Emmanuel Saulnier and Marcel Cohen on Invisible Art and Fragile Memory

In a conversation published by artpress, artist Emmanuel Saulnier and writer Marcel Cohen discuss the power of invisible or disappeared artworks, using the example of a photograph taken by Hessling, a Wehrmacht soldier and anti-Nazi, on the Russian front in 1943. The photo, showing a woman crucified by the SS on Christmas night, was never developed; Hessling was executed before he could process it, ordering a friend to develop and then destroy it. Saulnier draws a parallel to his own monument for Vassieux-en-Vercors, made of 73 glass stelae, which was removed in 2008 due to lack of maintenance. Both works, though physically absent, continue to provoke reflection on memory, individual responsibility, and the ethics of art. Saulnier, who works in Paris and Turkey, emphasizes the fragility of glass as a material that acknowledges art's perishability, contrasting with market-driven works designed to last. Cohen links this to a broader crisis of conscience, citing Allan Sekula's work on the oceans. The dialogue explores the artist's role as a site of resistance, the need for minimal means and maximum relevance, and the risk of invisibility in an era of market pressures.