Journal of Bureaucratic Stories, Indice 50, Paris, 30 April – 15 June 2015

For this exhibition in the storefront artist’s space Indice 50 in Paris, Clémence de Montgolfier used the archive of JOBS that were collected by Niki Korth in the Office/Work show in San Francisco a fews day earlier. Reading the forms and notes in English of the Bureaucratic Stories that various visitors have donated, she then translated those narratives in French while rewriting them as “stories” again. The translation process included filling the gaps, missing information, and acknowledging misunderstandings with mind protocols of guessing, imagination, deduction, logic or invention.

The new stories where then made available to the French audience, while the original archive was available through a flash code online. The Bureaucratic Stories were available for reading by passersby on the street and people from the neighborhood for the duration of the show.

Before 2020, the complete set of documents, English and French, will be sent to the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive for further additions and for continued consultation.