The fallback: An impending fantasy

Abstract

According to Durkheim anomie consists in the refusal to occupy one’s place in the social order and in the refusal of the conviction of not being entitled to have more than what one possesses. To avoid anomie, a sort of acquiescence to the pre-established social order is needed. Starting from this definition, the notion of "fallback" is proposed, as acceptance of one's place in the social system, which is not committed and is precisely experienced as a fallback and as a frustrating limitation of one's omnipotent fantasies. This work deepens the clinical aspects of the fallback, from depression to the denial of the limits that motivate the fallback experience. The fallback is described as an emotional experience that limits the omnipotent fantasy of the artist, who accepts to answer the client's demand; the denial of the fallback is proposed as a motivation to the omnipotent polysemy of contemporary art.