RÉSILIENCE
BW
A SERIES OF
ENCRYPTED PAINTINGS
BY JEAN-CLAUDE BOSSEL
110 cm x 80 cm
HOLES AND
ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
The paintings in the RÉSILIENCE BW series contain messages encrypted using the CODE BACH® process.
Look at the right-hand side of the painting.
The encrypted messages take visual form through holes of two different sizes.
Small holes represent 0 and large holes represent 1, the two digits of the binary system.
Detail from the right-hand side of the painting.
Read the first two rows of holes from the top, left to right.
The top row gives 00010.
The second row gives 00101.
Now look at the colours of the rims around the holes. They form a second binary system. A black rim represents 0 and a green rim represents 1.
Read the first two rows from left to right, starting at the top.
The top row gives 01100.
The second row gives 01010.
ART &
MATHEMATICS
The handwritten notes and the table of green and black dots below show two stages of the same process.
The first stage is to try out passages for encryption. The handwritten notes show an excerpt from the journal of George Sand, Frédéric Chopin’s partner, in which she writes about Tartuffes.
The chosen text is then converted into numbers and encrypted using CODE BACH®. The resulting numbers are represented on the canvas by sequences of holes of different diameters.
SOME OTHER PAINTINGS
IN THE SERIES
RÉSILIENCE BW
The complete series comprises twelve paintings in a range of sizes.
Acrylic on canvas and carbon fibre.
Painted in 2021.
160 x 100 cm
DIGITAL
SETTINGS
130 x 90 cm
100 x 150 cm
DIGITAL
SETTINGS
THE STORY
BEHIND THE TITLE
The twelve paintings in the RÉSILIENCE BW series are closely linked to LEVONS L’ANCRE, another series of twelve paintings that Jean-Claude Bossel painted after winning a copyright case at trial in 2019.
He painted RÉSILIENCE BW in 2021, a few months after completing LEVONS L’ANCRE.
Making the series was a way for him to regain his footing through painting after the prolonged strain of the criminal proceedings.
Click the image to see a selection of works from the LEVONS L’ANCRE series.
