272 pages minus 232 equals celluloid

The title 272 pages minus 232 equals celluloid refers to a process of subtraction, transformation, and recontextualization.

By reducing the original 272-page material to a remaining 40 pages, the artist Franck David emphasizes what is left—what resists omission and becomes the essence of the work. The term "celluloid," historically associated with early film stock, functions here as a metaphor: it evokes the notion of editing, sequencing, and framing—of turning material into a medium.

Published in 2002 on the occasion of Franck David’s exhibition at Palais de Tokyo (Paris), the 40-page catalogue literalizes the title’s calculation. But beyond its arithmetic logic, the gesture becomes a conceptual operation—transforming absence into presence, and printed matter into a cinematic trace.