Time is Manet! Monet!

The main goal of publisher Gervais Jassaud of Collectif Génération isn't first and foremost the production of attractive books; he has other ambitions. He brings artists and writers from various countries together and invents new constructions for a book, with which he wants to challenge the reader. He had Time is Manet! Monet! by Jean-Pierre Verheggen 'activated' by various artists. One of those versions was made by the American Marcia Hafif, a member of the Radical Painting Group. She painted aquarelles of bars in bright colours, which she referred to as 'Kadmium gelb', 'Sap green' etcetera. Only 15 copies of this edition are in existence. As corners have been cut off the pages, the reader slowly but surely gathers an impression of the complete gouaches. The poems are printed in pink and green, obscured in part by the bars.

Verheggen, who was born in Belgium, has a Belgian mother, a French father, and an Italian wife; multilingualism therefore plays an important role in his work. The title of this artists' bookTime is Manet! Monet! illustrates this, with the names of two artists both referring to the English word 'money'. The text begins with a word of goodbye from the poem to the poet: this desperate poem ('poème désespéré'), this battered poem ('mal ficelé') was never even completed ('inachevé') or given a title. The poet has only come to say that he is leaving quickly. He then presents a gastronomic poem ('poème gastronomique') in this book, a poem sponsored by Charles Baudelaire ('poème sponsorisé par Charles Baudelaire'), and a radio poem ('poème radiophonique').