Monday, November 1, 2021

Bernard Heidsieck, Abécédaire #6 'Clef de Sol' (Treble Clef), Les Presses du Reel, France, 2015

the slip cover for the accordion

Bernard Heidsieck (1928-2014) was a French pioneer of sound poetry, and as can be seen in this work he has combined the individual letters of the alphabet with musical staves to create an expanded musical & visual sound composition. 

Bernard Heidsieck was born in Paris in 1928. A graduate of the Istituto Politico, he is the deptuy-manager of a large Parisian bank. He has been interested in sound poetry since 1955 and since 1962 in action-poetry. In 1955 the first "Poèmes-Partitions" and after 1959 use of the tape-recorder as a means of composition and retransmission. Between 1966 and 1969 he composed 13 "Biopsies", since 1969 23 "Passepartout."

This above short introduction to the man and his work by Steve McCaffery is part of a longer appreciation that can be found here: 


26 pages, one-sided, individual pages 9" x 6.75" and when opened up 14' 7.5."

slip cover and accordion

first page of the accordion





back cover

Frédéric Teschner, Le Havre, Franciscopolis Editions, Le Havre, France, 2013


A rather interesting work by the poster artist Teschner, who was invited by the University of Havre to make a portrait of Le Havre in connection with a retrospective of his work. Visiting the port town in northern France, that was all but wiped off the map by British bombers during WWII, he discovered a windbreak that was 250 meters long, and 20 meters high. The windbreak was originally built to shelter ships at birth in the harbor at Le Havre, and it also resonates with the meaning of 'havre' as 'shelter.' This work reproduces all five of the quite complex posters he created for the project, as well as images of enlarged versions of the works installed onto the top the windbreak.

This accordion is accompanied by two essays, both reproduced in French and English that go into greater detail about the work and the history of this French port city.

6 pages double-sided, individual pages 12" x 8.25", and when fully open 4' 1.5".



reverse side

the windbreak with the posters works on top of the wall

back cover