Saâdane Afif The Fountain Archives (INDEX), 2022
Specifications
Set of three volumes inserteed in its slipcase
Each volume 47,5 x 34 cm x 5 cm
Volume 1/3 – FA.0001 to FA.0383, 504 pages
Volume 2/3 – FA.0384 to FA.0768, 504 pages
Volume 3/3 – FA.0769 to FA.1001, 516 pages
Total 1524 pages
Printed on 120 g Biotop
Signatures are double-stitched with linen thread
Cover bound in Fancy Metalic Lined
Front cover and spine: embossed gilding and foil-blocking in copper
Printed and bound by Cultura
Production
Edition of 8 copies and 4 artist's proofs
Certificate numbered and signed by the artist
Produced and published by mfc-michèle didier in 2022
©2022 Saâdane Afif and mfc-michèle didier
NB: All rights reserved. No part of this edition may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission of the artist and the publisher.
In 2008, Saâdane Afif began collecting photographic occurrences of Marcel Duchamp's famous Fountain urinal that appeared in various works: magazines, encyclopaedias, art books, popularisation works, leaflets, etc. He has thus constituted a reference library, in which the works collected are listed in chronological order of discovery, without any further classification. The artist then tore out each page reproducing the work, taking care to scan, index and source them precisely.
After this gesture, the support thus stripped of its cause-motive, joined the library of The Fountain Archives. The original pages have been framed and redistributed on the art market, integrating various public and private collections. They have been presented in venues such as: Fundacio Antoni Tapies (Barcelona, 2021), Museo Jumex (Mexico City, 2019), Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (Monaco, 2017), Centre Pompidou (Paris, 2017), West in Huis Huguetan (The Hague, 2017) and the Taipei Biennial (Taipei, 2016)
A quasi-Sisyphian undertaking, as Duchamp's work is fundamental to the history of art, Saâdane Afif wanted to circumscribe his gesture by closing his series at the thousand and first reference. Now that the project has come to an end, a new work has been produced: The Fountain Archives (INDEX). Published by mfc-michèle didier, this publication restores the entirety of the pages taken from the different references of the archive-collection.
59.06 x 47.24 in ( 150 x 120 cm )
Unique artwork
59.06 x 47.24 in ( 150 x 120 cm )
Unique artwork
55.12 x 37.8 in ( 140 x 96 cm )
Frame: 58.66 x 41.34 in
Edition of 20 + 4 EA
50.79 x 38.58 x 41.73 in ( 129 x 98 x 106,5 cm )
Frame: 54.33 x 41.73 in
Edition of 20 + 4 EA
55.12 x 37.8 in ( 140 x 96 cm )
Frame: 58.66 x 41.34 in
Edition of 24 + 2 EA
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
Variable dimensions
Unlimited edition
5.12 x 5.12 x 5.12 in ( 13,5 x 13,5 x 13,5 cm )
Edition of 25