ABSTRACT
A strange, uncanny and unclassifiable work: analysts might also apply the terms to Bion’s Memoir. Both Given and Memoir had a similar startling and enlivening effect, forcing a new regard onto a previous body of work that had, in the meantime, become canonical. The chapter suggests that Memoir arouses emotional reactions and thoughts close to those stirred up by a certain number of contemporary works of art and that Bion shares some central aspirations and convictions with an important trend of contemporary artists. There are some profound similarities between the spirit of a number of influential contemporary artists and the one underlying Bion’s work. It has often been said that the sharp rift brought by contemporary art concerning what was previously considered art equates to a real revolution. This rift is so radical that even educated people who enjoy classical or modern art often go astray when it comes to the artistic propositions of the last 60 years.
