Cornici di parole. "Tracce" di Bloch

The paper focuses on the ‘images of thought’, which represent the central theme of the collection of essays (Traces) by Ernst Bloch. Bloch’s ‘Denkbilder’ (i.e. Thought-Images) can be interpreted as a daring composition (montage) of diverse images. The article addresses some theoretical issues (the question of the entrance and exit in the art-world, the pictures of doors, frames, steps, thresholds) from the perspective of visual studies, with a particular attention to the theme of the mobile frame. Whereas Paul Ernst stresses that the relevance of the tale “The ancient image” depends on the immersion into the picture, for Bloch what matters is rather the ‘fall in the moment’, which represents for him a second disappearance of the frame. According to him, the rule of the “Thought-Image” is to keep the passive glance close to an embryonic form of active and performing look.