Marcel Mariotte - XXXX

XXXX exhaustively displays the content of an industrial cereal box.

The photographic replica of each cereal, one by one, on a unified background, contrasts with the conventional advertising imagery staging cereals as a pile in consuming situations.

This singled out approach allows a questioning on the similarity of each unit and an exploration of their differences.

In spite of their serial production, each piece appears as unique, as if the raw material refused to follow the rules of industrial making, thus giving way to forms that are free of interpretation.

The title of the work evoking the randomness of these forms is inspired by a remarkable anecdote.  In 1869, Charles Pillsbury decided to invest in the flour market by buying shares in a mill. To distinguish his sacks of flour from his competitors’, he added the mention “BEST” followed by four “X”: a simple advertising move, which legitimacy entirely relied on graphic impact. His company was later bought by General Mills, the multinational corporation now producing the cereals featured in this edition.

This edition is coproduced by Bernard Chauveau Editon and the École Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Étienne. It is made of 404 two-sided sheets with 808 black and white photographs in a cardboard box. Edition of 12, numbered and signed by the artist.