« Densité d'une absence » (Density of an Absence), video-engraving, 14 min., Edouard Vallet Foundation , Vercorin, Switzerland, 2018 — Densité d’une absence, vidéo-gravure, 14 min., Fondation Edouard Vallet, Vercorin, 2018

"Densité d'une absence 1.06.", 2. drypoint, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 1.06.”, pointe sèche sur cuivre, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 2.04.", 2. drypoint, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 2.04.”, pointe sèche sur cuivre, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 1.08" 5. drypoint with selective wiping, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — 4. “Densité d’une absence 1.08” gravure pointe sèche avec essuyage sélectif, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 2.13" 5. drypoint with selective wiping, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 2.13” gravure pointe sèche avec essuyage sélectif, 20 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 5.07.", 5. drypoint with selective wiping, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 5.07.”, pointe sèche sur cuivre, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 6.04", 5. drypoint, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 6.04.”, pointe sèche sur cuivre, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 6.07",5. drypoint with selective wiping, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 6.07.02”, pointe sèche sur cuivre, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Densité d'une absence 4.05", 5. drypoint with selective wiping, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Densité d’une absence 4.05.01”, pointe sèche sur cuivre, 20 x 30 cm 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Le spectre d'Ulysse", 10. ceramics, wool and wax, 21 x 22 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Le spectre d’Ulysse”, céramique, laine et cire, 21 x 22 x 30 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Le spectre d'Ulysse", installation, Edouard Vallet Foundation , Vercorin, Switzerland, 2018 — “Le spectre d’Ulysse”, installation, Fondation Edouard Vallet, Vercorin 2018

"Mon cerveau ennemi (Pénélope)", 12. sandstone, 32 x 42 x 24 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Mon cerveau ennemi (Pénélope)”, grès, 32 x 42 x 24 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Mon cerveau-ennemi (Pénélope) 1,2 et 3" ceramics, work in progress, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Mon cerveau-ennemi (Pénélope) 1,2 et 3” céramique, work in progress, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Tissage de Pénélope 3", oil on canevas, 140 x 160 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Tissage de Pénélope 3”, huile sur toile, 140 x 160 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Incantations II",Black chalk on paper, 108 x 88 cm, 2018 (private collection) — “Incantations II”, 15. Black chalk on paper, 108 x 88 cm, 2018 (private collection)

"Incantations I", Black chalk on paper, 108 x 88 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C) — “Incantations I”, pierre noire sur papier, 108 x 88 cm, 2018 (courtesy Galerie C)

"Essence jumelle", plaster, coffee pond and tinplate, 27 x 30 x 44 cm, 1998 (courtesy Galerie C) — 17. “Essence jumelle”, plâtre, mare de café et fer blanc, 27 x 30 x 44 cm, 1998 (courtesy Galerie C)

« Nature morte », Black chalk on paper, 60 x 80 cm, 2015 (Gruyère Museum collection, Bulle, Switzerland) — 18. Nature morte, pierre noire sur papier, 60 x 80 cm, 2015 (collection du musée gruérien, Bulle CH)

Density of an absence

This project was born following an invitation from the painter Edouard Vallet’s foundation in Vercorin (Switzerland). It is inspired by the literary works of Homer (The Odyssey) and Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz (Derborence).
Among various works created around this theme, the centrepiece is a “video-engraving”, namely an animated film made from different prints of engravings. The approach may seem paradoxical, as the two techniques that it associates are a priori opposed: on the one hand engraving presenting a classic, rather static aspect and on the other the movement of animation. The interest lies in the singularity of the image given to the animation in large format and in an evolving way by the character of the line and the renderings of the engraving. It is a slow transformation of shots worked very freely, a kind of visual choreography.

“Density of an absence”
video, length 14 min.
Originial music from Quentin Sirjacq

“In the shadow of Ulysses, the sky would have been less vast, humans less strange, days shorter. Children less heartbreakingly beautiful, the world less enigmatic. Too eager to answer, you would not have found the time to question … ”

Annie Leclerc
Excerpt from Toi Pénélope (You Penelope) éditions Actes Sud

“Strange power of re-presentation that runs from Homer to Ramuz: the evocative force of those who wait and transfigure the lack. And it is this extreme attention of the seismograph that drives the images of Guy Oberson, black chalk or oil. Another quivering world is reconstituted before our eyes, like a cascade of atoms from which emanates a flow of energy.
Beings and things little by little take shape again on the screen of the canvas. This vibration of the visible, this fascination with the second existence, I have experienced in his works.
There is a ghost story here … ”

Jérôme Meizoz
Excerpt from L’Absence et la Ruse (Absence and Cunning)
Published in Densité d’une Absence, Edouard Vallet Foundation, Vercorin, 2018

« Density of an Absence » was the subject of a solo exhibition at Edouard Vallet Foundation, Vercorin, Switzerland, 2018
http://www.edvallet.com/ev5/spip.php?article49