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The pinnacle was the cupola of the temple in Jerusalem, notably a hole in order to allow the symbolic ascension of Christ. For Bataille, the pineal eye will mark the hole at the top, the highest point not only in the panorama but also in the hierarchy: pinea derives from pine cone, cupola. ‘The pineal eye is not an organ but a “fantasy” or a “myth”: it is neither a model, nor a copy: it is an image with no resemblance. According to this reading of Battaile, then, the pineal eye cannot be made object of communication, and as a result, it is inscribed ‘outside the the structures of transmission of knowledge whose rules imply that only the repeatable can be thought’ ((D. Hollier, The writings of George Bataille, 121)) . Moreover, this image occupies a phallic position produced by the dialectic erection/castration: on one hand, the human form lends itself to complete erectness; on the other, the panoramic view, the eyes on the horizon are excluded from the movement of vertical erection. In his own words “Man’s gaze is emasculated”. There is in fact a premium for the positions at the edge, or for the taller ones, from which the view is not obstructed by other office buildings, it is unconditionate on the city as abstract, from above and at distance: ‘The demand for a long view means that the symbolic capital of a building is linked not only to its site but also to the tower as a building type with a service core surrounded by a rim of rentable space…corporate culture seeks to inhabit tall buildings in lower rise districts. The towers grow ever upwards and outwards, the quest is for both height and dispersal’ (Dovey, cited; 115-119).

‘It is this failure of virile verticality that the pineal eye would come to fill in for [as experience of] castration, which therefore is not an absence of virility. It is rather something that constitutes virility. Sexual emasculation comes to atone for the emasculation of the gaze…Although it menaces the phallus in reality, castration, thus, is what constitutes symbolic phallocentrism’ ((D. Hollier, cited: ‘Castration, no doubt, makes the phallus disappear, but at the same time this disappearance provides its real status, because it is the very essence of the phallus that it be lacking. The phallus is produced by that which it denies it. It is only a reappropriation of the negative)) .

So, how does this symbolic element manifest itself? More pragmatically, Kim Dovey applies discourse analysis to 72 brochures, phamphlets, and advertising spots, about office towers and tall storeys, as an entry point into global corporate culture. If towers above 10-20 storeys started exceeding their functional efficiency and the dominant views are lost as more towers occupy the skyline, she asks, how can we justify in economic terms their erection (lapsus)? Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic capital, in fact, we can make up for the difference, that sense of distinction given by the symbolic (literally power, hierarchy, fertility, height), aesthetic (uniqueness of form, landmarks), or mythological ‘aura’ (timelessness: past and future are magically blend together): signs which need to be built in a chain of signifiers by way of, for instance, reflecting the primary values of those towards whom they are directed, that is the corporate elite. Advertising is in fact the primary circuit through which the symbolic capital manifests itself. Again, as Bataille before, there is a need of decoding the myths of advertising as ideology, to articulate the experience into which the corporate executive is induced. On this there are a few pictures in my photoblog, a series called “You Can”.

‘The advertising portrays an ideal rather than a reality; it distorts as it mythologizes. Distorsions are also indications of the ideals and values that may be driving the image-making process’ ((K. Dovey, Framing Places, 1999: 108, Routledge))