Confidence
Case study
  • Art and Design
  • Collaboration with artists
  • Julien Levesque

Confidence — An edition halfway between a restitution and a piece of art

Background

During his residency at the Ferme du Bois Briard in Courcouronnes, Julien Levesque intervened, following our suggestion and with our complicity, on the running offset presses at the Havet printing factory in Sailly-sur-la-Lys, by adding different inks directly to a group of colours to produce an edition that we had designed specifically for this experiment.

It is a hybrid documentary object, halfway between a restitution and a work of art, composed of images and fragments retracing the course of his year of creation.

300 copies of this edition, unique occurrences reflecting as many micro-variations, were produced, then exhibited and distributed to mark the end of Julien Levesque’s residency.

More than a catalogue, this publishing object can be seen as a multiple that develops, in the age of networks, the hypothesis of repetition and the original, leading to a reflection on the book-making process.

Confidence (book)

Julien Levesque’s intervention on the running offset presses. Different shades (silver, green, ochre) and types of ink (fluorescent, metallic, classic) were used directly in the inkwell dedicated to cyan.

An edition made of micro-variations

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Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 1 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 2 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 3 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 4 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 5 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 6 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 7 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 8 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 9 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 10 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 11 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 12 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 13 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 14 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 15 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 16 of 17 Confidence, An edition made of micro-variations, image 17 of 17

Flatplan of the publication.

All the pages in the edition were printed using the same group of ink (cyan), into which other inks were added during the printing process. As the inks are diffused progressively throughout the printing process, each page is unique. The gradients in the images are therefore the result of this experimentation. 

A combinatorial page order

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Confidence, A combinatorial page order, image 1 of 3 Confidence, A combinatorial page order, image 2 of 3 Confidence, A combinatorial page order, image 3 of 3

Held together by a simple elastic band, the pages of the edition can be reassembled, adding combinatorial variation to the inking’s micro-variation.

A cover to reflect these variations

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Confidence, A cover to reflect these variations, image 1 of 5 Confidence, A cover to reflect these variations, image 2 of 5 Confidence, A cover to reflect these variations, image 3 of 5 Confidence, A cover to reflect these variations, image 4 of 5 Confidence, A cover to reflect these variations, image 5 of 5

The cut-out on the cover and the variations in ink used during the printing process emphasise the unique nature of each of the 300 printed copies.

Presentation of the artistic residency

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Confidence, Presentation of the artistic residency, image 1 of 3 Confidence, Presentation of the artistic residency, image 2 of 3 Confidence, Presentation of the artistic residency, image 3 of 3

The presentation of the works and the ‘Confidence’ edition took place during the finissage of Julien Levesque’s residency on 9 September 2017.

Specs

A project developed as part of Julien Levesque’s residency at the Ferme du Bois Briard in Courcouronnes. 

Client
Julien Levesque
Field
Art and Design
Collaboration with artists
Medium
Book, Catalogue and Singular edition
Feature
Combinatorial principle
Cut-out
Handmade
Mix and match
Optimisation
Technical experimentation
Year
2017
More info

Many thanks to Frédéric Degoumois and Hervé Pérard.