Philippe Parreno. H(n)ypn(y)osis hypothesis

Philippe Parreno (born 1964) is interested more in the dynamics of how a work of art is shown to the public than in its actual production, and in his films, installations, performances and texts, he subverts the codes normally applied to exhibition spaces. By placing the construction of the exhibition at the heart of his process, the French artist redefines the exhibition experience as a coherent object rather than a collection of individual works. "The exhibition is conceived as a scripted space," he writes, "like an automaton, producing different temporalities, a rhythm, an itinerary, and a duration. The visitor is guided through the spaces by the appearance and orchestration of sounds and images ... a mental choreography." Published to accompany his 2015 exhibitions in New York and Milan, Hypnosis Hypothesis offers a rich critical overview of Parreno's work, featuring essays by Cyril Béghin, Molly Nesbit, Brian O'Doherty and Adam Thirlwell, and interviews with exhibition curators Hans Ulrich Obrist and Andrea Lissoni. The monograph provides invaluable new research on one of the most influential and charismatic figures on the contemporary art scene.