Prendre le soleil – source de vie et de danger exhibition booklet
The publication Prendre le Soleil: source de vie et de danger is unique in that it is an exhibition book, halfway between a booklet and a catalog. Made as student project at École Estienne, its ambition is to offer a new perspective on the eponymous exhibition at Hangar Y dedicated to the Sun, addressing visitors as well as art lovers. This hybrid format allows it to break free from traditional codes and aspires to make a unique reading experience accessible by graphically translating part of the experience lived during the visit of the exhibition.
This narrative begins with a journey through twelve works offering a utopian vision of the sun. The reading is structured and balanced thanks to the centered content, while the elongated format accompanied by organic frames provides a sense of freedom and dreamlike quality. As the pages progress, the density of the frames decreases, symbolizing the gradual exhaustion of the utopia, which is increasingly tainted by red indicators. The last page reveals that the reading is not yet complete, suggesting the existence of a second hidden path in the unbound pages of the book, inviting the reader to cut them out. The second path unfolds, tinged with red, painting a dystopian view of the star. Reading is reversed, the format becomes suffocating, texts fragment, and frames metamorphose, evoking viruses and invasive technologies.
This two-part reading reflects the temporality of the exhibition’s scenography, which plays on a luminous preface before shifting to darker and more committed works. Colors, textures, and pagination disrupt the chronology of reading, distorting reality to embody the duality of these fictional universes. This book follows a genuine progression, punctuated by clues and surprises, immersing us in an immersive experience. By involving the reader, the book goes beyond contemplation: the reader becomes an actor in their own experience, making the reading unique and memorable.
