Michel Mazzoni: Rien, Presque

Rien, presque presents a body of fragmented images and views that draw their iconography from public spaces or from motifs specific to modernity. These images somehow represent demarcations in the urban landscape that function like minimalist sculptures generated by human actions. Mazzoni considers them as traces of daydrea- ming, catalysts of poetic resistance, little time capsules illuminating the world. Like the philosophical thought of Vilém Flusser, this book is about “the state of things”, the relationship between things being more significant than the things themselves. We discover in these images the aestheticism inherent in what is close to us, in the banal, in everyday life. While flipping through the book, relationships become visible between the initially disparate images. The recurring shapes are invisible connecting lines that condense into an abstract narrative.

The concept of the book was developed in close collaboration between the author, the publisher and the graphic designer. The idea is to produce a simple, minimal book that goes to the essentials: the reading of images, their content and their power of attraction. The work of the graphic designer, Viktor, in the organization and rhythm of the images is impressive. The phenomena of echoes between the images open up different possible readings.

Eric Suchère’s poetic text, presented in small fragmented paragraphs over the pages, is an essential element of the book.

The appearance of the book (paper, dimensions, thickness, etc.) makes it a timeless object.

Pages: 320
Dimensions: 200 × 280 mm
Format: Softcover
Year: 2022
Design: Viktor Van den Braembussche, Studio Luc Derycke
Publisher: MER. B&L