‘Modern Alchemy’ is a thrilling fusion of Viviane Sassen’s photographs and the philosophical thoughts of Emanuele Coccia, both leading figures in their fields. Sassen contributes 80 new photographic works that celebrate the world of nature, while Coccia presents a ground-breaking essay that reassesses the unity of all sentient life, which is elegantly interwoven with the images. ‘Modern Alchemy’ situates their two streams of creativity in a dialogue, forging a reverent meditation on art and nature. Elaborately bound in printed cloth, the meditative photo book invites readers to re-envision the Earth’s ever-present beauty.
“Maybe we should think of our bodies with alchemy in mind, and imagine many other compositions or assemblages. Maybe we should put an arm and a hand between the legs of a woman’s body or substitute a head with two amphoras – maybe we should feel and apprehend our body as a senseless collage of disparate pieces and tools,” Coccia says in his essay.
Emanuele Coccia, born 1976, is a Professor of Philosophy History at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. In 2018, his award-winning book ‘The Life of Plants’ was published, after Sensible Life (2016), and then followed by Metamorphoses (2021).
Viviane Sassen, born 1972, is a Dutch photographer based in Amsterdam who works in both the fashion and fine art worlds. She is known for her use of geometrical shapes, often abstractions of bodies.
All photographs by Viviane Sassen for Modern Alchemy, JBE Books & Perrier-Jouët, 2022
Text by Emanuele Coccia for Modern Alchemy, JBE Books & Perrier-Jouët, 2022
20 × 26 cm, 160 pages, 35€ / $45 USD / £35, Design graphique : Agnès Dahan Studio
Founded in 2011 in Paris, France, and directed by David Desrimais, JBE Books (Jean Boîte Éditions) publishes books in the digital age, in the areas of arts, humanities and poetics with international artists and authors.