This series is composed of wooden monoliths, each with a different engraved lettering. Recovered and saved in extremis from destruction in the the historical cognac cellars of Monnet, in the Charentes region of France, the hundred-year-old cedar and oak wood used is the main actor of this time-devoted installation. Solid and noble, it no longer consolidates century-old buildings but, as a silent witness, supports the building of memory. The lettering presented on the monoliths, prepared and created by hand and engraved in a specialized atelier, reveals on each of them citations from authors such as Proust, Heidegger or Goethe, who devoted part of their reflection to the notion of time. Each letter engraved in the monolith is composed into a word. Each word in turn composes a sentence that reveals its philosophical meaning when one takes the time to explore. That is the moment when the meaning from the monolith’s materiality transcends and literary beauty is revealed. The next moment, the fragile prose hidden in the ancient wood merges with the surface of the monolith to propose a texture of time.

Jörg Bräuer

Monoliths is a unique body of work by Jörg Bräuer that features a series of more than 100-year-old cedar and oak wood slabs engraved with philosophical citations about time chosen and designed by the artist. The wood has been recovered from the French Cognac distillery, Monnet, in the region of Charente, and dates back to 1838.

Engraved lettering with citations about time. Quotes from William Shakespeare, La Bible – Ecclésiaste, Marcel Proust, Joachim du Bellay, Emmanuel Kant
, Georges Moustaki, Pierre Corneille
, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and more.