Anne-James Chaton's Evénements 99: A Poetic Machine of Externalities

Anne-James Chaton's book 'Evénements 99', published by Editions Al Dante, is reviewed by Yan Ciret in artpress. The work is described as a diary of externalities, where industrial prose and automated data (payment notes, SNCF tickets, brand names) replace intimate affect. Chaton inverts surface and depth, using objectification as a form of external psychoanalysis. The repetitive, serial alignment of technical procedures reveals social being superimposed on bare existence, achieving a rare poetic force. The book comes with two CDs featuring Chaton's voice as sound material, processed through samples and loops, through which political-journalistic messages at teleprompter speed expose the replacement of events by stereotypes and reflexive thought.