Photography as a writing machine Notes on Christian Dotremont"s logoneiges Articles uri icon

publication date

  • September 2019

start page

  • 81

end page

  • 93

issue

  • 7.1

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 2182-8830

abstract


  • In 1963, during a trip across Lapland, Christian Dotremont began to contrive his “logoneiges”, artworks which take “logogrammes” – creations between calligra-phy and verse – to the limit. In this case, the white of the paper is replaced with the infinite whiteness of Lapland’s landscape. Indeed, the “logoneige” would dis-appear if a “second writing” were not added: the photographs themselves. By analyzing the writings of Dotremont alongside those of Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida, I propose that photography is not only a mere witness in the “logoneiges”, but a writing tool that re-produces the poetic sense. My aim is to dissect this multiple time that creates triple writings, in comparison to “logo-grammes”, in an attempt to prove the poetical reach of this singular machine.

keywords

  • christian dotremont; writing; logogram; experimental poetry; photography; logoneige; escrita; logograma; poesia experimental; fotografia