One purchase, one small piece of paper. In this world, each deal is not simply the exchange of goods for an amount of money : it also ends with the printing of a sale receipt. Their destiny is multiple. Some are […]
When I leave home to go to the corner or across the world, I always leave a note. On a post-it or on a large sheet. Next to nothing, just in case something happens to me. Not to leave without […]
We have often written about it here, street signs are fascinating objects for whom is interested in the scriptural shaping of the world. Essential supports of the demand for mobility that characterizes our urban settings, they take a part in […]
We have known each other for such a long time. We have gone through a large part of the 1980s, sharing several experiences when we were young. Then, we went on separate ways during the 1990s, before getting back in […]
You came to visit the new museum of contemporary art, the architect designed a building that looks like a stack of cubes in equilibrium. It’s beautiful. You enter, you take a ticket and begin the visit. Down to the first […]
This is not the first time we do this, here. There is nothing like the observation of children practices to understand what writing does to the world. It is a very good exercise to avoid any temptation of functionalism. Not […]
I tried different possibilities, I tested several options, but nothing worked. I turned the problem upside down, but I couldn’t find a solution. Even the elementary things seemed to be insuperable. Ideas became more and more confused, intermingled, they piled […]
We will never see his medical file — we assume it is as thick as a court record — with its multicolored sheets, the accounts of the dozen of blood tests that made a mess of his arms every day, the printed […]
Friday Guest: Julie Fen-Chong Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. (Robert Frost) What surprised and charmed me most in Arthur’s kingdom is not only welsh language and the consequent local names “Betws-y-coed” […]
Who are we? Lots of researchers and poets have been working on the deconstruction and the enrichment of our mundane definition of idendity. They have notably shown that whether we are in-dividuals, it is essentially when we face police, law, […]
Learning how to eat is pre-eminentely a question of skills: to handle correctly various kitchenware, to lay on a first-rate meal, to sort out the sheep from the goats, and to adopt specific postures that fit with the manipulation of […]
At the entrance to the playground, a large green sign recalls the rules to be observed in this relaxing place for families. It is forbidden to adults without children, dogs, tobacco, beverages and food are prohibited. So are radio and […]
A name, one thing. One category, one entity. One barcode, one product. Mineral, plant or animal, each element is subject to classification principles and naming systems. One can easily circulate from words to things and vice versa thanks to a […]
It all started with a few notes written on loose sheets. Maybe a notebook. There were, before and after that, conversations. Comments, advices, face to face or on the phone. Choices were made, a strategy was planned. And then she […]
One can imagine that in the past kids used to hand them out downtown, shouting out the latest news. Nowadays, in New York, and since at least twenty years, newspapers have nor voice neither face, but a pretty box. Some […]
Facing the ever-increasing expansion of information, he has tried everything. At first, he used to print out articles that had to be read in priority and he carefully staked them on his desk. Then, he stored every item in different […]
Signage, in subway spaces and elsewhere, is generally a matter of standards. Most signage designers think in terms of systems, components. The signboards are integrated into a coherent set of signs that have to be recognizable among the many other […]
We saw it when entering Central Park, just outside of the Metropolitan Museum. Of course, in the lobby of the museum we had noticed the sign, prominently placed. It was the long list of donors: hundreds of names, the ones […]
Road-marking, traffic lines, and criss-cross delineate specific zones devoted to the circulation and the use of space. They organize public settings so obviously that we almost do not pay any attention to them. It is only in particular apprenticeship situations […]
Out of the doubt What could be easier than following an exit indication? There are so many of these signs. We got used to them, we live with them, and we can rely on them even when panicking. And we […]
There he is, before my home, sitting on a bench on the boulevard. I had not seen him; in my office I was writing in my den full of books, papers and computers; while fetching a book from another bookcase […]
Our Guest : Clara Lamireau Without this paper, I can’t participate to the 10 km Paris Centre Race. Neither the Porcelain Rings, in Limoges. I can’t enroll in Vanves Run Club and be part of the French Athletics Federation. So […]
The children are keen to know. We talked about it on several occasions and we promised them to go there. For sure, it is not possible for us to go fishing everyday in Paris. That’s why they ask us regularly. […]
I did not stay too long behind the principal. As I had read the teacher’s name, I knew the most important thing. But back home, I understood in a few minutes that I only had done half of the job. […]
« We have more urgent problems to solve than Gypsies social integration, in which I hardly believe. File away. 06-29-1956. »
It has been happening for several months. Initially, the wheels of some cars were used as targets: a white line on the tire and the tar meant that the vehicle did not move for quite some time. It has been […]
We have been watching the wall of the school for few days now, in search of the fateful lists. The same lists we used to run our eyes over, when we were kids, sick with fear. And today, I come […]
L’invité du vendredi : Nathalie Crowley Dublin, mai 2010. C’est un joli après-midi de juin à Dublin et j’aime bien passer par Drumcondra, un quartier résidentiel et tranquille où se trouve le ‘Bishop Palace’ nommé ainsi avec une certaine révérence teintée […]
Clamart, mai 2010. Il faut avouer que tu t’es surpris sur ce coup-là. L’acheter sans réfléchir davantage. Ne pas attendre la prochaine version, comme tu as toujours fait jusqu’ici avec cette marque de produits informatiques qui t’équipe depuis 1993. Mais […]
La Rochelle, décembre 2009. On le sait, la calligraphie s’inscrit dans une tradition séculaire et puise ses racines dans diverses civilisations. Tantôt réservée aux scripteurs chargés de contribuer à la grandeur des souverains, tantôt dévolue aux copistes assurant la transmission […]
Port-au-Prince, Haïti, mars 2010. Lorsque la terre a tremblé en Haïti en janvier, il y eut des milliers de morts, de millions de blessés et de sans-abri ; la capitale fut anéantie comme jadis Lisbonne. Aux malheurs de la première République […]
Barcelone, Mai 2010. Une foule tout entière dévouée à la musique. À la découverte de petits groupes dont elle ne connait que quelques titres glanés ici ou là sur le Web, ou attendant les retrouvailles avec des anciens qui ont […]
Paris, avril 2010. Le rendez-vous est dans quelques minutes. Ça fait plusieurs jours que nous l’avons pris maintenant. Je ne l’ai vu qu’une fois avant. C’était lors d’un colloque et j’ai été complètement ébloui. Sa manière d’exposer clairement et simplement […]