artist in residence is an artist book by Bruno Quinquet, made within his own living space. The work turns the late Showa-era one-bedroom apartment in Tokyo that houses Bureau d’Etudes Japonaises into a self-assigned artist residency, inviting the reader on an indoor journey through the rooms, rules, and traces of daily life.
One of the starting points is Xavier de Maistre’s A Journey Around My Room, written in 1794 during a period of confinement. Taking up the idea that travel can begin within one’s immediate surroundings, the book brings together domestic space, questionable rules for art-making, linguistic play, and fragments of family history.
At the center of the boxed set is a leporello measuring around 3.6 meters when fully unfolded. Moving through the book in one direction reveals texts and diagrams describing the rules of this artist residency; moving in the other direction reveals domestic scenes inspired by Yokohama shashin, the hand-colored photographs that shaped nineteenth-century images of Japan. The set also includes a folded poster with making-of images and visual references, as well as a cut-out card for creating emojis.
Rather than a conventional photobook, artist in residence is a layered artist book to be read, unfolded, looked into, and handled. Handmade in an edition of 100 numbered and signed copies.
artist in residence Bruno Quinquet Bureau d’Etudes Japonaises, 2024 182 × 130 × 15 mm Edition of 100 Numbered and signed
