Loris Gréaud and DGZ
Research
Modelisation Study
2006
Courtesy the artist
Loris Gréaud & DGZ Research
Why Is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?
‘Imagine the idea of a space where the scale has disappeared, where the immaterial joins the infinite — a space where the ending doesn’t exist anymore. A place motivated by irresolution, like the image of Alice in Wonderland’s riddle which is still unresolved: Why is a raven like a writing desk?’
Loris Gréaud, June 2006
Loris Gréaud’s projects and exhibitions are often the result of collaborations with scientists, geo-biologists, engineers, filmmakers, writers, sound and graphic designers. His varied background in music and cinematography provides an expanded framework for his frequently cryptic installations, which test both the given characteristics of the mediums he employs and the expectations of the audience.
For Frieze Projects Gréaud presented Why Is a Raven like a Writing Desk?, an exhibition of his ‘nano-sculptures’ — objects only visible to the human eye through high-power magnification lenses. The nano-sculpture’s display — in a slick, bespoke micro-museum within the fair, designed by Gréaud and DGZ Research — highlighted the influence that presentation wields on a work’s content. The sculptures were developed by DGZ Research in Paris (Marc Dölger, Loris Gréaud and Damien Ziakovic) and researchers from the French scientific institution CNRS. The exhibition was accompanied by a limited-edition catalogue, produced by Coédition Xn Editions, Aurélie Geslin and Christophe Daviet-Thery, featuring a Panini-style sticker collection of images of the nano-sculptures.
Loris Gréaud (b. 1979) is a French artist based in Paris. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Devils Tower’, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2006) and ‘Silence Goes More Quickly When Played Backwards’, Le Plateau, Frac Ile de France, Paris (2005). Recent group shows include ‘Space Boomerang’, Swiss Institute, New York, and ‘Notre Histoire’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (both 2006) and ‘Black Market World’, Baltic Triennale, CAC, Vilnius (2005). In 2005 Gréaud was awarded the Ricard S.A. Award for the most innovative artist under 40 years of age in France.
