Jean-Louis Schefer's 'Le Temps dont je suis l'hypothèse' Explores Time and Self

Jean-Louis Schefer's new book 'Le Temps dont je suis l'hypothèse' (P.O.L) continues his autobiographical series, following 'Origine du crime' (1998), 'La Cause des portraits' (2009), and 'De quel tremblement de terre…' (2010). The work blends personal reverie with philosophical inquiry, drawing on 18th-century novels, theological texts, and recurring images. Schefer examines the religious and monetary history of indulgences, contrasts tripartite and cyclical conceptions of time (the latter linked to metempsychosis), and explores the subtle connections between soul, body, speech, image, and shadow. He invokes figures such as Faust, Peter Schlemihl, and mythological couples Pan and Syrinx, Echo and Narcissus, to illustrate his personal meditation on the impossibility of a complete work, eroded by time and marked by separation. The book is described as a 'sentimental theater' where the self is more often acted upon than acting, with art—painting, music—at its core. Pierre Brullé reviewed the book for artpress.