RESEARCH PAPERS, ESSAYS AND STATEMENTS
LAb[au]’s practice is grounded in theoretical inquiry, art history and philosophical aesthetics. Writing has always been integral to the artistic work—not as commentary, but as an essential part of developing its language.
WRITING COLOURS
INSCRIBING TIME
LANGUAGE OF THE IMAGE
ALGORITHMIC POETRY
TRUE-FALSE
ART OF THE 7 UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
CHANCE-ERROR
AESTHETICS OF PERCEPTION
FROM ANALOGY TO TRANSCODING
THE DIGITAL CONCRETE
FROM SENSE TO SENSE
MetaDeSIGN
WE WROTE IN TIME:
2026–1998
2026 – Farben | Fernab (colours far away), English, German, French
Another approach to colour, an essay by Manuel Abendroth
By permuting the German word ‘Farben’ into ‘fernab’—‘far away’—the essay approaches colour through language and etymology, writing a previously unwritten taxonomy of colours.
2025 – Punctum, Zeit setzen (Inscribing Time), English, German, French
Writing Time, Reading History
An essay by Manuel Abendroth tracing the unwritten lineage of artistic thought from Almir Mavignier to Hanne Darboven and LAb[au].
2022 – From Visual and Concrete to Algorithmic and Intelligent Poetry
English, French
Curatorial research paper
Written in preparation for the curated group exhibition P,OE?!e
TOPO?, exhibition platform, Brussels, Belgium
2021 – Le langage de l'image et l'image du langage
English, French
Curatorial research paper
Written in preparation for the exhibition project
Remplacement et Ekphrasis (unrealised)
2019 – Five Conceptual Statements
Aesthetics of Perception, English, French
The 7 units of measurement, English, French
True: False, English, French
Chance: Error, English, French
Transcoding, English, French
Written for the monographic exhibition catalogue: if then else
Published by Casino Luxembourg - Forum d’art contemporain Lux.
2018 – From Analogies to Transcoding,
Curatorial research paper
Written in preparation for the group exhibition Transcoding
Société, exhibition platform, Brussels, Belgium
2015 – The Digital Concrete, English, French
Essay for the exhibition catalogue: rouge, vert, bleu, blanc
CdA, Centre des arts d’Enghien-les-Bains, France
2013 – From Sense to Sense, English, French
Foundational conceptual statement
2010 – Licht und Algorithmus, German, English
Essay on LAb[au]’s conception of light
Written for the book Mediatecture by Christoph Kronhagel
Springer Wien Verlag, Austria
2010 – MetaArt: MetaDeSIGN, the Art of Systems, English, French
Foundational text introducing LAb[au]'s artistic framework
Written for the monograph MetaDeSIGN LAb[au]
Edited by Les presses du réel, France
2002 – MetaDeSIGN, de l'analogie aux systèmes programmatiques
English, French
Theoretical essay
Published in Éc/Arts #3, French art magazine, France
2001 – Infotectures, English, French, Dutch
Collection of essays
Published in the book L'anthropologie de la société digitale
by Salvino Salvaggio, Belgium
2000 – Architextures: Hypertextures, English, French
Essay
Published in the French art journal Parpaings, France
1999 – The Medium Is the Message: The City as a Hypertext
English, French
Essay
Published in Éc/Arts #2, French art magazine, France
1998 – Pop into ..., English, French
Conceptual statement
Published in the exhibition catalogue Transarchitecture 02/03
Aedes Edition, Berlin, Germany