Christian Boltanski - Book Stock

Rachel Dickinson

Christian Boltanski – book stock

As I started to read ‘The impossible life of Christian Boltanski’ (Lynn Grumert, flammanion) I started to think he was a complex character, he uses his own live story as a theme a lot of the time and he also without directly linking it uses the holocaust as a theme, his work has been described as “merry and morbid and often both at the same time” when looking at his work you can see this applies.

As an instillation artist, Boltanski did work in many areas. From site specific instillation to instillation work that could be moved around,
One piece in particular caught my eye when I started reading though one of his many books about him, its has got me thinking whether or not this was an art piece of its own or a genuine thing,
‘Il Faut que vouse m’aidiez… (you have to help me…), letter requesting help. Mail art, 11 January 1970.

English version.








 


after posting it he waited for their replies and then turned it into art work, but the people whom he sent it were considered in our day and age art critics and specialists, so knew his work and past pieces, so praised him, whether this was to give him an ego boost to continue along the road he was on or a specific piece of work I don’t know but it already has me asking questions about his mental health/ stability to survive.  6 months after sending the first letter he wrote to the same people but the letter this time was opposite in emotional state to the first and also had attachments to it, one in particular and his theory behind it has made me also wonder and question what he said and has a very well thought out truth behind it.

“Perceived as truthful, as a proof that the event they picture is real; they give the illusion of reality” Christian Boltanski

‘The last known phot of Paul Chaddon”
So putting the name to the photograph of the small boy in with the other things in his letter, he had changed the meaning of the photograph to create a reaction- which in itself is instillation art, he wanted to provoke an emotion of some sort.
but why change the meaning of the photograph? Was it true?
after reading his statement about putting names to photographs and changing the meaning.

Looking at his other work I found a underlining themes of children, death, clowns and after it being pointed out to me the holocaust.

L’Ange d’alliance (the angel of accord) 1986.
After looking at a lot of his images and work at this time (1985-86) it has a theme of god, life, and death going through them, this image has attracted my eye because it reminds me of  Lucifer’s fall from heaven. (The bible stories)

 



when you put these images side by side you can see how Boltanski might have got his idea for this piece of work from, Lucifer’s fall from heaven for standing up to god is a story which everyone knows and learns as a catholic child, a lot of his previous work is almost defining god and has satanic view within, Chapelle de la Salpetriere Festival d’automne, Paris, 1986. Also has this satanic/death emotion to it he has a cross in which a shadow is cast behind it looking as if it is stabbing the cross, almost like he is defying or wanting to defy god, questioning his believe almost.

In conclusion after looking at many of his pieces of work, I have found that he and his work to be very dark and have a few profoundly related themes. Death, children and god being some of them,
his work is a miss – match of photography, sculpture, made into instillation art, and always evoking an emotion of some sort out of the viewer, he wants you to think about the work and the issues behind it, but also want you to accept it for what it is. And merely nothing more,