Atlas

A Box, archive, interface

How the site describes itself: a box after Duchamp, an interface rather than a portfolio, an archive that can be handled and recomposed.

“Inspired by Duchamp’s La Boîte verte (1934) and built as an interface rather than a portfolio, it traces and retraces a single body of work…”

— Chronology

“Images, words and references can be rearranged into changing connections, extending the archive into a form that can be handled and recomposed.”

— Chronology

“It is then refined via multiple phases of selection, extraction, juxtaposition, and presentation.”

— a + o − Objects

“At its core, through this repetitive effect, one object refers to the other, activating memory, signalling, and reminding of its twin.”

— Greffes

external — Aby Warburg, Bilderatlas Mnemosyne, 1924–1929: panels of photographs pinned to black cloth, lettered A, B, C and then numbered, left unfinished in 1929. This page borrows that order. The site does not cite Warburg.

external — Marcel Duchamp, Boîte-en-valise, 1935–1941: a portable museum of his own works in miniature. The site cites La Boîte verte (1934), not the valise.

external — André Malraux, Le Musée imaginaire, 1947: the museum as a sequence of reproductions. The site does not cite Malraux.

→ Plate 7, recomposed. found — “P+ develops as an associative system of 620 physical and digital cards.” (Chronology)

→ Plate 6, box, shoebox museum. inferred — both are a box that holds a museum; neither page names the other: “Inspired by Duchamp’s La Boîte verte (1934)” (Chronology); “…tucked it into his home-made ‘shoebox museum’” (Hans Ulrich Obrist Archives, Chapter 5: Maria Lassnig)

B The name as material

The artist’s name taken apart into syllables, initials, an acronym and a signature, each used as a work or a label.

“Décomposition des quatre syllabes de mon prénom et de mon nom de famille.”

— M

“Through the use of an impersonal acronym, rt4a embraces a diverse array of practices and identities, fostering a dialogue based on interconnectivity and multiplicity.”

— rt4a

“As a signature, it embodies a paradox: simultaneously the mark of an artistic act and an impersonal symbol obscuring individual identity.”

— rt4a Index

→ Plate C, ART#AAA. found — “Art Hur Fou Ray m ART#AAA mm HUR FFF FOU#000 RAY FFF…” (Art Hur Fou Ray)

→ Plate 5, cartels. found — “J’utilise cette forme pour mes cartels, ma carte de visite, et mon site web…” (M)

C A colour from two initials

Two web colour codes, #aaafff and #000fff, name the series of plates 1 to 3.

“Their pale blue takes its name from a web colour code formed from the initials A and F; objects concealed within the paintings make what cannot be seen part of the work.”

— Chronology

“These shades, a midpoint between sky blue and purple, conceal objects – most frequently from domestic settings – within their frames.”

— Spectre

→ Plate 1, #aaafff. found — “The title of each artwork pairs the series name, #aaafff, with the designation of the hidden object.” (#aaafff)

→ Plate 3, #000fff. found — “…its three blue incrustation wall paintings, marking the format’s three aspect ratios, begin the 000fff series…” (Chronology)

1 Hidden objects

Each #aaafff painting is named after the object it hides.

“The title of each artwork pairs the series name, #aaafff, with the designation of the hidden object.”

— #aaafff

“As viewers engage with a #aaafff painting and contemplate the obscured object, the monochromatic expanse transforms into a dynamic interface: a bridge between the concealed object and the viewer’s imagination.”

— #aaafff

→ Plate 2, monochromatic. found — “Like the #aaafff series, these artworks are monochromatic, unified by incorporating bedding elements as frames.” (Spectre)

2 Bedding as frame

The object-paintings: canvas stretched over a bed base, a pillow, a duvet; the first names come from the paintings’ titles.

“Initiated in 2013, it commenced when Fouray stretched canvas over his bed’s box spring.”

— Spectre

“The ‘object-paintings’ series features Andy and Kasimir as its focal points.”

— Spectre

“Like the #aaafff series, these artworks are monochromatic, unified by incorporating bedding elements as frames.”

— Spectre

external — Kazimir Malevich, White on White, 1918: Kasimir, and the Morel subtitled “Carré Blanc Sur Fond Toile”, read as Malevich. The site does not say so.

external — Rrose Sélavy, Marcel Duchamp’s alias, 1920–: Rrose (DOC) read as Duchamp’s Rrose. The site does not say so.

3 Morel: projection

From hiding to projecting: #000fff takes the chroma-key blue and the screen formats of cinema; Morel names the boxes and the machine.

“This piece, a mural bearing the intense hue of #aaafff, does not conceal but rather implies an object’s projection.”

— Spectre

“The painting made for it, 000fff (Polyvision) (Spectre), takes its name from Abel Gance’s three-screen process for Napoléon (1927)”

— Chronology

“Instead, it was stored within a wooden box constructed from painting stretchers, forming part of the ‘Morel’ series.”

— SCREEN

“Within the narrative, ‘Morel’, a fictional entity, creates a machine that duplicates human actions, continually powered by oceanic rhythms.”

— SCREEN

→ Plate 6, The Invention of Morel. found — “This concept, ‘The Invention of Morel’, is a cornerstone of the relational aesthetics movement.” (SCREEN); “An island, replicating the epiphany from 'The Invention of Morel' (1940) by Adolfo Bioy Casares, could present a complex museum dystopia.” (P+ I)

→ Plate 4, curtain. found — “…with the curtain acting as the narrative’s canvas…” (SCREEN)

4 Display

How paintings hang: picture rails, frames, a curtain, a museum rebuilt in models.

“Fouray embarked on a six-month quest to answer a question: How were paintings historically displayed before the advent of picture rails?”

— SCREEN

“This question remains unresolved.”

— SCREEN

“…beneath the steel picture rails where the pieces hover above our heads…”

— They Hover over Me

“The whole is held together within the maze of a small scale private chapel.”

— On Italian museography

5 Labels

The wall label as a work: labels drawn as paintings, labels made years later for early works.

“Cartels à Jouer: wall labels drawn as paintings, and paintings written as labels.”

— Chronology

“Pre-Natal brings together sculptures, paintings and videos, accompanied by wall labels giving their medium, date, dimensions and installation.”

— Chronology

“Artistic display apparatuses, such as explanatory panels and labels, became integral to this research.”

— Pre-Natal

“He hijacks the keywords and labels, confusing everything while clarifying the themes of his solo exhibition.”

— Pierre Joseph, Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles

→ Plate 12, Cartes-cartels. found — “Cartes-cartels, forty pages of museum-style labels made in 2023 for works from 2012.” (Chronology)

6 Vehicles for a museum

Museums imagined elsewhere: a train, a ship, an island, a shoebox, a glass foyer.

“A train, arranged as a white cube, would be an ideal exhibition space.”

— P+ I

“A contemporary art museum as a refurbished cruise ship.”

— P+ I

“Opening museums during the day for the general public and at night exclusively for artists.”

— P+ I

“…tucked it into his home-made ‘shoebox museum’”

— Hans Ulrich Obrist Archives, Chapter 5: Maria Lassnig

“A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world.”

— Beware of Curator – Smithson Cultural Confinement (music)

→ Plate 11, night train. inferred — the same word; neither page refers to the other: “A train, arranged as a white cube…” (P+ I); “…travelling by night train, each encounter leading to another, each artist sending him to others…” (Hans Ulrich Obrist Archives, Chapter 1: Édouard Glissant (Arles))

7 A game of associations

P+: projects sketched as cards that can be dealt, sorted and recombined — the portable form of the archive.

“P+ is a game of associations, a corpus of possibilities where prospects and projects can form storyboards, narratives, scripts, events, and exhibitions.”

— P+

“In two words: Oblique Strategies.”

— P+

“…which serve as a template for real physical playing cards…”

— P+

“P+ develops as an associative system of 620 physical and digital cards.”

— Chronology

external — Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, Oblique Strategies, 1975: the site names the cards; their authors and date are added here.

→ Plate 11, utopia. inferred — the same word in two languages; neither page refers to the other: “A prospect can evolve into a work, a series of works, a presentation, a representation, a utopia, or a dystopia.” (P+); “Dans un monde imprévisible, l’utopie est nécessaire…” (Biography)

8 Borrowed letters

Canvases that take over a logo, a typeface or a sign from outside the art world.

“Museum (Fraser Official Welcome) and Beware of Curator bring text and familiar visual signs onto canvas.”

— Chronology

“Ancient Greece’s Museion was not just a structure but a philosophical and spiritual embodiment of higher pursuits.”

— Museum (Fraser Official Welcome)

“The liminal space occupied by Beware of Curator draws inspiration from the ‘Beware of Dog’ signs, twisted with humour into a museum context.”

— Beware of Curator

→ Plate 9, Beware of Curator. found — “Beware of Curator is also paired with a sound work released in 2022.” (Chronology)

9 Painting and sound

The same image published twice: as a painting under rt4a and as the cover of a release under Music.

“Beware of Curator is also paired with a sound work released in 2022.”

— Chronology

“The accompanying song borrows elements from The Matrix theme song and melds them with beats inspired by Teardrop by Massive Attack (1998).”

— Chiquito

“Born from the melodies of a personal Apple Music playlist, Call is as much an artwork as it is a narrative, weaving together the strains of music, digital symbolism, and human connections.”

— CALL

→ Plate 10, a + o -. found — “Ecco Beach (a + o -) rt4a…” (Ecco Beach (a + o −) (music))

10 Words on things

Words carved into glaze, objects read as signs, a ceramic painted because it was never given.

“The series explores words on various qualities of backgrounds and glaze associations, intended to resonate with the food served upon them.”

— Plates

“Through the prism of α + ο -, objects are seen as the notes and tones used to write music, or the combinations of signs supporting languages and speech.”

— a + o − Objects

“I had the insight to paint it myself—to, in a way, possess it.”

— Welcome to the Art World

→ Plate A, Alfredo Aceto. found — “…a friend, Alfredo Aceto, had long promised to exchange or give me a ceramic of his…” (Welcome to the Art World); “Special thanks to Alfredo Aceto…” (Greffes)

11 Archives as exhibitions

Exhibitions made from other people’s archives and work, as curator.

“…a series of exhibitions structured around the archives…”

— Biography

“…featuring a series of chain reactions involving ordinary objects set in motion where one thing leads to another…”

— Hans Ulrich Obrist Archives, Chapter 1: Édouard Glissant (Arles)

“…travelling by night train, each encounter leading to another, each artist sending him to others…”

— Hans Ulrich Obrist Archives, Chapter 1: Édouard Glissant (Arles)

→ Plate 6, night train. inferred — the same word; neither page refers to the other: “…travelling by night train…” (Hans Ulrich Obrist Archives, Chapter 1: Édouard Glissant (Arles))

12 Before

The early archive, before and around art school: returned to the present as an archive.

“The catalogue gives materials and dimensions to an early body of sculpture, painting and installation and returns it to the present as an archival form.”

— Chronology

“A Painting on the Wall explores the foreground/background relationship from a curatorial point of view.”

— A Painting on the Wall

→ Plate A, archival form. found — “…returns it to the present as an archival form…” (Chronology)