Berlin: En Passant, 1994
21 x 15cm, 6pp plus card covers. Exhibition handout for three simultaneous exhibitions by Boltanski - short essay by Michael Glasmeier in German with no illustrations, VG+.
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Aachen: Thouet Verlag and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König. 1994.
26.7 x 20.8cm, 980pp (approx.). Artist's book which reproduces 975 black and white appropriated photographs of mostly faces (although there are group images also) randomly assembled from the vast collection of such images the artist had collected since the 1970s. As such the near 1,000 pictures are meant to represent mankind - with no information about the subjects whatsoever. In many ways Boltanski's objective recording of such anonymous people reflects a view of history and life that has no judgement - in fact, no morality - as one does not know if the person one is looking at is villain or hero, victim or predator, alive or dead (although probably dead given the statistics of life).
This is regarded as one of Boltanski's most important artist's books although it is really a summary of all that he had done before in this realm of appropriation photography.
The book has the following tale as a sort of foreword in German:
"Der große Rabbi von Lodz lag im Sterben,
umgeben von seinen Anhängern.
Der Jüngste , Benjamin , wollte dem Sterbenden
noch eine letzte Frage stellen . Er fragte ihn : „ Was ist das Leben ?
“ Der große Rabbi antwortete : „ Das Leben!
Das Leben ist eine Quelle.“
Dieser Satz wurde von den Anwesenden
mit großer Zufriedenheit
und Respekt aufgenommen,
mit Ausnahme von Benjamin,
der erwiderte : „ Was ? Das Leben ist eine Quelle?
“ Da hörte man den großen Rabbi sagen: „ Was ?
Das Leben ist keine Quelle?
“ Das waren seine letzten Worte."
Which we translate as:
The great Rabbi of Lodz was dying
surrounded by his followers.
The youngest, Benjamin, wanted the dying man
ask one last question. He asked him, “What is life? "
The great rabbi replied:" Life!
Life is a source.“
That sentence was spoken by those in attendance
received with great satisfaction and respect,
with the exception of Benjamin, who replied, “What? Is life a source?"
Then one heard the great rabbi say:" What?
Life is not a source? “Those were his last words.
Boltanski's ambiguity to the fate or having more knowledge of the subjects of these images is reflected in that tale.
There are some issues with condition of this copy - the front cover has been bent vertically and some pages are a little badly folded internally due to poor printing but overall it is just under VG. Now scarce.
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Obala: Art Centar Sarajevo, 1994
10.2 x 15.5cm, 2pp announcement card with a shadow sculpture installation view in b/w on the front and verso museum details. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
16.5 x 10cm, 24pp plus endpapers and card wrappers with printed dustjacket. Nine works offered as a "proposal for a forest" which were installed in time for the 1995 State Garden Show at Landesgartenschau, Grevenbroich. The various interventions in the landscape mostly take quotations from German classical literature and place them on benches, tree plaques, wooden signposts and other appropriate interventions. Paintings by Ron Costley above descriptions by Finlay.
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Zurich: Museum der Stadtentwasserung, 1994 15 x 10.5cm, 2pp announcement card for a group show which included Boltanksi, Fischli & Weiss, Gette, Gilbert & George, Holler, Haacke, Kaprow, Kelly, Muhl, Richter, Spero, Slominski, and others. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
8.7 x 6.3cm, 4pp card printed blue on white. Internal to the card is a shaped text that resembles a rounded tree - much like the post-impressionist work of Emile Bernard to which this is noted to be an homage. The text reads: "linen coif in the shape of a cloud l'ecole de Pont-Aven Hommage a Emile Bernard." A coif is a hat (usually a woman's) and often found in the post-impressionist paintings of nuns (especially in Gaugan) and in Bernard's paintings of Breton women - the word shapes resemble such a garment. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
7 x 14cm, 4pp (gatefold) the works is a text:
SOCIETY IS THE CURE FOR PRIDE, AND SOLITUDE FOR VANITY
which is a quotation by H. de Schelles (Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles who was a member of the Committee for Public Safety and an active Dantonist).
Finlay proposes the work for a bench to sit between a grove of pine trees and a lake. The bench is meant to be a secluded place for active thought. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1994
29.6 x 21cm, blue on white offset lithograph with a reworking of the universal A - Z alphabet - but the letters are all (except Q) replaced by boat port registration letter codes. VG+.
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Barcelona:Fundacio Espai Poblemou, 1994
56 x76.5cm, full colour lithographic offset exhibition poster with an image of a Boltanski Dispersion installation where piles of second hand clothes are left in the building and visitors are welcome to take them away. VG+.
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Barcelona: Fundació Espai Poblenou, 1994
21 x 15cm, 90pp plus typographic wrappers. An artist's book containing a list of calls made to the Barcelona police from 7 to 13 April 1994 organised by time and date and including the reason for the call (including deaths to someone reporting that snow is falling in a district). A number of the "daily reports" are translated into English at the back of the book. VG+.
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NYC: Nolan/Eckman Gallery, 1994
10.7 x 13.5cm, 28pp plus card covers, a red dust jacket and a tipped on title label. This book is subtitled "six Inscribed Fragments Concerning the French Revolution 1789 -- 1805. Six b/w photographs (by Antonia Reeve) of stone reliefs by Finlay are tipped on opposite a commentary by Siegfried Blasche and different quotations from Michelet . The commentaries can be seen as an adjunct to the works as they are not explained. Still an interesting book that is arguably an artists book as well as exhibition catalogue. On consideration we regard it as one of the latter.
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London: London Weekend TV, 1994
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp. Promotional card for the TV show presented by Melvyn Bragg looking at the work of Boltanski - on the front is a reproduction of Le Blaguer - a coloured photowork with an image of the performing artist in his suit. VG. Scarce.
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