Its tough to jump in to a conversation as long as this, and not re-iterate all of the points that have been made thus far, but I'll try to add something new.
I've had to read Mr. Languillier's article with moderate skepticism. However, I think that publishing that article was important and people need to read it.
Image Disembodiment to me is very analogous to a concept car. It is a departure from the norm, introduces some flashy styling and new concepts as well as pushes our ability to see into a new and wonderful future. This wonderful future gazes into the crystal ball and pulls out a technological revolution, just as we have seen many visionaries do, a la Gene Roddenberry (commiunicators as cell phones, etc.).
Now, the analogy isn't perfect, because there is the possibility that the 'future is now' and we already have digital frames. So then, where is the departure from tangible pervasive technology and the beauty of concept work? The answer, I believe, is in the adoption of the technology. Just as with any radical concept, we do not usually reach the technology as it is foretold, but rather we mutate the idea into practicality. I do not think that we will have a explosion of anyone with a Rebel getting international acclaim because of image repositories. Some people will try do create these (there isn't a technology barrier there, just think of a flicker desktop...), but I do not see the massive amounts of mediocre impinging on the sparse amount of beauty.
The death of paper? Maybe. A paradigm shift in the way we collect art? No. We will have limited editions for purchase, and we will have mass proliferation. There will, however, be a standard of quality that will always be demanded.
Paper has a richness of feel, texture and the physicality creates a sense of ownership. That will not change. For expensive pieces of art we will demand that it is presented to us on a medium that conveys the idealism of the photograph. Flat screens can't reproduce this. No matter how good we get at things like dynamic range and contrast. It is the reason why you can spend thousands on an original oil painting; the fat globs of paint really come out and grab you the way that a printed reproduction never could. (Yes, I am aware that this is a very medium is the message type of argument)
I'm not saying that we won't buy and sell photographs online, and that flat screens will not become a real medium. I'm trying to say that they will not make printing a thing of the past. There will be both, and each will have its benefits. We need tangibility to art. The connection between the Artist and the Collector is not created in the same way though digital the way that it is in analog.
my $0.02 at least.
Thank you for the interesting thought experiment, Mr. Languillier.
- Michael