False Friends
Book Work
2010

This artwork takes the form of a detective book. I based the storyline on Edgar Allen Poe's Murders at the Rue Morgue from 1841, which is generally agreed to be the first detective story ever written. My contemporary version is set in Belgium in the city of Antwerp.

The story is split up into 3 different languages. The narrator only speaks Dutch (in a Flemish dialect), the main character only speaks French and all the texts within texts, as well as the introduction and explanatory notes, are in English. Fluency in all 3 languages is necessary to fully follow all the twists in the plot.

The book was produced by the Kunstverein, Amsterdam with design work by Jaan Evart.