Untitled, 2015

by Didier Courbot

pencil and water-based marker on paper

24” x 18” (61 x 46 cm) unframed

edition of 10

As I began to think about how I would approach the multiple for Montréal Papier, the idea of working with still lifes crossed my mind. It would have to be something very simple and light. I also like the idea of a volume in paper, since paper is easy to find and use…I gradually arrived at these cone-shaped volumes, which take on vase and container forms after being piled up in no particular order. Also, rather than duplicating the multiples with a machine—in this case a printer—I wanted to be the machine. I therefore devised a stencil process that enables me to rapidly produce all of the drawings. Given the incredible ease simply to craft the volumes, I thought that the final object would appear less rough if one added some colour. This led me to imagine ways of colouring the surfaces without losing too much time and with a minimum of intervention on my end. I applied simple and standard colouring techniques: felt pens and crayons. Colour here has a purely decorative function. All of this answers the questions I had at the outset, what is a multiple? What makes it interesting? Is it a lesser work? Is it the signature that makes it interesting?

-           Didier Courbot