Ulrik Heltoft, #1, serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
1. Saint Louis dans sa prison de Damiette.
1. Saint Louis in his prison at Damietta.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft often uses external instructions or highly imaginative stories as an important tool in producing new work. For example, since 2006 he has established an ongoing project, which is based on a book of poems by Raymond Roussel: Nouvelles Impressions d’Afrique, 1928. In order to produce drawings for this book, a series of 59 instructions were given verbally by Roussel via a private detective bureau to the illustrator Henri A. Zo. Without knowing the provenance of the instructions, the drawings were made and brought back to Roussel. Heltoft then recreates these drawing in a new interpretation. By treating the drawings as historical documents, with all their interpretive ambiguities, Heltoft re-enacts these early surrealistic mise en scenes within the context of photography and a new century.
All works are pigmentprint framed with engraved title in passepartout. frame 92 x 74 cm, photo dimensions variable. Edition of 3 + 1 A/P, signed, 2005-ongoing
Ulrik Heltoft, serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
Installationview at Kirkhoff (Kopenhagen), 2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #3, serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
3. Un bonhomme de neige, comme en font les enfants, bouche largement ouverte, semble pouffer de rire.
3. A snowman such as children build, broadly grinning, as though about to burst out laughing.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #4, serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
4. Un homme sortant une fleur séchée d'un livre.
4. A man removing a pressed flower from a book.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #5 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
5. Une rue déserte. Au premier plan un réverbère.
5. A deserted thoroughfare. In the foreground a street lamp.
2005
Ulrik Heltoft, #8 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
8. Un chêne, très vieux, et très touffu.
8. A very old, very sturdy oak.
2005
Ulrik Heltoft, #18 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
18. Un jet d'eau dans un parc. Pas de personnages.
18. A fountain in a park. No people.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #19 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
19. Un homme, la nuit, portant une lanterne sourde allumée.
19. Am man at night carrying a lighted dark-lantern.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #20 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
20. Une outre, au désert, d'où l'eau s'échappe par un trou semblant fait à dessein par le fer d'un traître. Pas de personnages.
20. A waterskin in the desert, with water gushing from a hole seemingly deliberately made be a traitor’s sword. No people
Ulrik Heltoft, #23 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
23. Un homme mettant une pièce de monnaie dans une tirelire en forme de tonneau.
23. A man dropping a coin into a barrel-shaped moneybox.
2005
Ulrik Heltoft, #25 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
25. Un homme ayant le bras en écharpe. Écharpe bien large.
25. A man with his arm in a sling. Sling rather large.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #27, serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
27. Un parlementaire les yeux bandés (un officier) conduit par deux soldats dont les uniformes diffèrent du
sien. Pas d'autres personnages.
27. A true bearer eyes blindfolded (an officer) escorted by two soldiers in uniforms differing from his. No other
people.
Pigment print 13,5 x 10 cm framed with passepartout 92 x 74 cm with engraved title in passepartout, edition of 3 + 1A/P, 2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #32 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
# 32 Un homme utilisant un campylomètre sur une carte de géographie.
# 32 A man running a milometer across a map.
2010
Ulrik Heltoft, #29 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
29. Une maisonnette recouverte de neige dont le toit a la forme d'un livre étalé le dos en l'air. Pas de personnages.
29. A cottage in the snow the roof of which resembles an open book face down. No people.
Ulrik Heltoft, #43 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
43. Un perroquet sur son perchoir semblant vouloir parler à un passant. Pas d'autres personnages.
43. A parrot on its perch seemingly talking to a passer-by. No other people.
2010
Ulrik Heltoft, #34 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
34. Deux hommes en sabots, par temps de neige, battant la semelle pour se réchauffer les pieds.
34. Two men wearing clogs in the snowy weather stamp their soles together to warm their feet.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #45 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel(Hans Ulrich Obrist)
45. Une tête de penseur (la tête seulement). Pli entre les deux sourcils.
45. Head of a thinker (head only). Furrow between the two eyebrows.
2010
Ulrik Heltoft, #52 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
52. Un promeneur, le bras levé et les doigts ouverts, venant de lâcher un caillou (qu'on voit encore) au-dessus
d'un puits et semblant prêter l'oreille comme pour entendre le bruit du plongeon. (Pas d'autres personnages.)
52. A rambler, arm raised and fingers outspread, dropping a pebble (still visible) down a well and seemingly
straining to hear the sound of its splash. (No other people).
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #53 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
53. Un portrait (sans nom) d'Améric Vespuce. On peut s'inspirer de celui qui se trouve dans le nouveau Larousse illustré.
53. A portrait (unnamed) of Amerigo Vespucci. Inspiration for this may be found in the Nouveau Larousse illustré.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #54 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
54. Un homme, le buste seulement, de profil (le profil droit) visant quelque chose avec un pistolet (on ne voit pas ce qu'il vise).
54. A man, bust only, in profile (right profile) aiming at something with a pistol (one cannot see what he is aiming at).
2005
Ulrik Heltoft, #55, serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
55. Un banc de pierre, sans dossier, encadré par des arbres. Pas de personnages.
55. A stone bench, without a backrest, encompassed by trees. No other people.
2006
Ulrik Heltoft, #58 serie of works following the instructions by Raymond Roussel
58. Un mur tout uni où les mots Mane Thecel Phares sont écrits comme en lettres de flammes. Rien d'autre, ni personnages, ni banquet. Lettre de l'époque.
58. A plain wall where the words Mane Thecel Phares are inscribed in flaming lettering.
2006
