Author Archive

The Digital Dimension of Le Petit Néant

Monday, February 4th, 2013

It seems impossible today, even if you are obstinately attached to paper,  to ignore the possibilities offered by the web. At first sight, the internet is a low-cost platform that potentially allows you  to reach anyone in the world. And thus, it seems that any project could have an echo that just a few years ago was absolutely unimaginable.

A project like the Le Petit Néant could not exist without the internet, even if it is primarily a printed magazine. The contact with the artists, for example, is done mainly via Facebook and Flickr. Without these tools, it would have been much more difficult to contact them. Without the internet, we would have used conventional means of distribution such as newspapers, advertising, presentations and exhibitions, and of course word of mouth. This would have increased the cost and required more effort and energy we could not have not dealt with.

Let’s  explore the digital “life” of Le Petit Néant through screenshots of its web presence to see how the space of the internet is being used in parallel to that of the printed page.

 

1. The Website

Le Petit Néant Homepage

Le Petit Néant Homepage

 

The website follows a very standard structure, e.g. presentation of the project, artist bio, news, links, contacts and a paypal link to order the publication online.

 

News and Reviews

News and Reviews

 

It contains basic information and is only updated to convey general information about the overall activity of magazine, with little interaction allowed to the audience.

 

2. Facebook 

Facebook Page

Facebook Page

 

Unlike the website, the Facebook page is updated several times a week. Its main function is to expand the audience by posting events and presenting the work of the artists featured in the publication. Its purpose is to promote the artists or introduce new ones to the public as well as providing snippets of their work.

 

Henrik Drescher drawings for Le Petit Néant

Henrik Drescher drawings for Le Petit Néant

 

The Facebook page also presents works by artists who are not featured in the publication. We do this just for pleasure. However, it attracts new visitors who have similar tastes and iterests and who we might not be able to attract via the the publication.

 

We Love Roland Topor !

We Love Roland Topor !

 

We Love Le Bus by Paul Kirchner

Bus by Paul Kirchner

 

We consider this space  a kind of “extension” of the magazine, a tool for keeping the attention of the audience alive. We also use drawings created specifically for the page, a space of social promotion. Below are some examples.

 

Le Petit Néant Launch - First Poster

Le Petit Néant Launch – First Poster

 

Le Petit Néant Launch - Second Poster

Le Petit Néant Launch – Second Poster

 

Le Petit Néant Launch - Third Poster

Le Petit Néant Launch – Third Poster

 

...Under the water...

…Under the water…

 

...In the Dark...

…In the Dark…

 

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

 

3. Vimeo

Recently, we have created a Vimeo channel, for wich we invite animators or filmakers to imagine small idents for Le Petit Néant. The format of these works draws on that of the well-known MTV videos of the 80’s and 90’s. But through this initiative we are able to observe how a printed drawing magazine might inspire creators working with other media, see for example “Tomato Soup”  by Peter Millard, an artist working with animation  recently graduated from the Royal College of Art, London (UK).

 

Peter Millard ident on Vimeo

Peter Millard ident on Vimeo

 

 

 

 

The different time and content of the “digital life” of LPN complement the activity of the publication, creating a flux of new content and information that expands on the annual printed publication.

That said, the idea of Le Petit Néant would not exist without the printed publication, because it only make sense as a whole. In the magazine, the narrative is created page after page, through the encounter between the images. When one separates the images the rhythm and the continuity are lost, so it is the narrative. This is what happens in the Facebook page, for example, where the drawings are presented individually.

The artists included in the publication work primarily with ink, paint, printing techniques, or animation. We do not look for people working with the web, or digital tools as such. However, because nowadays these artists are all used, like myself, to seeing their work in digital format, the various internet spaces mentioned above are considered as potential spaces and tools for extending their activities. These spaces are not seen as an alternative reality but as a complementary dimension.

Today the publishing industry seems to be moving towards digitization. At least this is the general perception. And perhaps in the near future all drawing publication will be exclusively online. But we decided to take a different route, against current trends. When working on the first issue of LPN we were thinking about the pages, the paper, the binding, the smell of ink. We had a fixed idea: to produce a physical object in which to create a narrative. But we did so while  keeping a watchful eye on the possibilities offered by the digital age. At present, we just consider them useful tools.

 

Le Petit Néant – The Small Nothingness

Friday, November 30th, 2012

 

Nothingness – the state or condition of being nothing; nonexistence / complete insignificance or worthlesness

Le Petit Néant is a new annual publication devoted to the the art of drawing and is one of the current guest bloggers for the Accordcence programme. Over the course of 3 months a series of contributors to the publication will explore the fluidity and constant transformation of the art and practice of drawing; they will look at what drawing might be in relation to digital mediums, focusing on its relationships with the art world, the market, the paper and the screen.

To open our series of blog post we would like to give you some information on the first issue of Le Petit Néant

Published in September 2012 the First Issue of  Le Petit Néant includes the work of 28 international artists from diverse backgrounds, but united by the practice of drawing. A practice which proves to be fluid and which always surprises us, especially with its evocative nature.

The first Issue is non-thematic, subsequent issues will further explore the possibilities of pictorial narrative. Artists present in the first issue: Andrzej Klimovski, Bayrol Jimenez, Cyop & Kaf, Kottie Paloma, Charlie Duck, Josephin Ritschel, Benjamin Monti, Ericailcane, Miguel Angel Valdivia, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Sergio Gutierrez, Gianluigi Toccafondo, Giacomo Monti, Gaël M. Minne, Alejandro Garcia Contreras, Firenze Lai, Barthélémy Schwartz, Francesco Cattani, Bernhard Fuchs, Claudio Parentela, Henrik Drescher, Frédéric Coché, Diego Miedo, Edoardo de Falchi, Giacomo Nanni, Thomas Dowse, Gabriel Leger, Sam 3 and Marc Brunier Mestas.