Christian Boltanski: La Vie Impossible: What People Remember About Him

by Christian Boltanski

As much artist's book as catalogue, La Vie Impossible is unusual for its physical construction its text is printed on black paper, with the images on alternating vellum, so that at each turn of the page one can see through the photographic image to the next black page (or look back at the previous text). The texts are fragmented autobiographical "He left school very early on and made many spelling mistakes, he liked to brag about that;" or "He worked very little or at least that's what he said, he claimed that he lived a retiring life, that he spent his time in public gardens or in museums in winter because they were heated." 100 statements like these are juxtaposed with 100 photo and document collages.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2002