paulo: Perspectiva, 1972. (in Portuguese)
  • Madrid: Taurus, 1986. (in Spanish)
• editor, with Herman Grégoire, et al., L'ère atomique: encyclopédie des sciences modernes, 10 Vols, Genève: Kister, 1957-59; 1962. [2]
  • Epoche Atom und Automation. Enzyklopädie des technischen Jahrhunderts, 10 Vols, Frankfurt am Main: Limpert, [then] Genève: Kister, 1958-60. (in German)
• Théorie de l'information et perception esthétique, Paris: Flammarion, 1958; 2nd ed., Paris: Denoël, 1973. Expanded dissertation in psychology defended in March 1956 at Sorbonne. Review.
  • Information Theory and Esthetic Perception, trans. Joel E. Cohen, University of Illinois Press, 1966, 217 pp; 1968; 1971. (in English). Reviews in English: Keats (1966), Schwadron (1966), Burt (1966), Gibson (1967), Kraehenbuehl (1967), Rashevsky (1967), Berleant (1967), Pask (1968), Arnheim (1968), Wenk (1968), Chase (1969), Vitz (1970), Fleming (1970).
  • Informationstheorie und ästhetische Wahrnehmung, Cologne: DuMont, 1971. (in German). "Philosophischer Wert der Information", pp 254-274.
  • Teoría de la información y percepción estética, Gijón: Júcar, 1976, 376 pp. (in Spanish)
  • Teoria da informação e percepção estética, Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro, 1978. (in Portuguese)
• Musiques expérimentales, Paris, Zurich, Brussels: Cercle d'Art Contemporain, 1960. Review.
• Erstes Manifest der permutationellen Kunst (edition rot, texte 8), trans. Monika Bense, Renate Kübler and Elisabeth Walther, Stuttgart, 1962, 21 pp. (in German) [3]
  • Revue Ring 4. (in French)
• with Bernard Vallancien, Communications et langages, Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1963. Review.
• with Bernard Vallancien, Phonétique et phonation, Paris: Masson, 1966.
• with Alphons Silbermann, Gerold Ungeheuer, Bildschirm und Wirklichkeit: ueber Presse und Fernsehen in Gegenwart und Zukunft, Berlin/Frankfurt/Vienna: Ullstein, 1966, 371 pp. (in German)
• L'affiche dans la société urbaine, Paris: Dunod, 1970, 154 pp.
  • El cartel en la socie­dad urbana, Buenos Aires: Paidos, 1976, 225 pp. (in Spanish)
• with Roland Caude, Créativité et méthodes d'innovation dans l'entreprise, Mame Fayard, 1970, 240 pp.
• Determinierte Formen. Informationstheorie und bildende Kunst, Bochum: Universitätsverlag, 1970, 45 pp. (in German). "Kunst und Maschinen", pp 10-16.
• Art et ordinateur, Paris: Casterman, 1971, 264 pp; 1981.
  • Kunst und Computer, Cologne, DuMont, 1973. (in German). "Kunst und Kybernetik in der Konsumgesellschaft, in Kunst und Computer", pp 37-98; "Die Zukunft des beweglichen Bildes und der Computer", pp 234-277.
  • Arte e computador, Afrontamento, 1990. (in Portuguese)
• with Claude Zeltmann, et al., La communication. Les dictionnaires du savoir moderne, Paris: Centre de Etudes pour la promotion de la lecture, 1971. [4]
  • La comu­nicación y los mass media: Diccionarios del saber moderno, Bilbao: Mensa­jero, 1975, 685 pp. (in Spanish)
• Psychologie du kitsch. l'art du bonheur, Paris: Mame, 1971, 247 pp; Paris: Denoël, 1977.
  • El kitsch, Barcelona: Paidos, 1973; 1998. (in Spanish)
  • Kicz, czyli sztuka szczęścia, Warsaw, 1978. (in Polish)
  • Psihologia kitsch-ului. Arta fericirii, trans. Marina Radulescu, Bucharest: Meridiane, 1980, 250 pp. (in Romanian)
  • O kitsch. A arte de felicidade, Perspectiva, trans. Sergio Miceli, 1998. (in Portuguese)
• Théorie des objets, Paris: Éditions universitaires, 1972, 290 pp. Review.
  • Teoria de los objetos, Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 1973. (in Spanish)
  • Teoria dos objetos, trans. Luiza Lobo, Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro, 1981, 190 pp. (in Portuguese)
• with Élisabeth Rohmer, Psychologie de l'espace, Paris: Casterman, 1972; Paris: L'Harmattan, 1998, 158 pp. Review, Review.
  • Psi­cología del Espacio, Barcelona: Círculo de lec­tores, 4th ed., 1990, 296 pp. (in Spanish)
• Sociodynamique de la culture, Paris: Mouton, 1973. Review, Commentary.
  • Sociodinámica de la cultura, trans. Víctor Aizenman, Buenos Aires: Paidos, 1976, 334 pp. (in Spanish)
  • Sociodinâmica da cultura, Perspectiva. (in Portuguese)
• La communication, Paris: Marabout, 1973.
• Quelques remarques de psychologie sur les processus heuristiques dans l'intelligence artificielle, Strasbourg: Université Louis Pasteur, 1975, 11 pp.
• Rumos de uma cultura tecnologica, Sao Paulo: Perspectiva, 1975, 258 pp. (in Portuguese)
• with Élisabeth Rohmer, Micropsychologie et vie quotidienne, Paris: Denoël, 1976.
  • Mi­cropsicología de la vida cotidiana, México: Tri­llas, 1983. (in Spanish)
• with Élisabeth Rohmer, Théorie des actes, Paris: Casterman, 1977. Review, Review.
  • Teoría de los actos, México: Trillas, 1983. (in Spanish)
• L'image, communication fonctionnelle, Paris: Casterman, 1981, 272 pp. Review (EN), Review.
• Labyrinthes du vécu, Paris: Klincksieck, 1982.
  • Labyrinthe du Vécu, Méridien, 1983. (in Spanish)
• Théorie structurale de la communication et société, Paris: Masson, 1986. Review.
  • Teoria estructural de la comunicacion, México: Trillas, 1985. (in Spanish)
• with Élisabeth Rohmer, Les sciences de l'imprécis, Paris: Seuil, 1990.
  • As ciências do impreciso, Civilização Brasileira, 1995. (in Portuguese)
• with Luc Janiszewski, Grafismo funcional, Barcelona: CEAC (Enciclopedia de diseño), 1990, 284 pp. (in Spanish)
• with Joan Costa, Imagen didáctica, Barcelona: CEAC (Enciclopedia de diseño), 1991, 272 pp. (in Spanish)
• with Élisabeth Rohmer, Psychosociologie de l'espace, ed. Victor Schwach, Paris: L'Harmattan, 1998.
• with Joan Costa, Publicidad y diseño: el nuevo reto de la comunicacion, Buenos Aires: Infinito, 1999, 163 pp; 2005. Review. (in Spanish)

Selected Papers and Articles

• "Le théatre antique, exemple d'esthétique fonctionnelle", Etudes Philosophiques 1 (1951), pp 77-91.
• "Les méthodes de l'esthétique expérimentale", Revue d'Esthétique 4 (1956), pp 193-196. A talk delivered at the conference of the Société d'Esthétique, Sorbonne, on 21 April 1956.
• "Musique concrete, a product of radio research", Arts (December 1956), Louisville, p 20.
• "Informationstheorie und aesthetische Empfindung", Gravesaner Blatter 6 (December 1956), p 3. (in German)
• "Filterversuche ueber semantische und aesthetische Botschaft", Gravesaner Blatter 6 (December 1956), pp 10-15, 7-8 (May-June 1957), p 85. (in German)
• "Théorie de l'information et perception esthétique", Revue Philosophique de la France et de l'Étranger 147 (1957), pp 233-242. Summary of his Dissertation in psychology defended in March 1956 at Sorbonne. In 1958 turned into a book (see above).
• "Les artifices de la perception esthétique", Revue Art International 3:8 (1960), Zurich, pp 65-72.
• "Le combat des signes contre la signification", Revue Art International 4:12 (1961), Zurich.
• "Structure du message poétique et niveaux de la sensibilité", Revue Médiatione 1 (1961), Paris, p 161.
• "La notion de quantité en cybernétique", Les études philosophiques 2 (April-June 1961).
  • "Produkte: ihre funktionelle und strukturelle Komplexität", Allgemeine Designtheorie, 1965. (in German)
• "Die Synthese von Theater und Technik", Theater und Zeit 1 (September 1961), pp 215-218), 2 (October 1961), pp 227-230, Wuppertal. (in German)
• "Note sur l'architecture informationnelle de l'oeuvre d'art", Grundlagenstudium aus Kybernetik 3:3 (July 1962), pp 85-89.
• "Poésie expérimentale, poétique et art permutationnel", Revue Arguments 27-28 (1963), pp 93-98.
• "Kybernetika a teorie informace v estetice, pedagogice a etice", in Kybernetika ve spolecenskych vedach, Prague: Akademie ved, 1964, pp 242-254. (in Czech)
• "Cybernétique et oeuvre d'art", Revue d'Esthétique 2 (1965), pp 163-182.
• "Une théorie de la perception des structures", Genese et structures, Den Haag: Mouton, 1965, pp 124-142.
• "Theorie der Komplexität und der technischen Zivilisation / Theory of Complexity and Technical Civilization", ulm 12-13 (Mar 1965), pp 11-16. (German)/(English)
• "Liberté principale, liberté marginale, liberté interstitielle", Revue française de sociologie 7:2 (1966), pp 229-232.
• "La radio-télévision au service de la promotion socio-culturelle", Communications 7: "Radio-télévision: réflexions et recherches (1966), pp 1-10.
• "Theoria informatie si estetica", in Strucutralismul, Bucharest: Editura pentru Literatura Universala, pp 141-153. (in Romanian)
• "Information und Redundanz", in Kunst und Kybernetik. Ein Bericht über drei Kunsterziehertagungen Recklinghausen 1965 1966 1967, ed. Hans Ronge, Cologne: DuMont, 1968, pp 14-27. (in German)
• Communications 13: "Les objets" (1969), Paris: Seuil. Special issue of the journal. With articles by Moles, Baudrillard, Boudon, van Lier, Wahl, and Morin.
  • "Objet et communication", pp 1-21.
  • "Théorie de la complexité et civilisation industrielle", pp 51-63.
  • "Kitsch et objet", pp 105-129.
  • Los objetos, trans. Silvia Delpy, Buenos Aires: Tiempo Contemporaneo, 1971; 2nd ed., 1974. (in Spanish)
• "La situation sociale de l'affiche", Communication et langages 4 (1969), pp 73-82.
• "Sociodynamique et politique d'équipement culturel dans la société urbaine", Communications 14: "La politique culturelle" (1969), pp 137-149.
• "Art et ordinateur", Communication et langages 7 (1970), pp 24-33. [5]
• "Qu'est-ce que le Kitsch ?", Communication et langages 9 (1971), pp 74-87.
• "Maschine zur Kunstanalyse und Kunstsimulation", 1971. (in German)
• "Notes pour une typologie des événements", Communications 18: "L'événement" (1972), pp 90-96.
• "Art ex machina", in Art ex machina, Montreal: Gilles Gheerbrant, 1973. Catalogue text.
• "Televizja i mozaicka kultura", BIT International 8/9, Zagreb, 1973, pp 11-53. (in Serbo-Croatian)
• "L'image et le texte", Communication et langages 38 (1978), pp 17-29.
• "Du sein féminin". Senologia 3:2 (1978), pp 35-37
• "Structuralisme et miniature persane", Communication et langages 40 (1978), pp 7-13.
• "Biblioteca pessoal; biblioteca universal", Revista de Biblioteconomia de Brasília 6:1 (1978). (in Portuguese)
• "Petite analyse du contenu des articles de Communication et langages", Communication et langages 41-42 (1979), pp 7-9.
• "Quelques axiomes communicationnels de la société de masse",Communication et langages 41-42 (1979), pp 170-171.
• "Le livre et les éditeurs", Communication et langages 45 (1980), pp 82-96.
• "The Comprehensive Guarantee: A New Consumer Value", Design Issues 2:1 (Spring 1985), pp 53-64. (in English) [6]
• "The Legibility of the World: A Project of Graphic Design", Design Issues 3:1 (Spring 1986), pp. 43-53. (in English) [7]
• "Livre simple, livre complexe, où se situe la fonction éditoriale ?", Communication et langages 67 (1986), pp 89-104.
• "Approche informationnelle de la perception et de la creation musicale", International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 17:2 (December 1986), pp 273-297. [8]
• "El concepte funcionalista del Bauhaus en la societat del miracle econòmic, la Hochschule für Gestaltung d'Ulm 1", Temes de disseny 2: "Diseño, Comunicación, Cultura" (1988). (in Spanish)
• "Dire le monde et le transcrire",Communication et langages 76 (1988), pp 68-77.
• with David W. Jacobus, "Design and Immateriality: What of It in a Post Industrial Society?", Design Issues 4:1-2 (1988), pp 25-32. (in English) [9]
• "Una novedad museográfica : El Museo de Antropología de Xalapa", Graffiti 1 (1989).
• with Claude Lefèvre, "El paisaje urbano como fuente de conocimiento", Hermeroteca 7:115 (1990), Barcelona: Paidós. (in Spanish)
• "Vilem Flusser, un philosophe des Sudètes", Communication et langages 91 (1992), pp 112-114.
• "Le cursus scientifique d'Abraham Moles. Autobiographie", Bulletin de Micropsychologie 28 & 29 (March and July 1996).

Collected writings

• La physique des sciences de l'homme: melanges pour Abraham Moles, ed. Michel Mathien, Strasbourg: Oberlin, 1989. Review.

Literature

• Vilém Flusser, Jean-Marie Manoury, "A propos d'Abraham Moles. La communication: science ou idéologie ?", Communication et langages 20 (1973), pp 35-52.
• Stefan Morawski, "Contemporary Approaches to Aesthetic Inquiry: Absolute Demands and Limited Possibilities", Critical Inquiry, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Autumn, 1977), pp. 55-83.
• Anne-Marie Goguel, "Vers une société de communication. Les recherches d'Abraham Moles", Autres Temps. Les cahiers du christianisme social 16 (1987), pp 25-29.
• Michel Mathien, Victor Schwach , "De l'ingénieur à l'humaniste: l'œuvre d'Abrahams Moles", Communication et langages 93:1 (1992), pp 84-98.
• José Luis Piñuel Raigada, "Abraham A. Moles (1920-1992) y la Teoria de la Informacion", CIC 4 (1999), pp 157-185. (in Spanish)
• Michel Mathien, "Abraham Moles ou l’information et la communication. Au carrefour des sciences, de la vie quotidienne et de l’esthétique", Communication 22:2 (2003), pp 167-181. (in French)
• Jean Deveze, "Abraham Moles, un exceptionnel passeur transdisciplinaire", Hermes 39 (2004).
• Florian Cramer, "Abraham M. Moles’ computational aesthetics", in Words Made Flesh: Code, Culture, Imagination, Rotterdam: Piet Zwart Institute, 2005. (in English)
• J.M. Díaz Nafría, "Estética de la Información", in Glosario de conceptos, metáforas, teorías y problemas en torno a la información, León: Universidad de León, 2010. (in Spanish)

Bibliographies

• At Idref.fr
• Compiled by Victor Schwach
• Compiled by José Luis Piñuel Raigada, 1999, pp 187-198.

See also

• Max Bense

Links

• Moles in CompArt database
• Moles at Wikipedia