Micro-publications — Cahiers des nuisances | The Complete Set
Here’s the complete digital version of the Cahiers des nuisances! The cahiers des nuisances are micro-publications with texts, drawings, and photographs by Reinhardt and de Gaulejac that outline the observations, anecdotes and emotions behind their inquiry into the world of the white grub. Part artist-book, part field guide, this self-published series is the matrix for a shared language that grew out of their experimental collaboration. (In French only.)
Cahier des nuisances 00 (Hypothèse) [Hypothesis]
“When we know nothing about the subject of our inquiry, we naturally make assumptions. This booklet outlines our understanding of the white grub, along with a few working hypotheses ahead of our field observations.”
Cahier des nuisances 01 (Terrain) [Field]
“In the field, our first encounters with the white grub bring challenges to our investigation. This booklet presents stories and findings from our first observations on the territory of Laval.”
Cahier des nuisances 02 (L’institut) [The Institute]
This booklet describes our visit to the Institute of entomological research at the Botanical Gardens, where we discover that the Common Cockchafer, or June bug, is precisely that—common! More importantly, the first hint of a dialectical polemic in our nuisance investigation duo emerges: can human experience effectively imagine what a non-human experience is like? Some think yes, others no, but who thinks what is unclear.
Cahier des nuisances 03 (Les témoins) [The Witnesses]
In this notebook, we meet with a few Laval-based experts to discuss the white grub. We also discuss our burial of a witness plate inside an infested lawn. This copper plate is designed to collect phantasmatic traces of an underground life that would be impossible to translate onto paper through engraving. But this true-false hope also reveals another puzzling dialectic for our investigative duo. It condenses our most contradictory aesthetic tendencies: are we conceptual minimalist monsters or effusive figurative idiots?
Cahier des nuisances 04 (La clairière) [The Clearing]
Our gardener detectives are nearing the end of their inquest. Will they finally find their patch of fresh lawn? Will they abandon themselves to the happy ending of a well-deserved reconciliation? To answer these questions, we met with the ethnologist of interspecific friendships, Amélie-Anne Mailhot, in her magical clearing.
Cahier des nuisances 05 (Le moindre geste) [The Slightest Gesture]
This is our epilogue. Here we discover how our two investigators decided to – finally! – come out of their speculative bubble and to dive hands first into the depths of the underground for their ultimate encounter.