Camille Henrot.
Elephant Child.
Koenig Books/Inventory Press: 2015. Hardcover.
208 pages.
Die cut cover.
Sealed in original publisher’s
shrink wrap with
explanatory copy sticker on back.
Originated during an Artist Research Fellowship
at the Smithsonian Institution, which laid the groundwork
for her 2013 video Grosse Fatigue and the subsequent
installation The Pale Fox (2014–15), Elephant Child represents
the culmination of a long-term inquiry into the human effort
to make the universe comprehensible.
The book contains an original text by Henrot written with
Clara Meister and Michael Connor, documentation, sketches,
and research materials.
An interview between Henrot and social anthropologist
Monique Jeudy-Ballini offers insight into Henrot’s characteristic
approach of knowledge production and organization.
Ultimately, the book is an object of high universalist ambition
—devoid of authority, creating instead a vivid prismatic image
of the realm of thought.
