Title: Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard (sculpture)
Artist: Michalis Pichler
Publisher: “Greatest Hits” Berlin
Format: 32 pages, 32.5 x 25 cm, 500 pieces
ISBN: 978-3-86874-001-1
Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard (sculpture) [A Throw of the Dice will Never Abolish Chance (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 text by Stéphane Mallarmé was carried out in 1969 by Broodthaers. Twelve 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 work is soft bound and feels quite insubstantial. The cover is a facsimile of the original cover as published in 1914 by Librairie Gallimard, with the word SCULPTURE replacing POÈME (or IMAGE) in the centre of the design.