Marcel BROODTHAERS
La conquête de l’espace. Atlas à l’usage des artistes et des militaires
Measuring just 1 x 1.5 inches with a simple black slipcase, The Conquest of Space is an artist’s book by Marcel Broodthaers originally published in 1975 in an edition of 50 numbered copies. As Broodthaers’ last book, it embodies the artist’s sardonic sense of humor with its plays on language and function–the title references the historic use of atlases by militaries for territorial conquests, but printed at such a miniature scale, it is unusable for its intended function. Furthering the level of intrigue with the book, Broodthaers did not follow established geographical organization, choosing rather to present only a small selection of countries organized alphabetically and graphically represented in identical size.
Book, 40 pages, 2.5 x 3.8 cm, tiny Japanese binding, presented in a box. 50 copies numbered and authenticated by the Marcel Broodthaers estate stamp.
Graphic work, (editions), 48.8 x 62.8 cm: A printed sheet comprises all the images on the pages of a miniature book. Rows of vertical lines delineate the intended position of the pages, as in a maquette or printer’s proof. The pages are untrimmed, thus denying the book its readability, with the sheet containing the thirty-two countries acting as a reminder of this unfulfilled function. An ordinary atlas offers a diagrammatic and somehow aseptic representation of the world, while also acting as a conveyor of meaning.
Reprint In 2019, MoMa produced 500 replicas on the occasion of a Broodthaers retrospective. The replica was not authorized by the edition and sold out immediately after its presentation in New York. In 2019, MoMa produced 500 replicas on the occasion of a Broodthaers retrospective. The replica was not authorized by the edition and sold out immediately after its presentation in New York.
Je hais le mouvement, qui deplace les lignes, 1973
16 pages, 32 x 25 cm format, two-color printing, 300 copies.
First edition: Same on Roemerturm Alt Xanten in the vat. 10 copies numbered and signed.
Un Voyage en Mer du Nord, 1973
Offset printing, 15 x 17.5 cm, edition of 1,000, Brussels, 1973
Un Voyage en Mer du Nord: film, 1973, with film canister, 16 mm, color, no sound, 4 min. 15 sec. Part of the edition of the same name.
English edition Petersburg Press London.
German edition Dumont Cologne.
Charles Baudelaire. Pauvre Belgique, 1974
Edition of 44 signed and numbered copies.
152 pages, folio format, 32.5 x 25 cm, two-color printing.
Softcover Glassine dust jacket with print and thin cardboard cover.
Paris/ New York, Herman Daled, Yves Gevaert, Paul Lebeer.
La conquête de l’espace. Atlas à l’usage des artistes et des militaires
Measuring just 1 x 1.5 inches with a simple black slipcase, The Conquest of Space is an artist’s book by Marcel Broodthaers originally published in 1975 in an edition of 50 numbered copies. As Broodthaers’ last book, it embodies the artist’s sardonic sense of humor with its plays on language and function–the title references the historic use of atlases by militaries for territorial conquests, but printed at such a miniature scale, it is unusable for its intended function. Furthering the level of intrigue with the book, Broodthaers did not follow established geographical organization, choosing rather to present only a small selection of countries organized alphabetically and graphically represented in identical size.
Book, 40 pages, 2.5 x 3.8 cm, tiny Japanese binding, presented in a box. 50 copies numbered and authenticated by the Marcel Broodthaers estate stamp.
Graphic work, (editions), 48.8 x 62.8 cm: A printed sheet comprises all the images on the pages of a miniature book. Rows of vertical lines delineate the intended position of the pages, as in a maquette or printer’s proof. The pages are untrimmed, thus denying the book its readability, with the sheet containing the thirty-two countries acting as a reminder of this unfulfilled function. An ordinary atlas offers a diagrammatic and somehow aseptic representation of the world, while also acting as a conveyor of meaning.
Reprint In 2019, MoMa produced 500 replicas on the occasion of a Broodthaers retrospective. The replica was not authorized by the edition and sold out immediately after its presentation in New York. In 2019, MoMa produced 500 replicas on the occasion of a Broodthaers retrospective. The replica was not authorized by the edition and sold out immediately after its presentation in New York.
Je hais le mouvement, qui deplace les lignes, 1973
16 pages, 32 x 25 cm format, two-color printing, 300 copies.
First edition: Same on Roemerturm Alt Xanten in the vat. 10 copies numbered and signed.
Un Voyage en Mer du Nord, 1973
Offset printing, 15 x 17.5 cm, edition of 1,000, Brussels, 1973
Un Voyage en Mer du Nord: film, 1973, with film canister, 16 mm, color, no sound, 4 min. 15 sec. Part of the edition of the same name.
English edition Petersburg Press London.
German edition Dumont Cologne.
Charles Baudelaire. Pauvre Belgique, 1974
Edition of 44 signed and numbered copies.
152 pages, folio format, 32.5 x 25 cm, two-color printing.
Softcover Glassine dust jacket with print and thin cardboard cover.
Paris/ New York, Herman Daled, Yves Gevaert, Paul Lebeer.