Text-based conceptual practice (appropriated novel with editorial intervention)

In 2023, while at Heathrow Airport, Madeleine bought The Writing Retreat, a little-known writer's debut mystery thriller by Julia Bartz. She never finished it. Two years later, Madeleine found it again while reorganizing her bookshelves. She printed out a copy and began editing it by hand: cutting scenes, trimming dialogue, and restructuring the plot.

"Alex", the original protagonist, became "Madeleine", a blend of the original character and herself. "Roza Vallo", the antagonist, became Sophia Celle, a composite of Roza, Sophie Calle, Ana Mendieta, Joan Didion, and Marina Abramović.

When she is finished editing the book, Madeleine has said that she will send it to the publisher who published the original. The real project is not the book, but the question: Why does she do it?

In 2025, Madeleine presented materials from this ongoing process as an installation at CAV Multimedia in Bucharest, as part of a solo show.

Categories
Collection, Multi-media, Ongoing, Research, Text

Financially supported by
2024 Mondriaan Fonds, Artist Start grant, NL

Exhibited
2025 Sophia’s Cell, Centrul Artelor Vizuale (CAV) Multimedia, Bucharest, RO (Solo Exhibition)

Mentions
Object Photography by Nelli Serzanowa