Work from the Collection

Faux-semblant

Date: 2016
Materials: Plastic, Ink
Dimensions: 14,5 x 1,6 / 15 x 2,2 x 1,6 (avec boîte)
Collection: Lafayette anticipations - Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin
Domain: Prints
This work, a four-colour BIC pen with the artist’s signature, does not have the expected colours. As the cartridges have been switched, the user is unaware of the chosen ink until they use the pen. The title Faux-semblant draws on popular culture by pointing to the deceptive dimension of colour choice. By appropriating an iconic BIC object, Saâdane Afif is drawing on the tradition of the readymade initiated by Marcel Duchamp to question the relationship between the work of art and the brand. These commercially accessible pens, produced in factories in Montevrain and Tarragona in an artist’s edition of five thousand copies, question the uniqueness and value of the work of art. Faux-semblant is the final work in a series which includes Noir c’est noir (2013) and Au Hasard Balthazar (2016) that Saâdane Afif began for the launch of the Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette in 2013.

Text written by Claire Tallon as part of the partnership between the École du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.