Une Généalogie des Grandes Oreilles is the result of an iconographic research conducted by artist Lauren Tortil over the past three years on what she calls “Big Ears”: these military surveillance devices that call upon mediated listening – an increased listening through a mediator, such as a tool, an instrument, an architecture, a system, etc. – and that the modern man has relentlessly improved with the purpose of anticipating potential dangers.
This genealogy, at first glance technical, reaches beyond the principle of lineage. In 460 images across 88 iconographic plates, the artist articulates her thoughts about sound through material from various registers : paintings, film extracts, technical drawings, photographic archives, etc.
The reading is accompanied by an inserted booklet comprising three unpublished texts and captioned pictures annotated by the artist. Exhausting, recontextualizing and shifting its subject beyond the initial military territory, this book reminds us – like Sound Studies – that the figure of a man on the lookout and listening practices are deeply intra-connected to politics, science, medicine and art.
Conception éditoriale / Editorial design : Lauren Tortil
Conception graphique / Layout : Léa Audouze et Jérémy Barrault
Textes / Texts : Raphaël Brunel, Bastien Gallet, Melissa Van Drie et Lauren Tortil
Traductions / Translations : Derek Byrne et Matthieu Ortalda
Relecture / Copy editing : Juliette Tixier
Édition bilingue / Bilingual edition : Français, English
21 x 31 cm
176 pages
Couverture / Cover : Constellation Jade Onda 215 g
Pages intérieures / Inside pages : Munken Pure Rough 100 g
Reliure / Binding : Dos carré cousu Otabind / Sewn Otabind
Trichromie cyan + Pantone Bright Red + noir / Three-colour cyan + Pantone bright red + black
+ Livret encarté / Inserted booklet
19,5 x 30 cm
32 pages
Papier / Paper : Planopack blanc Weiss 50 g
Reliure / Binding : Piqûre à cheval / Saddle stitching
Pantone Bright Red
Impression / Printing : Musumeci S.p.A. (Italie)
Première édition / First issue : 500 exemplaires / copies
Octobre / October 2019
ISBN : 979-10-96155-09-5
