Christian Marclay: Index

The Xerox as sketch: Marclay’s inventive method for creative thinking

Christian Marclay’s (born 1955) high-contrast black-and-white Xeroxes resemble scribblings in a notebook–the first stages of experimentation toward more finished works. “Maybe it’s because I’m not a very good draftsman, collage feels like a more natural approach to sketching and developing ideas,” he speculates. “My work is all about finding, sampling, appropriating images and sounds, and transforming them. The found image is usually what triggers a thought process–formulating ideas or simply reaffirming latent thoughts. It’s a way to instantly mediate an image and get a little distance from it. Accidents are also often revealing.”

Designed in collaboration with Laurent Benner, a graphic designer who has worked with the artist on various other books and record covers, this book brings together the source material that has informed Marclay’s practice over the past few years.