Everything written and presented on this website is the result of the creative and production work of Swiss artist and mathematician Jean-Claude Bossel.

This body of creative and production work is developed within the framework of three Swiss Sàrls and two registered trademarks, managed by Jean-Claude Bossel and Fabienne Guyen Bossel.

A FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS is also under development.

Click on the image to enter the REALITY page of this site.

During this period of over twenty years, Jean-Claude Bossel developed an interdisciplinary artistic, cultural, and educational project, loosely inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel The Glass Bead Game.

This project unfolded around four main fields :

• MATHEMATICS

• MUSIC

• PAINTING

• FICTION

During this period, fictional elements began to emerge, particularly through the imaginary characters FRANZ GURTNER (1895-1945) and JEAN-BAPTISTE NILKOP (1939-1991), both of whom signed their paintings with the initials JB (It should be noted that Franz Gurtner would have signed his paintings using the initials of his cousin, JEANNE BEAUDRIER).

However, at that time, the CODE BACH encryption method did not yet exist. Jean-Claude Bossel invented and developed it during the following period, between 2018 and 2022.

This work led to several events, publications, concerts, and exhibitions, among which three key references are presented below.

Click on the image to read an article dedicated to the interdisciplinary GLASS BEADS project as it existed in 2011.

This article was published in the PRISMES magazine of the Haute École Pédagogique of Canton de Vaud (HEP-VD), in the November 2011 issue.

Click on the image to view a fictional report created by Bernard Novet, dedicated to the character FRANZ GURTNER and two of his works: INVITATION TO THE JOURNEY and JUDGEMENT OF PARIS (musical creation and painting production).

In reality, Jean-Claude Bossel composed the first score in 2003-2004 and the second in 2004-2005, as part of a commission from the State of Vaud. The premiere took place at Lausanne Cathedral with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in the spring of 2005. As for the associated paintings, they were painted by Jean-Claude Bossel in the spring of 2013.

The recent evolution of his work, particularly the introduction of the BACH CODE encryption process, has led to the modification of certain dates mentioned in the report, which are now no longer valid. For example, the INVITATION TO THE JOURNEY paintings would have been painted by FRANZ GURTNER in the spring of 1932 (and not in 1934 as stated in the report). Additionally, GURTNER would not have died in the bombings in Hamburg in 1944, but in a fire in May 1945 in Schwangau, Bavaria, while he was working on his last two works: an opera GARDEN OF DELIGHTS and a series of VARIATIONS (musical and pictorial) on his BACH CODE.

Click on the image to watch a report aired on Swiss television, dedicated to an exhibition featuring over sixty paintings by Jean-Claude Bossel at Château d’Oron, as part of the GLASS BEADS project.

During this second phase, Jean-Claude Bossel introduces a new fictional dimension to his work by inventing the encryption process known as the CODE BACH.

In the fictional universe, Jean-Claude Bossel is not the direct inventor of this process, but he is said to have developed it based on the original idea of the imaginary character FRANZ GURTNER.

The latter would have conceived the encryption code in the early 1920s.

ARTICLE
ARCHIPEL REVIEW
(2020)

Click on the image to read an article written by Jean-Claude Bossel, dedicated to the fictional BACH CODE, published in 2020 in the literary journal ARCHIPEL from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lausanne.

During this recent period, Jean-Claude Bossel has meticulously developed the overall framework of the CODE BACH project, both legally (by securing the ® CODE BACH trademark) and practically (by planning several series of paintings, musical scores, and publications to be produced over the 2025-2027 period).

See below for the objectives of 2025-2027.

PAINTING

Several series of paintings, all linked to the CODE BACH project, and all signed JB. Some of these paintings will be attributed to the imaginary character FRANZ GURTNER (signing with the initials of his cousin JEANNE BEAUDRIER), others to the imaginary character JEAN-BAPTISTE NILKOP (in the TUFF’ ART style). Some paintings will simply be new works by Jean-Claude Bossel, as a “real” contemporary artist and mathematician.

MUSIC

Composition of several pieces attributed to the imaginary character FRANZ GURTNER, including works for solo piano and a string quartet. These pieces would have been composed during World War II.

MATHEMATICS

Writing of a book titled ART & MATHEMATICS focused on the CODE BACH cryptography process, including series of mathematical exercises (late high school and early university/polytechnic level) and explanatory theoretical video capsules.

FICTION

Writing of a novel trilogy focused on the three main figures of the CRYPTED PAINTINGS movement: the fictional characters FRANZ GURTNER (inventor of CODE BACH) and JEAN-BAPTISTE NILKOP (inventor of the TUFF’ ART style), as well as the Swiss contemporary artist and mathematician JEAN-CLAUDE BOSSEL, who is very much “real.” This trilogy will be written by an imaginary author, GUY MANZ, an art historian and musicologist.

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS

Art monographs dedicated to series of paintings containing encrypted messages using CODE BACH. These monographs, written by the fictional character Guy Manz, will be published as digital publications or video clips for social media.

FOUNDATION

Creation of a “real” FRANZ GURTNER FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS, a “real” non-profit foundation (pure public utility), which will bear the name of the “fictional” character FRANZ GURTNER.