All That Is Seen and Unseen
Residual Histories
2018
Gold, gelatin, sugar, water and book debris
Residual Histories
Exhibition Detail
“Residual Histories are twelve capsules [...] made of gelatin, sugar, water, and the debris collected from books. Avakian explains that each capsule is a site of remains: “Each looks like, and probably is, a fossilized promise. Each is an artefact that holds the promise of one day being excavated and decoded of its myriad layers of data, some of which we cannot imagine now.” Avakian examines a series of printed books from his library, to “extract and bring to light their many hidden layers of incidental inscriptions and markings”, by treating them like palimpsests. In this piece, he separates these layers of inscription from the book and converts them into new sculptural fossils.”
Residual Histories
XII-The Complete Residual History of The Last Temptation of Christ
Residual Histories
Detail
Residual Histories
IV-The Complete Residual History of Capital: Volume II
The Complete Residual History of Weird Tales and Bizarre Myths
The Complete Residual History of The New Testament
The Complete Residual History of Fragments of Existential Mathematics
The Complete Residual History of Capital: Volume II
The Complete Residual History of The Holy Quran
The Complete Residual History of Armenians in Lebanon: Volume V
The Complete Residual History of The Essential Frankfurt School Reader
The Complete Residual History of Minimalists
The Complete Residual History of Das Kapital: A Novel of Love and Money Markets
The Complete Residual History of Slowness
The Complete Residual History of Healing the Soul
The Complete Residual History of The Last Temptation of Christ
Residual Histories
VII-The Complete Residual History of The Essential Frankfurt School Reader