Cloning in Contemporary Art: A Book by Richard Conte

The book "L'art contemporain au risque du clonage" (Contemporary Art at the Risk of Cloning), edited by Richard Conte, concludes a cycle of exhibitions and debates organized by the Centre d'études et de recherche en arts plastiques (Cérap) of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. The first part compiles papers from the symposium "L'Art de cloner" held in November 2000 at the Château de Morsang-sur-Orge, featuring contributions from biologist Henri Atlan, historian Claude Debru, Isabelle Rieusset-Lemarié on Benjaminian reproducibility, Christian Gattinoni on photographic practices echoing genetic manipulations (Orlan, Lawick & Müller), and an interview with Gilles Barbier. The exhibitions took place between 2000 and 2001 across some twenty towns in Essonne, at Espace Huit-Novembre in Paris (Bataclone), and at Galerie Trafic in Ivry-sur-Seine (Trafic de clones). Each artwork is documented with texts often by the artists themselves, covering diverse approaches: from Art orienté objet's Clonie and work on Dolly the sheep, to Gilles Barbier's "cloned self-portraits," Kolkoz's 3D images, Michel Gouéry's "Raëlian" paintings, Rolan C. Ménégon's photographic creatures, and Artclone's genetic beauty institute.