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Application Formée

Text by Olivier Kaeppelin | Unpublished works by Joseph Kosuth

Photo credit: Jean-Christophe Ballot

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Edition :

  • 100 numbered copies from 1 to 100 and 3 non-commercial copies (not for sale), numbered HC I to HC III

  • All copies are signed by the author and the artist.

APPLICATION FORMÉE

Artist’s book co-published with Art Concept

Application Formée is an artist’s book that brings together Joseph Kosuth and Olivier Kaeppelin, with a preface by Dominique Perrrault. The starting point of this project is the installation of a work by the artist at 4 Place des Victoires in Paris: Forme appliquée (2025), for which Kosuth created a floor paving that connects the external space of the square to the interior of the building's ground floor.

 

In a mirrored response to this inaugural work, and thanks to the expertise of the Atelier du Livre d’Art & de l’Estampe of the Imprimerie Nationale (IN Groupe), Joseph Kosuth chose to faithfully reproduce a book bdating from 1722 (Methode pour faire une infinité de desseins differens, avec des carreaux mi-partis de deux couleurs par une ligne diagonale : ou Observations du pere Dominique Douat, religieux au carme de la province de Toulouse, sur un Memoire inseré dans L'histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences de Paris, l'année 1704, présenté par le reverend pere Sébastien Truchet, religieux du même ordre, Académicien honoraire), making it the site of his intervention. Contemporary texts, phrases, and photographs are thus inserted within an original mémoire that elaborates the principles and concepts behind floor design, through a system of combinatorics—an ancestor of the algorithm—which inspired the black-and-white tiling of many 18th-century buildings.

 

Olivier Kaeppelin’s text takes root in the dialogue between Joseph Kosuth and the work of Reverend Father Sébastien Truchet. Recalling the walks of Restif de la Bretonne, the author situates the historical urban context that now hosts Kosuth’s work. Above all, he emphasizes what is essential: the visitor’s experience—the physical dimension of thought.

 

Application Formée also includes a new interview of Joseph Kosuth by Hans Ulrich Obrist that touches upon the artist’s youth in Paris and his artistic practice, as well as photographs of 4 Place des Victoires by Jean-Christophe Ballot.

Publication date: Autumn 2027

Box size : N/A

Book size : N/A

Price: N/A

AUTHORS, ARTISTS AND ARTISANS

The book as a living space of co-creation, dialogue, and transmission

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OLIVIER KAEPPELIN

Olivier Kaeppelin is a writer, poet, art critic, and exhibition curator. Founder of the magazine EXIT, he is the author of numerous essays on art and has collaborated with various contemporary artists. He has directed major cultural institutions (France Culture, the Ministry of Culture, the Palais de Tokyo, the Maeght Foundation) and organized major international exhibitions such as Monumenta, La Force de l'art, and the Busan Biennale. He is also known for his radio work, notably on France Culture.

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JOSEPH KOSUTH

Joseph Kosuth is a pioneer of Conceptual art, known since the 1960s for his language-based works exploring meaning and representation. His practice spans installations, exhibitions, and public projects worldwide. He lives and works between New York and Venice.

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JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BALLOT

Jean-Christophe Ballot is a contemporary photographer, born in 1960.
For over thirty years, he has pursued a unique path in the art world, championing and practicing contemplative photography.

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HANS ULRICH OBRIST

Hans Ulrich Obrist (b. 1968, Zürich, Switzerland) is Artistic Director of Serpentine in London, and Senior Advisor at LUMA Arles. Prior to this, he was the Curator of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Since his first show World Soup (The Kitchen Show) in 1991, he has curated more than 400 shows.

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DOMINIQUE PERRAULT ARCHITECTURE

Dominique Perrault is a French architect and urban planner of international renown, who came to prominence in 1989 with the creation of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Since then, he has completed major projects such as the velodrome and Olympic swimming pool in Berlin, the Campus Center of Ewha Women's University in Seoul...

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IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE

The origin of the Atelier du Livre d'Art et de l'Estampe (Art Book and Print Workshop) dates back to 1538, when Francis I appointed the first king's printer for Greek, a founding act in the history of printed writing in France. Heir to the Royal Printing House founded in 1640, which successively became the Imprimerie de la République, Imperial, and National Printing House, it preserves a unique collection of punches, listed as a historic monument. Drawing on rare expertise spanning the entire typographic and intaglio printing chain, the workshop collaborates with artists and publishers on exceptional projects.

Contact us

Please contact us to learn more about our artwork-books, arrange a private viewing, or share an acquisition project. We would be delighted to discuss these rare and singular works with you.

contact@editionslealtorres.com

Tel: + 33 (0)6 16 34 81 69

790 Avenue Maurice Donat BAT D

06250 Mougins

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