Artist book 'Ma Vie Va Changer'. Ghost Editions. 2015
My Life Is Going to Change
Artist book (2015)
Book done with David-Alexandre Guéniot
For three years (2011-2013), we have collected press clippings. The ‘Arab Spring’ at its peak; the arrival of the Troika (IMF, ECB, EU) in Greece, Portugal and Ireland; the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan; and a bit everywhere in Europe and the USA, citizen movements against austerity policies in favour of the bailout of the financial system. Far from these world events, yet affected by them, a family, ours, a photo album. Gustavo is 5, 6, 7 years old. He learns to read and write. His friend Gaspar is 9, 10, 11. His body changes from child to small adult. We got married. The disease comes back, goes away and comes back anew, always in the summer, but surrounded by friends. ‘Banks are like cancer’ says a placard brandished during an “Occupy” protest movement in New York. A brutal metaphor spreading in someone’s body. We hesitate between staying in Portugal and trying our luck in France. As long as one of us still has a job, we stay.
This book is a facsimile of a photo album, a gift to our son and his friend, meant to be opened in 2030. It offers a journey across time, from an uncertain future to a past (our present) where our family pictures collide with those we get from newspapers. It’s a book to read, more than leaf through.