“9. Artists must resist nostalgia. We never do ‘golden age’ history. When we reference the past it is not to evoke ‘the good old days’. Our relation to the past is historical, not mythical.”[1]

The tradition of the bouquinistes has its origins in the 16th century, when merchants throughout Paris offered books from their vendor's tray. They mainly sold writings that were banned due to censorship, including religious or political pamphlets and scandalous magazines. The business flourished during the Revolution, as very little literary material was printed and the bouquinistes were able to offer books that had been looted and confiscated from the libraries of the nobility and clergy. In the 19th century, the bouquinistes acquired the status of tradesmen and their profession was regulated.

Today, more than 200 bouquinistes adorn the banks of the Seine in Paris with almost 900 stalls selling around 300,000 books. A characteristic feature of the “boites” is the green, which is also the color of the Wallace fountain and the advertising pillars in Paris.

Mark Dion’s “Bookstall” (2015) is not a heavyweight monument to this Parisian tradition, which has become an integral part of the cityscape, cast in supposed eternity; rather, the attention to detail in his work confronts us with the disappearance of a tradition that once disseminated knowledge. Books are ordered or read digitally, the bouquinistes stay afloat by selling Eiffel Towers and fridge magnets, and today see themselves as a mere “folkloristic decoration”.

With the upcoming Olympic Games and the planned opening ceremony on the river, the work is also extremely topical. Over the years, the open-air dealers have repeatedly been a nuisance, either due to the distribution of obscene or revolutionary writings or because they competed with the established booksellers. This time, it is the police authorities who consider them a security threat. For several weeks, around two-thirds of the stalls are to be moved to another location, but the bouquinistes resist this, particularly due to the often very fragile condition of the crates. Dion fills his with long outdated scientific books on flora and fauna to make the disappearance of books and nature visible.

In addition to other sculptures and installations, “Anatomy of Melancholy” shows a collection of drawings and prints from various decades. Initially, the drawings, always in the bookkeeper colors blue and red, served as preliminary studies or project plans for his works. Over time, however, they have developed a dynamic of their own and today form a significant part of his artistic oeuvre. Some of the works are based on educational charts that humorously question the scientific-didactic system of categorization. In the eponymous print, Dion updates the philosophical, medical, and historical observations on the subject of melancholy.[2]

- Denise Kokko

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[1] Mark Dion: Some Notes Towards a Manifesto for Artists Working With or About the Living World, in: The Incomplete Writings of Mark Dion. Selected Interviews, Fragments, and Miscellany, edited by Roel Arkesteijn, Fieldwork Museum, 2017, p. 285-289, p.286
[2] Vgl. Robert Burton: The Anatomy of Melancholy. What it is, with all the kinds, causes, symptomes, prognostices & several cures of it. In three Partitions with their several Sections, members, and subsections. Philosophically, Medicinally, Historically, opened and cut up, 1621.