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Œuvres
An imaginary list of more than 500 books by the author, not actually written, although some of the items were eventually taken up as the premises of later books actually written and published by Levé (for example the photography books Amérique and Pornographie).
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 2, 2002
12 people are currently reading
580 people want to read
About the author
Édouard Levé
17 books261 followersLevé was self-taught as an artist and studied business at the elite École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales. He began painting in 1991. Levé made abstract paintings but abandoned the field (claiming to have burned most of his paintings) and took up color photography upon his return from an influential two-month trip to India in 1995.
Levé's first book, Oeuvres (2002), is an imaginary list of more than 500 books by the author, not actually written, although some of the items were taken up as the premisses of later books actually written and published by Levé (for example the photography books Amérique and Pornographie).
Levé traveled in the United States in 2002, writing Autoportrait and taking the photographs for the series Amérique, which pictures small American towns named after cities in other countries. Autoportrait consists entirely of disconnected, unparagraphed sentences of the authorial speaker's assertions and self-description, a "collection of fragments" by a "literary cubist." Zadie Smith has admired the "adolescent aesthetic" of this work, its "mixture of thoughtfulness and self-regard, honest interrogation and mere posing."
His final book, Suicide, although fictional, evokes the suicide of his childhood friend 20 years earlier, which he had also mentioned in "a shocking little addendum, tucked nonchalantly...into Autoportrait." He delivered the manuscript to his editor ten days before he took his own life at 42 years old.
Levé's first book, Oeuvres (2002), is an imaginary list of more than 500 books by the author, not actually written, although some of the items were taken up as the premisses of later books actually written and published by Levé (for example the photography books Amérique and Pornographie).
Levé traveled in the United States in 2002, writing Autoportrait and taking the photographs for the series Amérique, which pictures small American towns named after cities in other countries. Autoportrait consists entirely of disconnected, unparagraphed sentences of the authorial speaker's assertions and self-description, a "collection of fragments" by a "literary cubist." Zadie Smith has admired the "adolescent aesthetic" of this work, its "mixture of thoughtfulness and self-regard, honest interrogation and mere posing."
His final book, Suicide, although fictional, evokes the suicide of his childhood friend 20 years earlier, which he had also mentioned in "a shocking little addendum, tucked nonchalantly...into Autoportrait." He delivered the manuscript to his editor ten days before he took his own life at 42 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 3, 2025
There’s something I must confess: I’m the type of person who keeps lists of things I need or want to do and ideas that popped into my head. I have sticky notes with lists everywhere and an extensive to-do list too. My partner laughs at me when I e-mail things to myself in order not to forget to add them to my to-do list. What is it which makes me keep lists? A fear of losing control? The urge to do my best? Fearing death? Not being able to calm myself down enough?
Reconstitution d'un rêve dans lequel les parents d'Édouard Levé mangent de la fourrure acrylique rose, Édouard Levé, 1998, via Wikimedia Commons
Édouard Levé has the same urge as I have. It's quite possible that this is part of the reason why I loved this book.
The book opens like this:
To a certain extent Idea number 5 contains yet another description of the book in which it appears:
There’s something compulsive about Levé’s list. It feels as if he wants to grab whatever slips out of his hands at the same time. It’s hallucinating and alienating. Levé tends to strip reality down to its bare bones, leaving behind something terrifying.
Série photographique, Reconstitutions - Pornographie, Édouard Levé, 2002, fonds Alexandre Levé, via Wikimedia Commons
This book is a cabinet of curiosities on paper or a painting of Hieronymus Bosch. You don’t have to understand it, just be amazed. It’s as if Levé looks from the outside at this collection inside his own head. He does this with the same precision as he did while observing himself in Autoportrait.
What makes this book even more intriguing is something which isn’t mentioned in it, namely the fact that this was Levé’s first book. Is this book a declaration of his decision not to work out these specific 533 ideas? Did he know at the time that he’ll die only 5 years later, at the age of 42? In any case you read this book differently once you know this. The book confronts you with all the wonderful works of art he didn’t get or want to realise. Come to think of it: Isn’t writing down an idea in a certain way its own elaboration? Didn’t he realise already all these ideas just by writing them down?
As Lévé's literary work developed (Autoportrait, Suicide), it became more personal, more about him, or maybe he became his work. In this book he hides behind his work. Let me do the same since this review is not about me but about this book.
What a wonderful joyride inside the head of Édouard Levé! I was deeply touched.
Série photographique, Fictions, Édouard Levé, 2006, photographie couleur, fonds Alexandre Levé, via Wikimedia Commons
Quotes
Reconstitution d'un rêve dans lequel les parents d'Édouard Levé mangent de la fourrure acrylique rose, Édouard Levé, 1998, via Wikimedia Commons
Édouard Levé has the same urge as I have. It's quite possible that this is part of the reason why I loved this book.
The book opens like this:
'1. Un livre décrit des œuvres dont l'auteur a eu l'idée, mais qu'il n'a pas réalisées.' p.7An intriguing mise en abyme and a paradox at the same time, since this idea Levé certainly did carry out, namely in this book. The book enumerates not less than 533 ideas (with an extensive index!) for works Levé didn't create. In the case of Levé ‘oeuvres’ may mean books, paintings or photographs. I’m not sure about his visual arts, but as much as I know the following 532 ideas indeed do not describe a novel he ever published.
To a certain extent Idea number 5 contains yet another description of the book in which it appears:
'5. Une exposition présente des pièces dissemblables par l'esprit, le style, la technique, mais dont l'origine est commune: leur auteur les a vues en rêve.' p.8Levé’s ideas are sometimes a single sentence, sometimes a few pages long. Some of them describe an image, others may be an idea for a book of more than 500 pages. They may be dead serious or complete absurd, sometimes brilliant, always intriguing and fascinating. They include texts about life, art, culture, architecture, people, theatre, performance art, films, you name it. Often they are about reality vs. images, about things which are (or can be) different from what they seem to be. Certain ideas sound autobiographical. Many ideas are about the impossibility of communication.
There’s something compulsive about Levé’s list. It feels as if he wants to grab whatever slips out of his hands at the same time. It’s hallucinating and alienating. Levé tends to strip reality down to its bare bones, leaving behind something terrifying.
Série photographique, Reconstitutions - Pornographie, Édouard Levé, 2002, fonds Alexandre Levé, via Wikimedia Commons
This book is a cabinet of curiosities on paper or a painting of Hieronymus Bosch. You don’t have to understand it, just be amazed. It’s as if Levé looks from the outside at this collection inside his own head. He does this with the same precision as he did while observing himself in Autoportrait.
What makes this book even more intriguing is something which isn’t mentioned in it, namely the fact that this was Levé’s first book. Is this book a declaration of his decision not to work out these specific 533 ideas? Did he know at the time that he’ll die only 5 years later, at the age of 42? In any case you read this book differently once you know this. The book confronts you with all the wonderful works of art he didn’t get or want to realise. Come to think of it: Isn’t writing down an idea in a certain way its own elaboration? Didn’t he realise already all these ideas just by writing them down?
As Lévé's literary work developed (Autoportrait, Suicide), it became more personal, more about him, or maybe he became his work. In this book he hides behind his work. Let me do the same since this review is not about me but about this book.
What a wonderful joyride inside the head of Édouard Levé! I was deeply touched.
Série photographique, Fictions, Édouard Levé, 2006, photographie couleur, fonds Alexandre Levé, via Wikimedia Commons
Quotes
'34. L'accrochage des collections permanentes d'un musée est modifié pour la durée d'une exposition, sans changer le choix des œuvres, mais leur ordre d'apparition dans le parcours des salles. Elles sont classées par ordre décroissant de taille.' p.18
'36. Des musiques pour instrument seul sont écrites en transcrivant des textes en partitions. À chaque lettre correspond une note. Les espaces entre les mots sont des silences. Le choix des équivalences entre les lettres et les notes donne le ton.' p.19
'52. Des objets sont exposés entre le volume occupé par la matière dont ils sont faits et celui qu'ils peuvent contenir. Le modèle est placé au centre, entouré des deux cubes en plastique noir, de dimensions différentes. Sous cette forme de triptyque sont présentés un homme, un boa, une voiture, une bouteille de vin, une maison.' p.27
‘64. Un manteau en vers luisants.’ P.38
'98. Seule devant la caméra, une personne raconte une histoire << irracontable », qui finit par être racontée, mais avec tant de difficulté qu'elle reste incompréhensible.' p.57
'107. Une personne tente de dire deux textes différents en même temps. L'un par la parole, l'autre par la langue des sourds. Vidéo.' p.63
'149. Des photographies tirées de revues pornographiques sont reconstituées avec des modèles habillés. Les sexes ne sont pas visibles, les visages ne miment pas le plaisir. Seuls les gestes et les poses sont conservés.' p.77
'180. Les Regardeurs. Une personne seule, homme, femme ou enfant, est photographiée en train de regarder fixement une image.
Dans une cuisine, une femme regarde la photographie d'un gâteau dans un livre de recettes.
...
Dans sa chambre, un enfant de deux ans regarde l'image d'un hamster sous laquelle est écrit << hamster >>> en gros caractères.' p.86-87
'262. Chaque jour, dans une exposition, un homme s'assied devant un téléviseur à l'heure du déjeuner et regarde les informations en mangeant une glace à la vanille.' p.119
'420. Les visiteurs d'une exposition ont rendez-vous dans une gare avec un homme au visage bandé. Ils reçoivent une carte sur laquelle est écrit : « Vous ne parlez pas. Vous me suivez. Vous m'imitez. » L'homme montre son billet. Les visiteurs achètent les leurs, et suivent l'homme dans un wagon. Le train démarre. Pendant le trajet, l'homme reste debout, et de temps à autre s'approche d'un visiteur qu'il regarde fixement dans les yeux. L'un d'eux prend une photographie. L'homme descend avant la destination et mène le groupe à travers les rues d'un bourg. Un bureau de tabac et une boulangerie sont croisés, mais l'homme ne les regarde pas. Il s'arrête devant un hangar en parpaings et se tient à un mètre du mur, qu'il regarde sans bouger. Au bout de six minutes, sans se retourner, il pointe de l'index quelque chose que personne ne parvient à localiser. Dix minutes s'écoulent. L'homme mène le groupe dans un pré et s'y allonge. Le groupe l'imite. Le photographe fait une image. L'homme se lève et conduit les visiteurs devant une voiture abandonnée. Dans chacun des rétroviseurs extérieurs est incrustée la photographie d'une des vitrines vues auparavant. En regardant attentivement, on s'aperçoit que dans chaque vitrine est installée une photographie de l'autre vitrine. Plus tard, devant une cabine téléphonique, l'homme fait signe au photographe de prendre une image du groupe, derrière lequel il se place. La photo faite, les visiteurs constatent que l'homme a disparu. Fidèles aux instructions, ils ne prennent pas la parole pour demander au photographe ce qui est advenu. Par signes, ils décident de reprendre le train. Arrivés à la gare, les visiteurs constatent que le photographe a aussi disparu.' p.175-177
'442. Des fous qui marchent dans la rue sont filmés de dos.' p.183
'449. Les boîtes aux lettres de hall d'entrée d'un immeuble portent les noms d'artistes et d'écrivains morts et célèbres.' p.184
August 3, 2014
This collection of 533 satirical, serious, and strange unrealised ideas for artworks reads like a list composed by Maximilian Sacheverell Hollingsworth, the protagonist of Alex Kovacs’s excellent The Currency of Paper, so similar in tone are the two books. A puzzling and amusing and entertaining collection showing that often the idea behind an artwork is stronger than its execution. Is most conceptual art a random fling at the dartboard of ideas? Does the suggestion of a deeper meaning or an ex post facto intellectual defence, once applied to any mad notion plucked from an artist’s imagination, contribute to the creation of art or the mere discourse of art? Is the postmodern condition the perennial dilemma of being trapped in manifold discourses and never arriving at the wonder and transcendence we associate with the most timeless art? Questions like this can be read into this impressive list and its less impressive sublists. [This printing of the book had numerous errors, notably dozens of missing spaces where two words run together—an uncommon fluff-up for Dalkey].
August 19, 2019
Levé no escribió mucho antes de quitarse la vida pero lo hizo con una precisión y originalidad únicas. En ‘Obras’ se plantea imaginar cientos de proyectos artísticos, instalaciones y performances con una audacia y creatividad impresionantes. Entre el experimento, la poesía y la broma, muchas de estas quimeras no dudo que se hayan llevado a cabo y otras muchas podrían hacerse pero el libro de Levé funciona por acumulación y provoca fascinación, extrañeza, risa y hasta cansancio porque la capacidad creativa e imaginativa del escritor nos desborda.
November 22, 2014
"a book describes works that the author has conceived but not brought into being," along with 532 other potential/possible artistic creations (paintings, films, photographs, books, performances, architecture, exhibitions, etc.). levé's works (oeuvres) is imaginative and clever, but suffers from an earnestness lacking a corresponding zeal. these oulipo-esque exercises in artistic opportunity (some of which the french artist, photographer, and writer brought to fruition prior to his 2007 suicide) are inventive and many ingeniously conceived, but are perhaps best explored (or actualized!) piecemeal - lest they become tedious or redundant.
*translated from the french by jan steyn (levé's suicide)
10. a film scene is shown backwards to actors so they can learn to act it in reverse. once they succeed, they are filmed anew. the new scene, in turn projected backwards, becomes strange: reversing the inversion doesn't get you back to where you started.
311. set up in the countryside, a camera records the passage of birds. a sheet of paper is placed over the screen on which the recording is played. the artist's pencil follows the path of each bird on the screen, tracing arabesques. the color of each line is matched to the bird's plumage.
511. an exhibit entitled, encouragement, show poor pieces from the juvenilia of famous artists. the title is not aimed at the exhibitors, for whom these pieces have nothing promising about them, but rather for those young visitors who might become artists in the future and for whom such an exhibition might serve as encouragement to keep working without hang-ups. the exhibition works through a kind of inverse exemplarity: it's less about humbling the public by overwhelming them with masterpieces, than it is about giving them confidence by presenting them with "lesserpieces."
*translated from the french by jan steyn (levé's suicide)
December 12, 2024
Works by Édouard Levé is a translated book consisting of a list of 533 "...works conceived of but not realized by its author." Hence it is not a book I read cover to cover. Some of the conceived works are performance art, forms of art: paintings and exhibitions, stories, dancing before a stationary camera, films, and other conceptions.
A line form one of the blurbs: "This is fiction, but it is fiction of a sort that raises some very serious questions about the possibilitiy of cordoning off actual realities from imagined ones. . . ." —The Millions
The author committed suicide. He has two other books, which I could not find in local libraries. The other books are: Autoportrait and Suicide. Laurie Stone referred to his influence on her writing. I follow her substack and like her writing so I wanted to read his work. This was definitely a project, the book is even indexed.
A line form one of the blurbs: "This is fiction, but it is fiction of a sort that raises some very serious questions about the possibilitiy of cordoning off actual realities from imagined ones. . . ." —The Millions
The author committed suicide. He has two other books, which I could not find in local libraries. The other books are: Autoportrait and Suicide. Laurie Stone referred to his influence on her writing. I follow her substack and like her writing so I wanted to read his work. This was definitely a project, the book is even indexed.
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February 27, 2017Did a review of this book here: https://youtu.be/_WTC3cBBrAo
Read
December 27, 2024Cut-up technique never interested me because it relies on the exterior, contextual knowledge that the text has been cut up, that there is a formal trick or pomo game being played is what causes the enjoyment, rather than the text's own aesthetic value. While this is not a cut-up novel, veering instead into the novels-on-novels metafiction of a writer like Markson, the artistic concepts presented are of the same logic.
The ideas for artworks contained in this novel almost all hinge on a trite conceptual conceit. The concepts for music, for example, like an orchestra plays a piece of music, but the instruments are assigned to the musicians at random before they begin, or cello pieces written by amateurs and played by experts, are at best unoriginal, aleatoric suggestions already attempted and played out by Stockhausen et al.
Photograph ideas follow a similar pattern; a seemingly banal photograph takes on new meaning when the context of the photo is revealed; photographs staged by choosing the model, setting, and action at random from lists, or pictures of small towns in America with more famous homonymous counterparts (Paris, Texas, etc.).
I'm aware some of these ideas are (meant to be?) unserious, but you can't argue that Levé thinks they are all bad—he actually did the homonymous American towns series.
I find this conceptualising vain, concerned entirely with the content of the work, the "aha" moment of the viewer's realisation, as opposed to the aesthetic quality of the work itself. In the same fashion, "Works" does not transcend its conceits, does not stand on its own merit, and is relatively painful to get through. This, fortunately, cannot be said for Levé's later novels; his actual works, thankfully, stand aesthetically and stylistically on their own. "Works" feels like a conceptual artist trying his hand at writing and suffers for it.
(Wilde and Sontag said these things much better than I can.)
The ideas for artworks contained in this novel almost all hinge on a trite conceptual conceit. The concepts for music, for example, like an orchestra plays a piece of music, but the instruments are assigned to the musicians at random before they begin, or cello pieces written by amateurs and played by experts, are at best unoriginal, aleatoric suggestions already attempted and played out by Stockhausen et al.
Photograph ideas follow a similar pattern; a seemingly banal photograph takes on new meaning when the context of the photo is revealed; photographs staged by choosing the model, setting, and action at random from lists, or pictures of small towns in America with more famous homonymous counterparts (Paris, Texas, etc.).
I'm aware some of these ideas are (meant to be?) unserious, but you can't argue that Levé thinks they are all bad—he actually did the homonymous American towns series.
I find this conceptualising vain, concerned entirely with the content of the work, the "aha" moment of the viewer's realisation, as opposed to the aesthetic quality of the work itself. In the same fashion, "Works" does not transcend its conceits, does not stand on its own merit, and is relatively painful to get through. This, fortunately, cannot be said for Levé's later novels; his actual works, thankfully, stand aesthetically and stylistically on their own. "Works" feels like a conceptual artist trying his hand at writing and suffers for it.
(Wilde and Sontag said these things much better than I can.)
June 13, 2014
Firstly it is fantastic that another Édouard Levé book has been translated into english. I was worried that Dalkey Archive Press would stop at Autoportrait and Suicide. When I found out Oeuvres had been translated into Works it means that the world is far from finished with Levé yet.
Works is a collection of 533 ideas for works of art that Levé had come up with. Some of the ideas presented in this volume were later realised.
Some of the works were absurd and hilarious. They sort of catch you off guard and appear as punchlines. Quite a few of the works are powerful but many were largely derivative of others. Also some of the ideas for works were flat out boring. I found myself scanning the large tracts of text where he gives each and every example of juxtaposed french words and cities for an exhibition. I think on some level he is lampooning the idea of performance art and the art world but then again maybe not. Some of the works are incredibly self referential and it becomes apparent that he is obsessed with perspective. He has this uncanny ability to take your eyeballs out of your head and see what he wants you to see.
Overall, if you are a fan of Levé this would very much complement that. I was not exactly floored like I was with Suicide or Autoportrait. You may find the works a bit tedious but there is a legitimate brilliance to this book.
Works is a collection of 533 ideas for works of art that Levé had come up with. Some of the ideas presented in this volume were later realised.
Some of the works were absurd and hilarious. They sort of catch you off guard and appear as punchlines. Quite a few of the works are powerful but many were largely derivative of others. Also some of the ideas for works were flat out boring. I found myself scanning the large tracts of text where he gives each and every example of juxtaposed french words and cities for an exhibition. I think on some level he is lampooning the idea of performance art and the art world but then again maybe not. Some of the works are incredibly self referential and it becomes apparent that he is obsessed with perspective. He has this uncanny ability to take your eyeballs out of your head and see what he wants you to see.
Overall, if you are a fan of Levé this would very much complement that. I was not exactly floored like I was with Suicide or Autoportrait. You may find the works a bit tedious but there is a legitimate brilliance to this book.
March 17, 2015
Works as a collection is a perfect companion piece to Autoportrait and Suicide. Autoportrait acted as a meticulous character study of his own banalities, a case study of the author's everyday life, feelings, ideas and tastes. Suicide represented the underbelly of this, the dark layer under the iceberg that is rarely represented or expressed well when dealing with the raw psyche. Works in contrast is a collection that represents a lack. It is a bunch of ideas (533) which would never be realized (except a few) and could not be realized typically due to their abstract nature. They are aphoristic, funny, sad and reflexive. They are a constant source of thought and inspiration and will be a constant reference for creativity.
February 20, 2019
Muy interesante libro. Proximo en el canal MarinaEscribe :)
December 29, 2022
“390. Animals paint. The medium, colors, and tools are chosen by an animal wrangler. There are several styles.
The animal is left alone with a canvas and trays of color, into which it may dip its body parts. The animal may or may not be in a mind to paint. If the animal is not in the mood for painting, it is encouraged by the wrangler.
The animal paints with its paws, its tail, its belly (creeping animals), or its entire body. The animal's painting-parts are covered in non-toxic paint. Only its tongue paints by subtraction, licking at digestible material applied to the canvas before the start.
There is only one animal.
There are several animals. They play, fight, couple on the canvas.
The animal moves around on the canvas.”
The animal is left alone with a canvas and trays of color, into which it may dip its body parts. The animal may or may not be in a mind to paint. If the animal is not in the mood for painting, it is encouraged by the wrangler.
The animal paints with its paws, its tail, its belly (creeping animals), or its entire body. The animal's painting-parts are covered in non-toxic paint. Only its tongue paints by subtraction, licking at digestible material applied to the canvas before the start.
There is only one animal.
There are several animals. They play, fight, couple on the canvas.
The animal moves around on the canvas.”
September 5, 2018
Silly art ideas mixed with better ones. It got tedious after a while. A lot of similar ideas, or variations on the same theme. Horrible proofing.
Note: I don't consider it a novel.
Note: I don't consider it a novel.
July 29, 2024
maravilla. de esos libros que me hubiese gustado escribir.
August 18, 2014
When you think of the word “fiction” do you generally think of a prose “story”? One with some basic narrative structure, whether in the short or long form? Did your education “tell you” it should have a beginning, a middle and an end? Did those training courses teach you the importance of character, plot, a sense of place, conflict?
Here is the Oxford Dictionary definition of “fiction”:
1. (noun) 1. Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people
2. 2. Something that is invented or untrue
2.1 A belief or statement which is false, but is often held to be true because it is expedient to do so
I’m not 100% sure that this definition helps, when we are looking at Edouard Leve’s “Works”. Leve was a Parisian artist, photographer and writer. After a trip to India in the early 1990’s he claimed to have destroyed his paintings and “reinvented” himself as a conceptual photographer. However I’m not here to review his photographic works, it is first publication “Works” (originally published as “Oeuvres” in 2002) which I am looking at, a book recently translated into English and released by Dalkey Archive.
For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au/
Here is the Oxford Dictionary definition of “fiction”:
1. (noun) 1. Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people
2. 2. Something that is invented or untrue
2.1 A belief or statement which is false, but is often held to be true because it is expedient to do so
I’m not 100% sure that this definition helps, when we are looking at Edouard Leve’s “Works”. Leve was a Parisian artist, photographer and writer. After a trip to India in the early 1990’s he claimed to have destroyed his paintings and “reinvented” himself as a conceptual photographer. However I’m not here to review his photographic works, it is first publication “Works” (originally published as “Oeuvres” in 2002) which I am looking at, a book recently translated into English and released by Dalkey Archive.
For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au/
May 10, 2016
Díla jsou sbírka 533 uměleckých děl z Levého hlavy - jedná se o díla filmová, sochařská, malířská, literární, hudební a tak dále pana krále, z čehož je patrné, že Levé je multifunkční jak naše sekretářka, co zvlándne skenovat, faxovat i kopírovat. Crazy shit.
Oproti Autoportrétu a hlavně Sebevraždě, jsou Díla o dost slabší. Což vůbec neznamená, že jsou špatný Za zmínku stojí třeba díla:
- postavit dům podle obrázku tříletého dítěte
- orchestr si náhodně rozdělí nástroje těsně pred koncertem
- v sále se rozkládá polystyrenový pohoří a uprostřed toho je airbus vymodelován z kebabů
- z mateřského mléka je vyroben lidský sýr
- zlatá vrtačka provrtává jelito
Na druhou starnu je Levé občas takovej umělec, že bych musel na gůgl abych pochopil věci typu: "dovnitř altové violy je marufláží přenesen lep představující anamorfózu jelena”. Jelilkož mě to ale na gůgl nedonutilo, dávám šest a začínám používat častěji slovo marufláž.
Oproti Autoportrétu a hlavně Sebevraždě, jsou Díla o dost slabší. Což vůbec neznamená, že jsou špatný Za zmínku stojí třeba díla:
- postavit dům podle obrázku tříletého dítěte
- orchestr si náhodně rozdělí nástroje těsně pred koncertem
- v sále se rozkládá polystyrenový pohoří a uprostřed toho je airbus vymodelován z kebabů
- z mateřského mléka je vyroben lidský sýr
- zlatá vrtačka provrtává jelito
Na druhou starnu je Levé občas takovej umělec, že bych musel na gůgl abych pochopil věci typu: "dovnitř altové violy je marufláží přenesen lep představující anamorfózu jelena”. Jelilkož mě to ale na gůgl nedonutilo, dávám šest a začínám používat častěji slovo marufláž.
October 26, 2018
Ahoj Edo, co tvoříš?
Ahoj Vojtěše, mám takový nápady...
Ahoj Vojtěše, mám takový nápady...
April 14, 2022
'Works' is basically just a list of ideas for Leve's unrealized artworks (i.e. installations, photographs, paintings, multi-media, etc.), which are often and repeatedly based around themes of plays on and parodies of representation, copy, original, intention, sign, signified, meaning, message, medium, etc.
This list is interesting enough for the artistic possibilities it imagines, but is not nearly as satisfying as reading 'Suicide' or 'Autoportrait,' works of Leve's which I relished for their voice. It is with these latter 'works,' rather, that one is able to truly savour the pin pricks of Leve's piercing, pointillist prose.
This list is interesting enough for the artistic possibilities it imagines, but is not nearly as satisfying as reading 'Suicide' or 'Autoportrait,' works of Leve's which I relished for their voice. It is with these latter 'works,' rather, that one is able to truly savour the pin pricks of Leve's piercing, pointillist prose.
August 21, 2025
Edouard Levé me surprend une fois de plus avec ce livre. 200 pages d’idées d’œuvres (littéraires, photographique plastique, bref artistique sous toutes les formes possibles) pour un total avoisinant les 500 idées si ma mémoire est bonne. Certaines sont plutôt banale, la majorité sont intéressantes et certaines sont particulièrement brillantes. Clairement un livre expérimental, mais qui demeure dans une simplicité le rendant très accessible, même s’il plaira sans doute à un public assez niché. Personnellement j’ai bien aimé!
November 25, 2021
Some of the works are almost mathematical, interested in volume or proportional differences. Many involve reversals of expectations, perspectives, etc. Others are pun-like or seemingly meant to be funny. A few are grotesque.
It's one of the most inventive experimental forms I've read. And the scope of the combined ideas is impressive. I'm only giving it a medium score because many of the works didn't interest me, and some were quite confusing to comprehend.
It's one of the most inventive experimental forms I've read. And the scope of the combined ideas is impressive. I'm only giving it a medium score because many of the works didn't interest me, and some were quite confusing to comprehend.
May 9, 2022
A series of descriptions of ideas for art works — some written, photographs, visual, installation. Levé is fascinated with mismatched signifiers, e.g. people who have the same name as a famous people, that's a recurring trend, as is explosions, superimposed maps, etc. The dry descriptive style is sometimes bland but I also like that he describes the works but not their significance to him, for some it's not clear why he thinks this would be an interesting work.
Read
June 17, 2023Tbh I didn’t really finish this, I was having a good time flipping through it and reading the works at random until I got to the one about the ticks and now I kinda regret ever encountering this book.
September 27, 2019
i drew little stars by the works i particularly liked. i drew 35 stars. there are 533 works.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2022
Livre loufoque - liste de 533 oeuvres que E Leve - aurait souhaite creer. Ca fait sourire souvent, reflechir un peu et irrite de temps en temps.
February 19, 2024
«In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni». El verso del diablo y un abrigo de luciérnagas.
March 30, 2025
Un distinto por siempre
August 13, 2025
Inspired by it much more than I enjoyed it
February 24, 2015
1. A reader writes a review of a book he just read. The book contains theoretical works conceived of but not realized by the author. The review is conducted in the same format as the book.
2. Pages of Edouard Leve's "Works" are rendered into blackout poetry giving a review of the book itself. In order to say what is exactly desired, certain words half appear in order to spell out what may be complementary words.
3. An author records an interview/roundtable discussion with himself in which his different voices offer different opinions. One dissenting reviewer offers the opinion that some of the works sound downright uninteresting and added unnecessary length such as 236. "Artists who are also bikers are photographed in a group." A second likes the literary merit of the book, but offers the critique that certain projects appear impossible and that this takes away from the intended goal e.g. 386. "A photograph of a brief apparition of the Devil is printed on an assemblage of ladybugs covered in photosensitive material." A third likes the book for it's metanarrative properties in that the combined reactions and opinions of the book are the real production and says that it is delightfully impossible for any one reader to come to a consensus with himself about how he felt about it on the whole.
4. An artist takes pictures of people reading Edouard Leve's "Works." The pieces are titled by the one word reviews she requests of the readers. Examples: "Imaginative," "Pretentious," "Substantial," "Hearwarming," "Sad"
5. During the promotiona tour, Copies of the book "Works" by Edouard Leve are used to construct a small clubhouse in a bookstore. Inside readings are held and discussions and opinions are shared.
6. Reviewers attempt to carry out certain works described in "Works" by Edouard Leve. Their work is then reviewed. A representation of 500. "Two hundred and twenty-four coins are stacked onto a pedestal, representing the average number of coins held by an inhabitant of France." is deemed "amateur" and "useless." The reviewer in this case is not aware of the life and works of Edouard Leve.
7. A review of Edouard Leve's "Works" is composed using only words from old school assignments of the reviewer. A sample: "It is overall good and I would reccomend it but I wish there was more. Overall I liked it." The original context is not shared.
Bonus Material
If you are interested in sampling some of the actual "Works" you can do so at the following link. http://www.thewhitereview.org/fiction...
If you are further interested I have been conceiving my own "works" on my blog for a couple months and would like to shamelessly plug myself. http://iamseamus.tumblr.com/theoretic...
2. Pages of Edouard Leve's "Works" are rendered into blackout poetry giving a review of the book itself. In order to say what is exactly desired, certain words half appear in order to spell out what may be complementary words.
3. An author records an interview/roundtable discussion with himself in which his different voices offer different opinions. One dissenting reviewer offers the opinion that some of the works sound downright uninteresting and added unnecessary length such as 236. "Artists who are also bikers are photographed in a group." A second likes the literary merit of the book, but offers the critique that certain projects appear impossible and that this takes away from the intended goal e.g. 386. "A photograph of a brief apparition of the Devil is printed on an assemblage of ladybugs covered in photosensitive material." A third likes the book for it's metanarrative properties in that the combined reactions and opinions of the book are the real production and says that it is delightfully impossible for any one reader to come to a consensus with himself about how he felt about it on the whole.
4. An artist takes pictures of people reading Edouard Leve's "Works." The pieces are titled by the one word reviews she requests of the readers. Examples: "Imaginative," "Pretentious," "Substantial," "Hearwarming," "Sad"
5. During the promotiona tour, Copies of the book "Works" by Edouard Leve are used to construct a small clubhouse in a bookstore. Inside readings are held and discussions and opinions are shared.
6. Reviewers attempt to carry out certain works described in "Works" by Edouard Leve. Their work is then reviewed. A representation of 500. "Two hundred and twenty-four coins are stacked onto a pedestal, representing the average number of coins held by an inhabitant of France." is deemed "amateur" and "useless." The reviewer in this case is not aware of the life and works of Edouard Leve.
7. A review of Edouard Leve's "Works" is composed using only words from old school assignments of the reviewer. A sample: "It is overall good and I would reccomend it but I wish there was more. Overall I liked it." The original context is not shared.
Bonus Material
If you are interested in sampling some of the actual "Works" you can do so at the following link. http://www.thewhitereview.org/fiction...
If you are further interested I have been conceiving my own "works" on my blog for a couple months and would like to shamelessly plug myself. http://iamseamus.tumblr.com/theoretic...
February 8, 2023
Un livre assez pénible à lire, qui nécessite une attention soutenue de par la forme qu'il prend : chaque note décrit rapidement une oeuvre d'art, et nombreuses d'entre elles se construisent sur un terrain conceptuel ou du moins fortement issu de jeux intellectuels, dans la lignée des autres oeuvres réalisés par l'auteur et plus généralement de certains artistes de sa génération. J'avais peur que toutes ces idées deviennent asphyxiantes, mais elles semblent finalement si liées à la sensibilité d'Édouard Levé que je ne me suis pas senti absolument influencé pour autant. Il y aurait beaucoup de points à soulever pour analyser plus profondément les effets que génère ce livre.
January 31, 2024
Un caudal de originalidad e imaginación que llega hasta el tedio, pero sin dejar de pasar por la absoluta inspiración que provoca: las "Obras" de Levé son el pie que cualquier artista podría utilizar para llevar a cabo una obra propia, ya sea una instalación absurda e irrisoria como una pintura abstracta o un cuento. Es al mismo tiempo que ejercicio literario, una reflexión sobre el arte, no solo contemporáneo, sino sobre el arte como expresión humana, como instrumento para tensionar la realidad física, psicológica, y simbólica de la que estamos hechos.
June 23, 2016
Edouard Levé's unrealised avante-gardisms tire around the halfway mark when a pattern emerges: take "thing" apply some distantly related/completely unrelated "stuff" and photograph/display/participate x533.
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