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Chemigram 31/7/01 'Hommage to Georges Perec'

Photograph
2001 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In 1958 Pierre Cordier briefly studied with influential experimental photographer Otto Steinert. However, Cordier is self-taught, and this was the only formal photography course that he attended. Nevertheless, two years earlier, he had conceived of the 'chemigram' process Working like a painter, he replaces the canvas with photographic paper. Changes in shape and pattern are created by introducing what he describes as 'localising' products, including varnish, wax, oil, glue, syrup, egg and other materials. The physical reactions of these layers, often made after repeatedly dipping the paper in developer and fixer, are registered on the photosensitive emulsion. Over many years, Cordier has explored the random patterns and variations of deliberately authored marks produced in the chemigram in a manner suggesting the rigorous sustained enquiry of experimental scientific research. At the same time, his works are aesthetic objects that carry their own visual and technical vocabulary.

This is one of many Cordier's works inspired by literature. It is an homage to Georges Perec (1936-1982) a French writer and filmmaker famous for experimental wordplay. His major work, La Vie mode d’emploi [ Life: A User's Manual] (1978), tells the story of a Paris apartment building and its inhabitants. The building's rooms form a 10 x 10 grid, which serves as the underlying structure of the book's narrative. Each apartment is dealt with according to the moves made in the 'Knight's Tour', a chess-based mathematical problem in which the knight must attempt to visit each square of the chessboard exactly once. While a normal chessboard has a grid of 8 x 8 squares, a 10 x 10 grid complicates the problem yet further. Perec's works, constructed within self-imposed writing constraints, find their counterpart in Cordier's chemigrams, in which random numbers create programmed chance, limiting subjective decisions.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleChemigram 31/7/01 'Hommage to Georges Perec' (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Chemigram on gelatin silver photographic paper
Brief description
Photograph, chemigram on photographic paper, abstract image, 'Chemigram 31/7/01 'Hommage à Georges Perec'', Pierre Cordier, 2001.
Physical description
Abstract image featuring grids and lines produced on gelatin silver paper.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14.8cm
  • Width: 14.8cm
Production typeUnique
Gallery label
  • Cameraless Photography Pierre Cordier (b.1933) Chemigram 31/7/01 ‘Hommage à Georges Perec’ 2001 Chemigram on gelatin silver paper 15.1 x 14.9 cm Given by the artist Museum no. E.856-2010 Georges Perec’s major work, Life: A User’s Manual (1978), tells the story of a Paris apartment building and its inhabitants. The apartments form a 10 x 10 grid, which serves as the structure of the book’s narrative. Each is dealt with according to the moves made in the ‘knight’s tour’, a chess-based mathematical problem in which the knight must visit each square exactly once.
  • This is one of many Cordier's works inspired by literature. It is an homage to Georges Perec (1936-1982) a French writer and filmmaker famous for experimental wordplay. His major work, La Vie mode d'emploi [ Life: A User's Manual] (1978), tells the story of a Paris apartment building and its inhabitants. The building's rooms form a 10 x 10 grid, which serves as the underlying structure of the book's narrative. Each apartment is dealt with according to the moves made in the 'Knight's Tour', a chess-based mathematical problem in which the knight must attempt to visit each square of the chessboard exactly once. While a normal chessboard has a grid of 8 x 8 squares, a 10 x 10 grid complicates the problem yet further. Perec's works, constructed within self-imposed writing constraints, find their counterpart in Cordier's chemigrams, in which random numbers create programmed chance, limiting subjective decisions.
Credit line
Gift of the artist, 2010
Summary
In 1958 Pierre Cordier briefly studied with influential experimental photographer Otto Steinert. However, Cordier is self-taught, and this was the only formal photography course that he attended. Nevertheless, two years earlier, he had conceived of the 'chemigram' process Working like a painter, he replaces the canvas with photographic paper. Changes in shape and pattern are created by introducing what he describes as 'localising' products, including varnish, wax, oil, glue, syrup, egg and other materials. The physical reactions of these layers, often made after repeatedly dipping the paper in developer and fixer, are registered on the photosensitive emulsion. Over many years, Cordier has explored the random patterns and variations of deliberately authored marks produced in the chemigram in a manner suggesting the rigorous sustained enquiry of experimental scientific research. At the same time, his works are aesthetic objects that carry their own visual and technical vocabulary.

This is one of many Cordier's works inspired by literature. It is an homage to Georges Perec (1936-1982) a French writer and filmmaker famous for experimental wordplay. His major work, La Vie mode d’emploi [ Life: A User's Manual] (1978), tells the story of a Paris apartment building and its inhabitants. The building's rooms form a 10 x 10 grid, which serves as the underlying structure of the book's narrative. Each apartment is dealt with according to the moves made in the 'Knight's Tour', a chess-based mathematical problem in which the knight must attempt to visit each square of the chessboard exactly once. While a normal chessboard has a grid of 8 x 8 squares, a 10 x 10 grid complicates the problem yet further. Perec's works, constructed within self-imposed writing constraints, find their counterpart in Cordier's chemigrams, in which random numbers create programmed chance, limiting subjective decisions.
Collection
Accession number
E.856-2010

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Record createdJuly 12, 2011
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