M HKA Ensembles

Book, Curator's Novel, Artist's Novel, 18 x 11,5 cm, 192 p., language : English, publisher : MOUSSE Publishing, ISBN : 9788867490288.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. B 2028/377).

Literary synopsis

The Object Lessons is a novella in three parts abstractly based on the work of artists Marie Lund and Nina Beier.
Part 1 — The Object Lessons is an exhibition.
Part 2 — The Object Lessons is a story inspired by an exhibition, considered through three parallel accounts told in the first, second and third person.
Part 3 — The Object Lessons is an exhibition inspired by the narratives, characters and artworks featured in a short story.

Relation of the novel to the artist’s practice

The starting point of Francesco Pedraglio's work - be it performance, sculpture, prints or films - is writing. He is primarily interested in storytelling and, as such, he sees in the novel and in its most experimental developments a natural continuation of such process of narrating and staging - oneself, or a situation - of influencing the relationship between teller and listener. Practically though, the novel is the end point of a process that starts with writing short stories, narrative poems and sparse anecdotes, then re-adapt them into monologues and dialogues for performances and videos, and finally re-edit all the material together as a coherent (albeit fragmented) story. Still, once reached the final stage of ‘organised narration’, the novel has its independency. It should be seen as a work that stands in itself, a work of experimental fiction that could be read without assistance of the other stages.

Novel's website

Novel's website 2