Writing Desks, National Library of France | 1992
Black and white film photographs laminated on aluminum
Here
are more transitory objects that bear traces of notes taken by researchers in
illustrious places of learning.
These are the patinated surfaces of writing desks from three libraries: the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), the Mazarine and the Vatican libraries.
Yet these three series are qualitatively different. The surfaces of the writing desks of the BNF are made of several layers of lacquered wood. Flayed and flaking in places, their scars are presented in an image-like way, suggesting fanciful geographies that are sometimes surprisingly realistic, and sometimes scattered with enigmatic markings that seem like strange cryptograms floating in space, reminiscent of the countless words that have been traced upon them.
The writing surfaces in the Mazarine library are made of leather, giving them a more discreet, finer patina. Some of them look like celestial nebulae, glistening under the lights that shine down on the reader.
The surfaces of the writing desks in the Vatican library, made of fabric stuck on wood are closer to the Blackboards. They are the most textured, marked by the wear and tear of time. Stained, scarred, strewn with fingerprints, curiously more terrestrial than aerial, they evoke lumpy ground, trodden over by countless passages.
These are the patinated surfaces of writing desks from three libraries: the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), the Mazarine and the Vatican libraries.
Yet these three series are qualitatively different. The surfaces of the writing desks of the BNF are made of several layers of lacquered wood. Flayed and flaking in places, their scars are presented in an image-like way, suggesting fanciful geographies that are sometimes surprisingly realistic, and sometimes scattered with enigmatic markings that seem like strange cryptograms floating in space, reminiscent of the countless words that have been traced upon them.
The writing surfaces in the Mazarine library are made of leather, giving them a more discreet, finer patina. Some of them look like celestial nebulae, glistening under the lights that shine down on the reader.
The surfaces of the writing desks in the Vatican library, made of fabric stuck on wood are closer to the Blackboards. They are the most textured, marked by the wear and tear of time. Stained, scarred, strewn with fingerprints, curiously more terrestrial than aerial, they evoke lumpy ground, trodden over by countless passages.
1. Writing Tablet n°243, National Library of France, Paris – 1992
43 x 76 cm
2. Writing Tablet n°118, National Library of France, Paris – 1992
43 x 76 cm
3. Writing Tablet n°117, National Library of France, Paris – 1992
43 x 76 cm
4. Writing Tablet n° 244, National Library of France, Paris – 1992
43 x 76 cm
5. Writing Tablet n°313, National Library of France, Paris – 1992
43 x 76 cm
