"Don't love, I'm your toy", book publishing
<h2>After almost 15 years of artistic projects, essentially photographic, and a first book published in late 2018 (<em>Dead End Dust</em>, Yellow Now Editions), I'm starting the production of a second <strong>book project</strong> that is dear to my heart: the work <strong><em>Don't love me, I'm your toy</em></strong>.</h2>
<p><strong>The photos come from Skype video</strong> chats that lasted between 15 and 45 minutes. During these video chats a man would undress, and had to – at the very least – be bare-chested. On one condition: anonymity. No physical criteria, nothing pre-defined. They cannot see me. I direct them from a distance; they don’t know exactly what I am taking pictures of, and then our screens switch off. </p>
<p>In these times of feminist renewal and <strong>questioning of the roles attributed</strong> to each one, the book takes a contemporary look at the image of the man and the woman. For once, it is the man who is undressed, and by a woman. Passive, he consents to the injunctions of the voice that emanates from the computer, guiding him in his poses.</p>
<p>Added to this is <strong>a booklet of texts</strong>, <strong>erotic short stories</strong> that depict a woman, willing at first sight passively to be a sexual object, but evoking the weariness of this image through the multiplication of meetings over stories. The contemporary and particularly exacerbated question today of male-female relationships finds an echo in this twilight work, which evokes lassitude and self-abandonment. The title actually refers to it: <strong><em>Don't love me, I'm your toy</em> </strong>evokes the idea that objects can not be loved, even if they are gifted speech. These objects can only be manipulated by pure pleasure, to play; they never lead to a love relationship, but rather evoke the technical and superficial management of material relations with <strong>a surplus body of which we do not know what to do</strong>, all transcendence having deserted it.</p>
<h2>The collect of 1500 euros will help to <strong>print the book to 250 copies</strong>. The book will be 21 x 28 cm, will have 60 pages of color photographs + a text booklet in French or English.</h2>
<p>Institutional funds are also hoped to complete this pot. In addition to your support, and that of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (if you read me ...), I will complete what it would remain to finance. Note that 8% of the amount will cover the costs related to the KissKissBankBank platform, including bank fees.</p>
<p><strong>And if we exceed the amount?</strong> No problem!</p>
<p>Option 1, the book is a success, all copies have been pre-ordered, I reprint more.</p>
<p>Option 2, you should know that the fees far exceed those of printing. Because before this step, it was necessary to translate the texts into English and to print dummies. And then again, this book, you also have to send it physically to online sales platforms all over the world!</p>
<p>In addition, I will take care of the promotion and a part of the diffusion of the book in Belgium and abroad, making the contacts necessary for that. It also has a cost. This is only the beginning of the adventure!</p>
<p>A collect that goes beyond expectations can therefore be used to cover these additional costs.</p>
<p>The project, born in 2013, was developed until 2017 for the image part. <strong>I photographed more than 40 men</strong>, spending a lot of time shooting, then developing the project, its general design, writing and rewriting the texts. Next to that, I showed part of this work in group and individual exhibitions. I recorded my voice, telling the stories I wrote, to make a sound installation (with a little help for the technique ...).</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/594621/_DSC1534_copie-1557870145.jpg" width="100%" /></p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/594622/_DSC1544_copie-1557870156.jpg" width="100%" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then finally, I started to design the book and its layout (with some advice again ... thank you)!</p>
<p><strong>A long-term project</strong>, thus, that will allow my work to travel and be seen :-)</p>
<p>And then ... icing on the cake, a London publisher offered to help me in the practical and logistical aspects of production and dissemination of the book. This is William Esdale for <strong>Dirty Illness</strong>. I'm very happy to work with him!</p>
<p>Finally, this project is <strong>a lot of meetings</strong>: the charming gentlemen who agreed to pose for me (and sometimes wondered a little what I wanted them), the people who helped me throughout the process of work and ... those with whom I will have the pleasure to exchange on the finished project, printed! <em>Don't love me</em> ... But my book, support it ;-)</p>