Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard (Sculpture) is a close copy of the 1914 edition of the French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem of the same name, but with all the words cut out by laser, in a way that corresponds directly to the typographic layout used by Mallarmé to articulate the text.
A Preface features the entire poem written as a block of text with each line separated by a slash (/). This block-transcription of the Mallarme-Text was carried out 1969 by Broodthaers. 12 double spreads follow, with immaculately cut out windows standing in for the text. When turning the pages, numerous shadows are being generated by the cutouts. The first edition of Pichler's edition was published in 2008 and quickly sold out. This new, limited edition makes the artist book accessible again for a short period.
The English title of Mallarmé’s poem is 'A Throw of the Dice will Never Abolish Chance'.
Michalis Pichler is an artist operating on both sides of the imaginary border between visual art and literature and one of the founders and organizers of Miss Read and Conceptual Poetics Day.
Spector Books, 32pp, 32cm x 25cm, thread-sewn paperback, 2024, 500 copies only
