On elegance and critical thinking

Camille Henrot, Prehistoric Collections, 2016.

In the vast library of Camera Austria, I had a happy re-encounter with Prehistoric Collections (2016), by the French artist Camille Henrot. Henrot has appropriated an out-of-print photographic anthology of archaeological expeditions to Algeria, and elaborated its imagery with her drawings, old pornographic images and other found material. It reminds me once again of how effective the juxtaposition of old and new images can be, bringing forth new and unexpected narratives. For example, on one page Henrot has superimposed a picture over a black and white image of a hippo, but left the text ‘And here, a hippopotamus canine’. Her image depicts a floor on which you see the back of a dog, a book called The Hunting Hypothesis and a pair of ceramic horns. On another spread, she has inserted an image of a remote control over a photograph of a naked man, which is in turn mounted over of the original photograph of an archaeological site, making many new layers and alternative narratives. My revisiting of this book reminds me of something I overheard a French anthropologist saying, he has lived abroad for twenty years and what he missed most about his old country was the elegance and critical thinking, and to me, this book by Madame Henrot embodies both.

From Camera Austria #148, 2019.