Here is a work which, even if it comes in a box, can hardly be stored in a box. At the crossroads of literary, visual and divinatory arts, Clairvoyants shuffles the cards and redefines the book.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
“It’s harder to explain than to understand when you see it!” », launches the author at the origin of the project, Audrée Wilhelmy, met during the media event for the pre-launch of Clairvoyantsin March.
Because of its uniqueness, it is true that this “literary oracle” can be difficult to pin down. Is it a tarot, a collection of short stories, a superb photographic object? A bit of all that at the same time, without being quite “that”.
Let’s summarize: Clairvoyants comes in the form of an elegant case. Inside, 45 cards and a booklet divided into 3 sections: Figures, Places, Objects. Each card finds its echo in a short text (and its interpretation).
To “play” Clairvoyants, we draw, a bit like a tarot game, three cards. Then everyone is free to interpret the trick by referring to the corresponding texts. Simply.
Both for the maps and the texts, the idea was that there was more than one possible interpretation. With the three cards, a story is built; there is a narrative progression, a figure entering a place and encountering an object there. But the story, it can be changed every time.
Audrée Wilhelmy, creator of Clairvoyants – A Literary Oracle
“There are many ways to play with this object”, summarizes Audrée Wilhelmy.
literary game
Known for her works as The Bloods, The Body of Beasts Where White Resin, the novelist has always been interested in oracles, tarot games. “I drew a lot of them as a child, and I always wanted to make one for myself, to invent my characters,” she confides.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Clairvoyants – A Literary Oraclewhen literature plays out.
Five years ago, while at the Frankfurt Book Fair, she spent a lot of time with Antoine Tanguay, founder and president of Éditions Alto. One evening, over a beer, she told him the idea that had been in her head for a while: to create a literary tarot that would bring together Quebec authors.
Two years later, the latter returns to her, ready to embark on the adventure. “There was a grant application for a short program to develop ideas. The request was due the following week. So it had to be done… now! »
This did not discourage the designer who, in addition to wielding the pen magnificently, practices photography, drawing, linocut and artisanal printing. Quickly, photographer Justine Latour joined the project. Together, they imagined what form this unique literary oracle could take.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Justine Latour and Audree Wilhelmy
The texts were written by 15 Quebec authors, under the direction of Audrée Wilhelmy. Each had to dive into her imagination to evoke in words a figure, a place and an object. Perrine Leblanc, Hélène Dorion, Dominique Fortier, Élise Turcotte, Catherine Leroux, Christiane Vadnais, among others, are among the feathers that can be read there.
I invited 15 women, 15 very strong women’s voices, and I wanted us to be able to recognize them. Someone who knows the literature can guess which card goes with whom; young people who are not yet familiar with our literature will be able to discover a fine sampling of several voices in contemporary literature, of women in Quebec who write fiction.
Audree Wilhelmy
Indeed, in the booklet, the texts are not signed – a summary at the very end, “to look in the mirror”, allows the cards to be associated with their authors. Which makes it, she says, a truly collective project.
For the images of the 45 cards, Justine Latour had carte blanche to create evocative scenes, open to several interpretations. A dizzying and pleasant process, she says, where she was able to give free rein to her creativity. The result is very painterly, dreamlike, mysterious and, above all, beautiful.
She worked closely with artistic director Yona van Leeuwenkamp, who brought her more “bright, pop, pastel, candy pink” side to the rather “chiaroscuro” aesthetic of the photographer known for her portraits of artists. . “I had the ideas, the concept, references to art history, to Disney, to pop culture. Yona brought a funkier side, her textures, her colorful desires. She is a detail magician. »
Proudly printed in Quebec
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Clairvoyants – A Literary Oracle was designed and printed in Quebec.
At Alto, everything is printed in Quebec. “It’s part of our values,” explains Antoine Tanguay. Which was quite a challenge for this project, because book printers don’t print maps.
Systematically, people will go to China or the United States, but we didn’t want to. We shopped around and finally found people who print hockey cards!
Antoine Tanguay, founder and president of Alto editions
The Pointe-Claire company, Cardston, therefore took care of printing the cards, while the printer Chez Marquis printed on natural ecological paper and cardboard that the publisher managed to obtain. private import. All this in a context where there is a global shortage of paper.
“Yes, it’s a risky project, also more expensive than a book, but we wanted the box to remain very affordable. We drive at 140 km/h in the dark, the lights off! », picture Mr. Tanguay. A free digital component is added to the set, and an interactive experience will travel to several places and events, such as book fairs.
Clairvoyants is indeed a literary object in the eyes of the publisher. He also made sure that the box would end up in the literature department, rather than that of esotericism or games. “The form itself isn’t going to determine whether it’s narrative or not. Then, to see how people will appropriate it or play with it. »
Finally, this one-of-a-kind project allows us to revisit a sometimes closed vision of what literature can be. “There are so many different actions that can be taken with this game… I like that literature is all that!” concludes Audrée Wilhelmy.
Clairvoyants – A Literary Oracle
Under the direction of Audrée Wilhelmy. Photographs by Justine Latour.
Alto
104 pages and 45 cards