Photography as a Writing Machine: Notes on Christian Dotremont’s “logoneiges”

Abstract

n 1963, during a trip across Lapland, Christian Dotremont began to contrive his “logoneiges”, artworks which take “logogrammes” – creations between calligra-phy and verse – to the limit. In this case, the white of the paper is replaced with the infinite whiteness of Lapland’s landscape. Indeed, the “logoneige” would disappear if a “second writing” were not added: the photographs themselves. By analyzing the writings of Dotremont alongside those of Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida, I propose that photography is not only a mere witness in the “logoneiges”, but a writing tool that re-produces the poetic sense. My aim is to dissect this multiple time that creates triple writings, in comparison to “logo-grammes”, in an attempt to prove the poetical reach of this singular machine.

Keywords

• christian dotremont
• escrita
• logograma
• poesia experimental
• fotografia
• logoneige