Richard Venlet

Richard Venlet
2009

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz (1829-1896), on his discovery of the ring-structure of benzene:
"During my stay in Ghent, in Belgium, I lived in elegant bachelor's quarters in the main thoroughfare. My workspace, however, faced a narrow side alley where no daylight penetrated... For a chemist who spends all his daytime hours in the laboratory, this was no hardship. There I sat and wrote in my notebook, but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair towards the fireplace and sank into a daydream. Again the atoms frolicked before my eyes. This time the smaller groups stayed modestly in the background. My mind's eye, rendered more acute by these repeated visions, could now discern larger structures of multiple configuration; long rows, at times more closely knit, everything twisting and twining in serpentine motion. And behold! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the sinuous form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; this time too, I spent the rest of the night contemplating the consequences of the hypothesis."

250 copies / 50 ex. numbered and signed
Produced by Elisa Platteau Galerie
Printed by Arte-Print on Satimat paper
English translation by Jodie Hruby
Thanks to Erik Thys, Guilliana Venlet, Leander Venlet, Elisa Platteau, Sophie Nys