Artifact C, Views Of The Future Past

Digital photographic artwork
Stained and varnished chestnut wood, electronic ink digital frame
H 22.0 x L 26.0 x W 4.1 in
H 56 x L 66 x W 10.5 cm
Unique piece

This work by Jimmy Delatour comprises seven photographs, each digitally reworked by hand and presented on an innovative medium: Onnyk. Based on electronic ink technology, this device faithfully recreates the texture and depth of a traditional silver gelatin print without emitting any light. Made up of millions of black and white ink microcapsules, the Wi-Fi-connected frame allows the seven images to shift and unfold in sequence — a living canvas where the photographic work becomes mobile, ever-changing, and reinvented.

The photographs depict contemporary views of Pompeii, some incorporating pieces of furniture designed by the artist. Through this integration, Jimmy Delatour connects design objects with the photographic space, dissolving the boundary between ruins and contemporary creation to invent the fictional relic of a world in suspension. In doing so, he also questions the memory of forms, the fragility of civilizations, and the narratives we choose to pass on.