F. Dostoyevsky: C. and P., page 67 (Penguin Popular Classics), divided vertically

2007/2011
Installation
divided vintage door (each part 219 x 50 x 4 cm), two framed drawings (pencil transcription
of a book page, divided in two parts, one partially burned)
paper size, front panel: 22.5 x 7.2 cm; Paper size, back panel: 22.5 x 7.5 cm; Frame size, each: 42.2 x 48 cm. Signed and dated verso on each paper sheet (Paris, Octobre 2007);
Installation instruction sheet, signed certificate

Photo: Marco Blessano
© Vittorio Santoro

Image: detail front panel


F. Dostoyevsky: C. and P., page 67 (Penguin Popular Classics), divided vertically (2007), is a two-part piece based on the novel of the Russian author,
a meticulous transcription of a particular page, cut vertically in two. Both parts hang back to back on a single wall close to a divided vintage door, in a mutually exclusive manner,
with one part burnt and the other left untouched. The text describes the moment before
an im­minent encounter
between two people located on either side of a door. Framed by the notion of suspension – whether fictional device or physical action – invisible symmetry and actual visual dissymmetry enter into a strange and meaningful relationship.

Rebecca Geldard