See distant events as if they were present

Electric kettle, daily programmer, writing on window glass.

Each day at 5:35 pm, closing time at the Paris stock exchange (La Bourse), a kettle placed near the front window of the gallery is turned on. As steam condenses on the glass, a phrase becomes legible from the outside: “Voir le lointain comme s’il était present” (see distant events as if they were present). The phrase, which appears briefly before disappearing when the condensation clears, is taken from Friedrich Nietzsche’s second essay in On the Genealogy of Morals, in which the philosopher analyses the power relationships (and in particular the capacity to organise the future) at work in the moral contract represented by a debt.

Bouilloire électrique, programmateur journalier, écriture sur vitre.