Insectes bibliophages

Insectes bibliophages is an artist’s book made up of textual and visual samples. It brings together scientific notes on the insects that feed on books and their constituent materials (cellulose, sizing materials, leather, etc.).

Apart from cuts in the text, no rewriting has been carried out. In addition, no reference is made to textual or visual borrowings. The artist has deliberately suppressed her sources in order to make these samples exist in their own right. Marie Sochor has collected scientific notes on bibliophagous insects and dissected them to observe the cross-sections. A veritable entomologist’s work on scientific texts, this absence of writing contradicts the author’s place and echoes a practice of textual ready-made.

This artist’s publication follows on from Marie Sochor’s “bibliophage” performances, in which she invites the public to read and eat a text she has written. “Bibliophagy”, as it has been explored to date, is comparable to “bookworms”, which feed on books and manuscripts, leaving behind galleries filled with excremental dust.