A journey of initiation
After several years’ work in heritage conservation, during which I had the pleasure of working on major pieces created during the golden centuries of cabinet making, I took a first step towards personal development when I left this field that I cared for in order to start creating, instead of restoring. It was time for me to stop reading and start writing.
One step of an artistic ascent. A long staircase meandered up a giant mountain, each step a symbol of technical, creative, philosophical and spiritual development. I had mastered the techniques allowing me to work with wood, sculpture, woodturning, marquetry, but everything I did at that time did not show enough audacity for my taste, only a desire to put my skills to use. My scenography work allowed me to become more confident in using different materials, to discover different mediums, as the pieces created are much less subject to inspection and perfectionist judgments. The work is ephemeral and veiled in a world where smoke and darkness become precious allies. The attention of the audience is mainly captured by the actors on the scene and more indulgent with the décor. |
“Become such as you are” |
I experimented with synthetic resins, through modelling and moulding, as well as with metal, which opened interesting doors for me. I discovered a matter which needed a technical approach that was completely different from everything I had known until then. Welding allowed me to attach pieces too each other through adding matter, an inconceivable notion with wood. Forging allows us to shape metal as we wish, while wood requires fastidious work for the simplest bow.
Another few steps taken, the fog lifts and shows a new path through the steep peaks of the mountain of the future.
The raw material is abundant. Lack of money lead me to dabble in mechanics in order to respond to my needs, guiding me towards a sort of autonomy. I discovered my medium at the heart of modern technology. Mechanical pieces offer a plethora of forms, textures and shines that remind me of the richness of different types and grains of wood, of African mahogany, elm burls, quilted maple and the iridescence of satinwood. Our times are overflowing with this material at the scrap metal merchants, in dumps and tips, or even in the countryside where non-cultivated land is often turned into graveyards of wrecks, only waiting for a spark of creativity to live anew.
The longer the walk, the harder the cool air of high altitudes starts to bite. But the cold is refreshing for sturdy souls, intoxicating for curious minds. The more that is learned and discovered, the more apparent becomes the immensity of that which remains to be discovered. The echo of the « All I know, is that I know nothing » that Socrates answered to the oracle of Delphi rings out in the immensity of the mountains.
Another few steps taken, the fog lifts and shows a new path through the steep peaks of the mountain of the future.
The raw material is abundant. Lack of money lead me to dabble in mechanics in order to respond to my needs, guiding me towards a sort of autonomy. I discovered my medium at the heart of modern technology. Mechanical pieces offer a plethora of forms, textures and shines that remind me of the richness of different types and grains of wood, of African mahogany, elm burls, quilted maple and the iridescence of satinwood. Our times are overflowing with this material at the scrap metal merchants, in dumps and tips, or even in the countryside where non-cultivated land is often turned into graveyards of wrecks, only waiting for a spark of creativity to live anew.
The longer the walk, the harder the cool air of high altitudes starts to bite. But the cold is refreshing for sturdy souls, intoxicating for curious minds. The more that is learned and discovered, the more apparent becomes the immensity of that which remains to be discovered. The echo of the « All I know, is that I know nothing » that Socrates answered to the oracle of Delphi rings out in the immensity of the mountains.
Artistic approach
My interest in philosophy gives me all the sources of inspiration I need. Better still! I have no scruples about taking my pick of concepts of the past. Three thousand years of philosophical history have led me to observe that we only ever reinterpret, recontextualise and modernise concepts that seem to have always existed in the human mind. For me it is not about inventing, but about choosing, a sort of “ready-made” à la Duchamp. We never create anything, we only pick and choose and transform. It is true for matter, as a 20th century physicist taught us, and I think it applies just as well to ideas. But shush! Artists need to believe they are inventing and creating, it is vital for their art. As opposed to scientists, the truth is not fundamentally important to me. We can’t change reality, only look away from it. I find that art serves to dissimulate the vicissitudes of the present. Life is only the theatre of every fiction. We live on sweet lies, the most vitalist lies, those that will have the best effects for our existence. Every failure, loss of a friend, heartbreak or hangover gives me a feeling of waking from a dream. The music has stopped, and we turn off the lights to avoid the vision of an empty scene surrounded by detritus and broken glass. The Dionysian orgy is over, Apollo greets us with temperance and wisdom, the patience necessary to prepare a new show. Because I was told to live under the sign of cooperation between Apollo and Dionysus. There! That would be an interesting subject for a sculpture. |
We are not born free, we must create ourselves freedom. The same person gives me inspiration in “The Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit”, the prologue to “Thus spoke Zarathustra”. He explains how the camel, loyal to the morals of its time, becomes a lion that is powerful enough to conquer its freedom, before becoming a child that can create new values.
Ah! Another subject for a sculpture that I find interesting.
I see the artist as a child, who is not trying to become an adult – he has already been one – but to return humanity to childhood.
Looking back, I become aware of how few steps I have taken, how short is my trodden path; several years’ work to break but a few chains, and the infinite ahead of me; everything remains to be created, everything remains to be discovered… That is freedom.
Ah! Another subject for a sculpture that I find interesting.
I see the artist as a child, who is not trying to become an adult – he has already been one – but to return humanity to childhood.
Looking back, I become aware of how few steps I have taken, how short is my trodden path; several years’ work to break but a few chains, and the infinite ahead of me; everything remains to be created, everything remains to be discovered… That is freedom.
Exhibitions
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RI'ART FEST OPEN WORKSHOPS / MAY 2019
INAUGURATION OF THE PARC DE LA TERRE NOIRE / AUGUST 2018 "JOURNÉES DU PATRIMOINE" AT CENTRALE 7 / SEPT. 2018 LA DENT DURE COLLECTIVE / SEPT. 2017 Interactive installations
INAUGURATION OF THE PARC DE LA TERRE NOIRE / AUGUST 2018
"JOURNÉES DU PATRIMOINE" AT CENTRALE 7 / SEPT. 2018 TOMAHAWK FESTIVAL OF QUERRIEN / SEPT. 2016 REMUNGOL MEDIA LIBRARY ESPACE KIÊTHON OF MÉDRÉAC ABBAYE OF PAIMPONT |