A project by Giselle's Books and an editorial programme conceived after Le Magasin's archives
Miscs is a fictional structure, an editorial programme created by Giselle's Books – the artists' book collection co-founded by Lucas Jacques-Witz in Marseille in 2020. The first issue of Miscs activates the experimental gallery and dives into the publishing history of Le Magasin CNAC, which since its creation in 1986 has brought together an eclectic panorama of books and other printed materials. Rather than taking the approach of an anthology, Misc (1) unfolds with a commitment to pages marginalised by time. This archive and its history are no longer frozen, they enter in movement through assemblage and invite new readings.
Invited to a residency at Le Magasin CNAC, Lucas Jacques-Witz became interested in the singular history of piracy in Grenoble region’s printing industry. The 19th century saw the development of miscellanies, composite collections combining a variety of excerpts from popular literature, historical anecdotes and cooking recipes. As forerunners to magazines, these artefacts bear witness to a locality at a specific time, and incarnate editorial alternatives.
Misc (1) reactivates this forgotten publication format in an installation that stretches across the gallery, giving a central place to reading and editing. In this gallery turned printing annex, pages can be manipulated in a way that renews the experience of these books and reactivates their circulation. If this project stems from a personal gaze onto Le Magasin CNAC's editorial archive, it fosters a multiplicity of perspectives and encourages the pursuit of an ongoing critical reflection on these rediscovered pages.
Giselle's Books
Founded in Marseille in 2020 by Lucas Jacques-Witz and Ryder Morey-Weale, Giselle's Books is a research project dedicated to publishing formats that encompass public programmes, exhibitions, residencies, a physical archive and a specific acquisition fund.
Lucas Jacques-Witz
Lucas Jacques-Witz is a researcher, curator and archivist. He is based in Marseille, where he co-founded Giselle's Books. Through archives, his interests are devoted to forms of reading that seek to interrogate emerging creation and the re-actualisation of practices that have moved beyond the temporary spectrum of attention that contemporary art seems to embody. He is also behind the annual gathering of publishers and readers, Giselle Salon, and the gathering of international independent spaces SYSTEMA in Marseille.
Giselle's Books thanks
For their love of books
Céline Kopp, Alexia Pierre and the Magasin CNAC's team as well as all the artists whose research appear through Misc (1)
Hugo Bausch Belbachir, Hannah Black, Sarah Chabrier, Jennifer Chert, Paul Claydon, Alice Dusapin, Arthur Fouray, Hervé Georges Hic, Loré Lixemberg, Sophie T. Lvoff, Myriam Mokdes, Mayra Rodriguez Castro, Adam Scrivener, Anne Turyn, Anne Xuan Llanes, Shanzhai Lyric
and all those who contributed to Giselle’s Books activities.
Title
Misc (1)
Date
Networks
D.C.A. - association française de développement des centres d'art
AC//RA - Art contemporain en Auvergne - Rhône Alpes
