The art of bifurcation

Sometimes ideas travel in unexpected ways. A book becomes part of an exhibition. An artwork finds a second life as a book cover. This evening brings together Michel Tombroff and Céline Mathieu, whose practices have been linked by a series of exchanges rather than a single collaboration.

Mathieu’s work Oyster appeared on the cover of Tombroff’s book Le Malentendu Capital. Later, the book itself entered one of her exhibitions, shown alongside a bronze version of one of his mathematical formulas. These gestures of lending and reuse form the starting point for a shared conversation.

Together, they share reflections on how ideas take shape and how they are presented, on the role of text in their work, and on the ways thoughts are formalised. As ideas move between disciplines, they ask what shifts in meaning—and what kinds of exchange become possible in the space between.

Credit photos:

Portrait by Vika Paskelyte

Photography: Evelina Elere. Courtesy: Kunsthall Trondheim / Céline Mathieu / Gauli Zitter