Strange Attraction

Pulp fictions

For their first artist’s book, Louise Hervé & Chloé Maillet draw inspiration from the popular American “pulp” genre—mostly dedicated to fantastical literature and science-fiction—to present a first overview of their work. They commissioned a graphic illustrator to design a “pulp” cover, and three authors to write curious short stories, the outlines of which are derived from their artworks and their recent exhibitions. Hervé & Maillet have also redesigned all of their artworks as black & white illustrations to accompany their performance scripts and their own texts, such as the 19th-century-like serial story they published in 2012 in a regional newspaper. Fascinated by narrative processes and multi-layered (hi)stories, their book is a way to filter their practice through a literary genre they are familiar with.

Born in 1981, living in Paris and working together since 2000, Louise Hervé & Chloé Maillet are among the most active artists of the new French scene, producing genre movies, performed conferences, and installations. Keeping pace with the pervasiveness of storytelling and the ambiguity of the discursive strategies in the postmodern era, their practice is a singular synthesis of contemporary art practices and human sciences.

Published with the Synagogue de Delme, Delme; Galerie Marcelle Alix, Paris; Centre national des Arts Plastiques, Paris; Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris; FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims; Kunstverein Braunschweig.