Lot Essay
This work is registered with the Boltanski archives under no. 0609.
'Yes there is something contradictory in my work, in that it is about relics but at the same time it's very much against relics. Part of my work has been about what I call 'small memory'. Large memory is recorded in books and small memory is all about little things: trivia, jokes. Part of my work then has been about trying to preserve 'small memory' that 'small memory' is what makes people different from one another, unique. These memories are very fragile; I wanted to save them.' (The artist quoted in 'Christian Boltanski Tamar Garb in Conversation', in Press Play; Contemporary Artists in Conversation, London 2005, p. 41).
'Yes there is something contradictory in my work, in that it is about relics but at the same time it's very much against relics. Part of my work has been about what I call 'small memory'. Large memory is recorded in books and small memory is all about little things: trivia, jokes. Part of my work then has been about trying to preserve 'small memory' that 'small memory' is what makes people different from one another, unique. These memories are very fragile; I wanted to save them.' (The artist quoted in 'Christian Boltanski Tamar Garb in Conversation', in Press Play; Contemporary Artists in Conversation, London 2005, p. 41).