2020, Chaumont / Jesuit Chapel / 2019 / 100% RECOVERY: If there is a type of project that I like: it is this kind. Investing in a huge place, made of stone, of disproportionate size, sacred what is more and of a beautiful aesthetic with everything that I can have on hand. Recovery, recycling, gleaning. Finding, rummaging, transforming, scraps, forgotten things, waste… Giving them back color and poetry, and making them dialogue with the environment. Here is the Jesuit chapel in Chaumont, in the 52!
It was a slap in the face to discover this place, to feel its strength and its history.
The whiteness, the finesse and the complexity of these cut stones troubled me!
I had the chance and the privilege to be a whole week in these places, to transform and install everything. There were discussions with the historians of the city, the technical services. Surprise “You really want a cubic meter of shredded paper from our municipal trash?” “Are you sure these old flyers will be useful to you?” “The old coasters from our old associative bar? Really”?
Yes to everything! In quantity, by the dozens and hundreds, and then the trance can begin…
Accumulation, alignment, profusion: I spread, I paint, I sort, I count.
Sacred geometry, echoing the place. It was a great pleasure, very long days but the result moved me. A big thank you to the city of Chaumont for its invitation!
And thank you for allowing me to put these colors of peace, love and unity in such a place!
Tribute to the LGBTQIA+ movement, peace on all these members and among!
Photos with white margins: Richard from the city of Chaumont. Thanks to him for these beautiful shots!
And thanks to the whole team of the city of Chaumont: Forgive me the project is out of date and I almost ran under a train in the meantime: I lost your first names….
(A rare event: I was able to share the moment of the “opening” with my parents who made the trip from the Jura that day… thank you for their presence: what I do sometimes seems strange for many members of my family so to share it with them live is a pleasure: especially to see them feel emotion and be sucked in by the poetry and magic of the place)