Being-Appearing-Disappearing III: The Book 2005

Galerie Diagonale, Montreal, Quebec, Canada — 2005
Centre culturel français de l’Okanagan Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada — 2007
Warren G, Flowers Gallery, 9th Fine Arts Department Biennial, Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec, Canada — 2009
Ashes of a bundle of white paper — 8.5 x 11 x 2 inches

This artist book was inspired by the Blanc de Blanc exhibit at the Galerie Diagonale. To create the work, I burned a bundle of white paper, organized the ashes according to the dimensions of the pile of paper, and then stamped Being, Appearing, Disappearing.

Being — affirms existence and the space that we occupy on earth and within the universe.

Appearing — relates to the awareness of our existence in the exhibition space and in the world; appearing to oneself, appearing to the other.

Disappearing — relates to the precariousness of our existence and to the fleeting memory of other and self. The theme of differing states of existence is explored using ashes which, by their symbolic nature, bring to the fore the precariousness of our existence.

Ash – Ashes — The paper disappears into the fire that releases a great amount of energy into the atmosphere, signalling the metamorphosis of one matter into another, that of paper to ash. Ash is born from the flame and transforms to a new state of being, that of material prima. Though created in the same fire, the ashes carry the traces of their origin, while transcending the origin; it is both all matter and can bring about all matter. In its fundamental nature, each particle of ash constitutes a whole.