The book concept is a tribute to the origins of the digital art: the pixel. We designed a book that goes beyond the colour barrier to get to the source of the image, its essence. You are transported in a journey that begins with the surfacing from the black that becomes, little by little, 0 – 1, ON – OFF, pixel.
After this initiation, the path is revealed to the reader through a series of black and white images commented by quotes from the video and QRcode poems. With a special image processing of pixelation in black and white we can really get into the work of Miguel Chevalier and have fun reading the alphabet of his geometric shapes, fractal flowers and organic movements – the basis of the work of this pioneer of digital art.
Talking about technical aspects we have chosen to work with different types of paper with changing textures and shades to emphasize the transition from one section to another: a UV varnish was layered on all images to create more impact and to give the impression of images on screen.
The tribute to digital is also evident in the choice of fonts: the PX Grotesk with its hybrid forms that combine the formal solutions of the pixel grid with a linear drawing was chosen for text, while for titles and highlights we’ve selected a parametric typeface designed by Metaflop, which has letters that become unique and adjustable each time depending on the context.
The reflection upon the design led us to create a book, able to interact and complete the enjoyment of the video made by Claude Mossessian related to Miguel Chevalier’s work of the last three years.
We didn’t want to repeat the sequence of the works shown in the video, but we did want to provide an explanation around the birth of a work of kinetic art: on one side the video demonstrating the installations’ working principles and on the other, the book that presents his generation. In this manner the two objects become complementary: the book becomes the text to read together with the explosion of colour on the screen.
With this book we wanted to show a different aspect of the art of Miguel Chevalier, almost closer to painting: we hope that with this book the reader would get close to the pixels as it would be with the brush strokes in an impressionist painting.
Book: 1 Bit Book – Miguel Chevalier
Editions Lélia Mordoch, Paris
September 2015
Preface by Lélia Mordoch
and text by Elisabeth Couturier
28,5 cm x 24,5 cm
96 pages
Hard Cover
Black and white, UV varnish
Text in french and english
Film: “L’imaginaire des mondes virtuels
2012-2015 – Miguel Chevalier”
Director: Claude Mossessian
46 minutes – French version and
french version with english subtitles
Commented by Christine Buci-Glucksmann
ISBN: 978-2-909 138 -24-4
Prix: 50 euros
Available at Galerie Lélia Mordoch
