Hors (Beyond)
I came upon the draft of my letter to André Breton, sent by way of farewell in December 1954, quite by accident these past few days.
"… I have to leave you, since I cannot come to the meetings, to try – alone – what this short Hungarian folk poem invites me to do:
The man who wants to become a piper
Must go down to hell;
There he has to learn how to blow
Into the bagpipe…"
Today, in April 1999, I realise it has been done.
Such a long season in hell! Forty five years, but not according to the Gregorian calendar…I needed a great breath, I have learnt.
Now I am 'out': out of view, out of the background, out of range – and also out of reach.
Now, I may have the truth in a soul and body.
Marcoussis, April 1999
(From the catalogue of the exhibition Hors, Galerie de France, 1999)