Enlever et Entretenir
Artist book, based on the publication “Entre Escaut et Meuse”, 2010
Selection of images and texts by Eleni Kamma, drawings, photographs and scans by Eleni Kamma, texts edited and written by Orla Barry, designed by Salome Schmuki. 48 pages, full colour, hard cover, English.
A Jan Van Eyck Academie edition of 500 copies. Special edition of 10.
Enlever et Entretenir is an artist’s book by Eleni Kamma, made in collaboration
with designer Salome Schmuki and artist Orla Barry. Enlever et Entretenir develops the idea of an in-between space through the format of a book. It examines how words and images can coexist and create meaning by disrupting it; how they make sense by seemingly letting meaning collapse. The book follows the format of a 1950s photo collection book titled Entre Escaut et Meuse [Between Scheldt and Meuse], in which images and textual descriptions of plants, animals and human activities coexist. In Enlever et Entretenir, the coexistence occurs between gaps, empty spaces and various cultural descriptions and representations of nature, both historical and newly invented. In-between the visual stimuli, the rhythm of perception is interrupted by four manuals that examine the qualities of Number, Shape, Position, and Proportion and their relation to description via Linnaeus’ taxonomical theories. Kamma’s work investigates possibilities for a future architecture that activates rather than tolerates “other” positions. She explores persistently the inherent gaps and contradictions within existing cultural narratives and classification strategies. The book disrupts the canonical production of meaning within and via the synchronous appearance of words and images, researching the relation of the cliché, the banal and the stereotype to the formation of history and the fabrication of identities.
More information: Tubelight Review
