Lawrence Giffin’s two-volume series is a reflection on the reading practice of turning pages and the linearity of the codex. Each of the 100 pages consists only of a bold page number in the upper outer corner and a footnote with instructions on which page to turn to next.
In Lawrence Giffin’s NON FACIT SALTUS, reference is made to the next page in each case, which corresponds to the usual reading of, say, a novel. Page 100 is without an instruction. Unlike its corresponding counterpart QUOD VIDE, NON FACIT SALTUS understands the codex as a finite, linear sequence. The title refers to the Latin “natura non facit saltus” (nature does not make jumps) and thus to an important principle of natural philosophy, which can also be applied to the material preconditions of the book in codex form, where content and turning pages follow a linear progression.
In Lawrence Giffin’s QUOD VIDE (Latin for “which see,” used for a cross-reference in the text), the reader can choose between several pages to turn to until they reach page 100, only to be instructed to turn back to page 1 or 14: “If you want to go to page 1, turn to page 1 / If you want to go to page 14, turn to page 14.” Page 1 accordingly says: “If you want to go to page 14, turn to page 14.”
The path through the book thus results from the interplay of seemingly arbitrary instructions given by the author and reader’s own decisions. In any case, the reader jumps from page to page, which is why QUOD VIDE forms the counterpart to NON FACIT SALTUS with its linear sequence of numbers and pages.
