This artist book is at the intersection of art,
archaeology and
genetics. It translates several years' research in the fields of archaeology, genomics and ethics into a publication at the interface of art and science. It consists of three essays by specialists and an interview, images from the Inrap collection and views of the artist's installation at La Maréchalerie, a contemporary art center in Versailles, France.
“Marc Johnson, artist, architect and filmmaker is like the philosopher and the epistemologist, a researcher in constant search for knowledge and understanding of the world. Conceived as an art book, this publication demonstrates the working methods and the ambition of questioning what is fundamentally at stake in the world of today, and in the development and the future of humanity. More than a year of research dedicated to archeaology, during which the artist explored this discipline with the support of the Inrap. A science that, by crossing his research with the expertise of the most advanced disciplines, in particular genetics, sheds light on human history, questioning today and anticipating the future. This is precisely what the specialists, invited by Marc Johnson, highlight throughout their own experiences in this book. The anthropologists Rozenn Colleter—in collaboration with Paul-Anthelme Adèle, jurist—and Éric Crubézy, illustrate today's impact on the analyses of relics of the past. Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, philosopher, reflects on the evolution of humankind. Having analysed the posthumanist and transhumanist movements, he argues for a “metahumanity”. By presenting these texts alongside a selection of archaeological excavation photographs, sampled from the iconographic collection of the Inrap and images from the site-specific installation, Marc Johnson performs an original layout elaborated in sequences, visually acquainted with a research project. He tells a story which can only concern us, the story of humanity. Making sense as he questions us about our final outcome.”
Valérie Knochel-Abecassis
Published following the eponymous exhibition,
La Maréchalerie – centre d'art contemporain, Versailles, from April 15 to July 3, 2016.
This book is the winning publication of the 2017 Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing, presented by the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia during the Melbourne Art Book Fair.
Born 1986 in Vitry-sur-Seine (France), Marc Johnson lives and works in Paris. His work has recently been presented in numerous solo and collective exhibitions: 5th Moscow Biennale of Young Art (Russia), Sundance film festival, New Frontier (USA),
Jeu de Paume contemporary art center (Paris), La Maréchalerie, contemporary art center (France),
CNEAI= (France), Zentrum für Medienkunst (Germany), Fondation Ricard (France), arc en rêve centre d'architecture (France), 65th International Berlin film festival, Berlinale Shorts (Germany), Centre d'art les 3 CHA (France), Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti-Shrem museum of art (USA)…
Marc Johnson received the LVMH young creator award in 2009, the best short-film award from the International film festival of Las Palmas de Grand Canaria, Spain in 2016.
Marc Johnson graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and from the École Nationale Supérieure d'architecture Paris-Malaquais. He also studied at the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China and at the Hunter College, City University of New York, USA.
