Blaise Cendrars et Adolf Wölfli

2023

Fondation Blaise Cendrars

INT has been commissioned by the Blaise Cendrars Foundation to create a virtual exhibition connecting two major Swiss artists of the 20th century: the “art brut” artist Adolf Wölfli and the writer Blaise Cendrars. 

Curator
Natacha Isoz & Jehanne Denogent

Through five rooms, twelve themes, and numerous extracts, it explores the multiple encounters between Wölfli's writings and Cendrars' novel Moravagine, while revealing the spirit of an era through its margins. Indeed, some texts are marked by a misogynistic character upon which we take today a critical look. 

The exhibition offers an experience where the visitors' path is created according to their wishes. Thus, the main map - serving as a table of contents - offers the possibility to enter the exhibition either by theme or directly access a specific extract. This notion of (virtual) journey echoes the eponymous theme treated by the two authors. The fluid transitions between pages - whose geometry opens and closes - is also a strong characteristic of the exhibition. Users can also zoom in and out of this tree structure to have an overview. Back at the table of contents, once a page has been visited, its tab darkens to indicate that it has already been consulted. Once in a "room," cross referenced links, distributed at the three corners of the page, offer access to non-linear navigation. 

A dark design reflects the topic of madness addressed by the two artists. A choice of two colors has been added to easily distinguish the extracts that are linked respectively to Cendrars or Wölfli. Icons have been designed to differentiate the types of pages, they are inspired by certain shapes that can be found in Wölfli's drawings. 

In addition, a custom audio player has been programmed to listen to certain extracts. An image gallery (present at the bottom on certain pages) helps to lighten and diversify the content. A zoom function allows users to explore Wölfli's drawings with precision. 

Finally, the Biography and Media Library pages allow visitors to consult all media in a more traditional way, including through keyword search.

Documentation

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