Plateform Issue 2

S U M M A R Y

AROUND A GLASS OF WINE «DÉGUSTATION» Vinciane Verguethen INTERVIEW of winemaker Marc Parcé FORMES FROM ABOVE «FLOWERS» Jose Ángel González INTERVIEW of fashion designer Emilie Zanon HOW DO YOU BUILD? «PINNACLE PARK» David McGhee INTERVIEW of architect Sandra Planchez éBAUCHES DE CORPS «CORPORELLES» Isa Marcelli INTERVIEW of writer Louise Imagine LIGHTS & MOVES «EPHEMERAL QUALITIES OF BEING» Shari Baker INTERVIEW of dancer and choreographer Hiroaki Umeda WRITINGS «GRAFFITOLOGIE» Thomas Metais INTERVIEW of stencil artist STF CHIAROSCURO «AMBERLIGHT» Ann Marie Simard INTERVIEW of painter Antoine Josse

AROUND A GLASS OF WINE

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« DÉGUSTATION » Vinciane Verguethen INTERVIEW of winemaker Marc Parcé

V I N C I A N E V E R G U E T H E N

dégustation How did the idea of this series occur to you ?

Within the framework of a festival called RADAR, in Tourcoing, France, the team of «Take A Sip» was organizing a wine-tasting workshop, chosen in accordance with the artists producing themselves that evening.

There was a special congenial ambiance in the tiny caravan, between the curious onlookers who came to discover the concept and wine amateurs who came gain experience and expertise from the «Take A Sip» team. No need for more to go wild and to capture tiny beautiful moments during the evening. Many lookouts, listening, exchanges.

How does one come across someone around a glass of wine ?

One does not come across, one clinks glasses with him ! Discussions come fast and become easily entwined, photos come along as simple preferred accompaniments. As in a moment when one catches the essence of an encounter, without weighing down the moment.

What does a good glass of wine represent to you ?

A moment of reconciling the internal with the external. vinciane.verguethen@gmail.com

M A R C P A R C É

INTERVIEW It was a fine harvesting day, nearby Maury, in the region of Pyrénées Orientales, where we met winemaker Marc Pagé. Here, friends, family, hospitality, generosity and work are combined in a special brand of alchemy where friends, family, children, hospitality, generosity, authenticity and work are all astonishingly combined... It is impossible to ignore the Parcé in Banyuls. Marc and his brother Thierry have inherited these amazing lands from their grandmother Thérèse. It was then up to these two men to exult the soil with all the ingratitude and difficulty working the Vine requires, and with no mechanization whatsoever. Thanks to Aurélie Periera, Vincent Legrand, Silvio Marocchino et Francis Victor, the family now extends its collective approach of the land, from Maury to the Préceptorie of Centernach where our encounter took place.

Marc, why does one always associate natural sweet wine with fortified wine ?

In the XIXth century, several stories are entwined towards the very own history of Banyuls wine. The development of natural sweet wine dates back to the period when the Banyuls exported a lot of dry wine in oak barrels to New York. In order for the barrels not to explode during the journey by boar, they understood that by adding alcohol in a barrel would hinder fermentation. At the same time in Banyuls, Abbot Rous decided to work in the wine industry. He became extremely wealthy by selling his very strong wine in the whole of Europe. At this time, three acres of land was enough to become rich. The good news and the bad news is that the Banyuls label was then linked to wine aperitifs. The business success of wines made for over 50 years destroyed the very nature and identity of the label. The Banyuls had become an aperitif and labeled as such in mass distribution. With ancient oenologic techniques such as oxidation, which smoothens out the terroir taste and feel, Banyuls was associated to fortified wine.

With the market crash, what is the new orientation of the label ?

With the Collioures wine labels trade union (Marc Pacé is the chairman), we are currently struggling to rebuild a terroir brand identity for the label. Sweet wines must be classified in various categories easily identifiable for the consumer. A white must be white, a red: a muted on grain, an oxidated wine: oxidated...

We actually discovered at the Rectoirie and ant the Préceptorie batches of muted on grain with fantastic expressions of red berries and a tannin and vinified finish we ignored. Are you the only ones to produce this type of batches ?

Mutation upon grain dates back to the 60s, discovered by my cousin. It is a wine with a true terroir identity demanding a great exigence of execution. We are not many doing this. The Grenache Noir are triaged, after a maceration during a few days, identical to vinification of red. After that, fermentation is stopped by adding mout to the degree of 7 to 10% of alcohol. After this we leave it to macerate for two to three weeks, during which period alcohol will extract grape aromas (“Cuvée aurélie” and “Th” at the Préceptorie and “Léon Parcé” at the Rectorie).

You are the president of the SEVE association regrouping viticultors, please explain its role.

This association has been overseeing winemakers for 10 years and works on reforming labels and appellations, the link to terroir. As a reflective team, we follow up the reform of appellations with INAO to be able to make it evolve in the right direction and we engage with important personas such as Jean-Michel Deiss and Hubert de Vilaine to do so. The watchword 20 years ago was to put everything under appellation labels (A.O.C.), whereas there is only space for 70% of wines to be under appellation labels. This is cheating the end consumer. An appellation is related to terroir, and this represents 10 to 15 % of wines in reality. The AOC model is not adapted to all market segments. Yet, it has been generalized as the sole model of development, without taking into account evolution, progress in oenology and agronomy which, for this end of twentieth century, show a* uniformization of production process. If one claims a terroir wine, it needs to be justified.

Why French wines are not internationally performant ?

The wine crisis is actually a crisis of industy line, not only for winemakers but also of negoce and occupation. Therefore we need to organize a few things so as to develop market performance further. Winemakers have invested more in caves or grape varietals than in market production. France produces elite wines, as well as mass market ones. There is no opposing them, but complementing. The goal of our action is not to deceive the end consumer by making belief that we produce appellation wines when they actually are mass market ones, and to use the word «terroir» for marketing purposes. The problem of winemakers today cannot be resolved according to a monolithic school of though, but by a global approach, while reflecting on tomorrow’s questions: environment (water), sustainably developed agriculture, and so forth. The notion of terroir is interesting (tea, coffee, cheese...) and is non-restrictive. It needs to rest on globalization and standardization.

Photos : MATHIEU DROUET ©

FORMES FROM ABOVE

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ﾂｫ FLOWERS ﾂｻ Jose ﾃ］gel Gonzﾃ｡lez INTERVIEW of fashion designer Emilie Zanon

J O S E Á N G E L G O N Z Á L E Z

FLOWERS What do flowers represent to you in terms of emotions and aesthetics ?

I believe in old beauty canons. The idea of flowers as simply an ornament or, even worse, an old-fashioned accessory for calendars or tea-rooms, offends me. Flowers, like bullets of light, undress my eyes as fires in a frozen world. I feel them as a headphone to my entrails. They summarize me. They are the oil stains I would like to leave on the napkin after biting the world.

Why this special stance, extracting flowers from their natural context ?

I like to freeze, subdue, frame them. I feel they deserve that submission (they urge me with their mute calling). It is a soft meekness: I don’t even touch them to make them mine.

Flowers are portrayed as a substance, shape, color...

I don’t think about almost anything in that way. I feel each photo I take is a self portrait. On the other side, I don’t consider myself as a photographer. I know very little about art and technique. I do what I can. As almost all the drowned do, I splash not to sink. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bichito gonzalez.joseangel@gmail.com

E M I L I E Z A N O N

INTERVIEW How did you come up with the idea of making chapkas ?

The new collection I offer today comes from various encounters and sighting. At first, I noticed a simple fact: people on the streets have more and more a tendency to protect themselves, to cut themselves from their surroundings. They want to be protected from the cold but from what brings a urban site as well, air pollution or noise. They try to shut themselves away in a world of comfort, smooth, sweet and good. Each piece of my work is unique, inspired by glimpse I had of some people’s face, attitude, personnalities I met. From simple passers-by they become muses without knowing it.

Why did you make your chapkas convertible ?

Each chapkas can be transformed or develop itself according to moments or mood of the owner, it’s up to each one to make it his own, make a delicious shell out of it or even see it as a precious amulet. I wanted to create innovative volumes...I like transformations, I consider it as surprises. I like the «gizmo» aspect of that kind of accessory... I enjoy creating new fixations, fastening systems.

How do you chose the fabrics ?

I tried to bring back patterns from before and worn out fabric trough the choices I made in the matter in order to mix them with comfortable fabric, very smooth and hard-wearing. I always try to propose unexpected colours too.

How will you develop your collection ?

I am currently working in a kind of hand-crafted way, making unique piece of work before proposing another range for next winter. This year I won during the Great Paris Creation Award, the «Visa for Montréal» award, I am going to work in Montréal for six months on my mass-produced collection. There will be different range: from the luxury piece of work to the massproduction... The fact that anyone can afford it is a good thing.

As for the summer collection ?

Bathing suits. http://www.myspace.com/meelxee

Photos : Suzane Brun Š Make-up : Estelle Jaillet

HOW DO YOU BUILD ?

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« PINNACLE PARK » David McGhee INTERVIEW of architect Sandra Planchez

D A V I D M C G H E E

PINNACLE PARK This serie starts with a tree ...

For me this tree is a symbol of what this area once was. West of Dallas a mere 20 years ago was rich with dense forest and expansive. Now the forest and wetland are gone replaced by a landfill, an ever growing interstate, entertainment facilities, vast warehouse complexes, and retail stores. The long rolling hills and valleys that once defined this area are gone forever. This tree is on one of the few areas left in Pinnacle Park area.

It ‘s very cinematographic and beautiful when the subject is so dramatic‌ This subject is not very attractive. To keep the viewer engaged with the series I tried to give the work a cine feel and encourage the viewer to take part in the translation of the images. The are three aspects to any work; the artist, the subject, and the viewer. The first two are important but without the viewer they are nothing. Any visual endeavor must have a viewer.

Do you have some other projects like this one ?

Yes, I do have others that are long term projects to reveal the destruction taking place. It seems that when building begins it occurs slowly almost as it was planned that way so people will forget what once was and accept what ever is placed before them. We are now at a very critical time for us and our planet where on a grand scale we are replacing the natural earth with our commercial interpretation. Lets hope we will undo the damage. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mambolove http://www.davidmcghee.net

S A N D R A P L A N C H E Z

INTERVIEW Why did you choose architecture ?

It’s a job still fixed in concrete reality, material, in touch. Virtual architecture only get my interest for potential constructions to be. Build in towns for people and improve their lifestyle, that’s what architecture provides on an art level, technics, philosophy and sociology... It’s a constantly on-going way of thinking that keeps on evolving.

Today the ecologic question and all these sweet rules we are obliged to follow to go with the «ecologically correct», must transform little by little itself into a true reflection on how to save more ressources, money and propose more strong, moderate structures than fancy ones. Glowing but humble.

A diploma in architecure and urbanism helped you to have a more global vision of a city ?

When you leave university you don’t know much about how to construct a city which is mostly about land opportunities, financial and economic necessities. University is great for all students who wants to experiment - including their teachers - who leave aside all those aspects and only focus on how profusely ideas pop and the desire to design a city with better looking structures, social and fitting to landscape... and when you get in true life, here comes desillusion. So when you get to know how a city works, its administrative, social and political pressures, it helps to avoid it, to see further in order to build something of quality. Nowadays the architect is quite like a weak link in the chain of a city construction in a larger sense, since there’s about 80% of constructions made without architect supervision, at least in France. So there are symbolic architectures and the «branded» effect of some small groups of architects and remarkable programs, but the global production still remains quite pathetic, between pastiche and out-fashioned modern movement.

You teach architecture so do you think the subject of city is something that could fit in popular culture ? (Diffusion places: Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Cité de l’Architecture de Chaillot) A city is a place of popular culture but on other subject, architecture aside, the Pavillon de l’Arsenal and the Cité de l’Architecture don’t get a lot of visits by common people, especially for their art gallery and temporary shows and that’s a shame. But this problems begin with what you’ve been taught in school where art, architecture and music are considered to be trivial. No culture so no interest in it for prominent people - or they are misled between decoration, which is given media coverage, and architecture, not the same.

As an urbanist, do you think the city entrances are now key issues ?

Yes but who’s paying attention for the functional reality of the city ? Nobody. Though there are a lot of architects, sociologists, philosophers who wrote a lot about it thirty years ago. One that remains today the most famous example is the city of Las Vegas (Venturi/Izenour/Brown) How important is ecology and its «standards» in your job ?

I try once more to approach these questions in a different way and beyond labels and standards as imposed in France. I believe as an architect that it’s essential and exciting to work on contructions that are equally balanced between economy, comfort, quality of living and durability, but it is not anchored into some people’s mind yet.

So they feel an urge, especially with the rush of development you see in emerging countries to do the opposite: higher, bigger, more ostentious, more expensive... So today architects and architecture have arrived to an extreme situation of paradox with a certain number of directives in constant contradiction with the elaboration of many projects. It’s hard and you have to fight, but the important thing is to set yourself a goal beyond any kind of frenzy you can see now and be aware of these choices and desire for tomorrow, the world left for our children to live in. http://www.acote-architecture.com

ÉBAUCHES DE CORPS

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« CORPORELLES » Isa Marcelli INTERVIEW of writer Louise Imagine

I S A M A R C E L L I

corporelles What triggered your passion for photography ?

I have been interested in photography for a long time and I am lucky to have many photographers amongst my friends. When I bought my first digital camera 4 or 5 years ago to keep record of my work and watch my girls grow up, I realized what a amazing tool I had. This period was rather difficult one for me, so I started a sort of image journal.

I was interested in putting to lightthe things taht made sense to me. I was quickly taken, as to the contrary of my job - which consist in making mosaic for interior decorating (a long and tedious process) – photography is a very fast process.

The series speaks of women, their bodies...

I have a passion for portraits. For me, this series is an attempt at women’s portraits. I have just turned 50 and I find it difficult to age, physically. Being complely instinctive by nature, I can’t explain the why, how. I surely still have a few remaining questions on feminity, the body, sensuality....

Your photography is very emotional « sensitive »…

I guess a bit like me.... This may be interesting on a purely creative level, but these are not real assets to have to live in today’s world.

Do you have any other ongoing projects ?

I have recently learnt silver film photography and developing. I recognize myself in a « traditional » aspect of the darkroom. I thought I had grasped a few things, but my last 5 rolls ended up straight in the bin, which just goes to show that I still have many more things to learn... http://www.flickr.com/photos/isamarcelli

L O U I S E I M A G I N E

INTERVIEW How did the idea of the short story come to you ?

I have very special affects towards for these apparently anodyne moments if seen from the outside, but which also, for a particular human being can take on a crucial meaning... These few fistfuls of seconds when one is feeling bored to stand in a line up in a supermarket are eventually the most beautiful ones, or, unfortunately tragic for another person.

What type of relationship does this young lady have with her body ?

She is imprisoned physically and intellectually in dire straits where she cannot breathe any more... this closed space is such that the fight to to be lead does not even consist any more in maintaining a given vital space around her, but is actually taking place within her own body.

To find just even a bit of strength for an inner sense of release...

This short story relates to something very intimate in a casual place...

The case here is one of an extreme ill-being*, screwed right down to that chair, which she seems to be transporting with her in all the places and physical spaces she ventures to... including of course the tea salon, however far from wherre real warfare takes place. It seems to me that we all transport with, and within ourselves our hidden scars, also those we do not wish to account for. They make what we are.

Hurt, here is written all over the place.

It is tangible, I do hope, even ever present in her hurt thoughts, hesitating, yet ceaselessly in motion... this character is profoundly humane, entangled in her emotions and hesitations. I wanted the reader to feel and understand this special place of mindset, to be able to relate while reading. And, why not, that even this echoes wijth her own moments of frailty...

Where would we situate the part personally lived ?

Each piece always related to personal experience, this is certain, but not solely. This is clearly a piece of fiction, even if I’m no stranger to the way she feels. In my mind, for the most of us, the formative years keep record of the stock of ill-being and inner questionings... http://www.flickr.com/photos/louiseimagine http://www.myspace.com/louiseimagine

The tea salon

That was some pretty intense tension, cutting through the marrow, stapled to the neck. Like a needle, heavy and cold, aligning the bones of her spine held on a fine thread.

That’s what was preventing her from resting her neck, her back squeezed against a support but head still held high, planted in there like a periscope. A slight shiver sometimes escaped from her, revealing muscle fatigue in a painfully veiled way. And to hold oneself in a decent manner, tuck in that tummy, put your back up straight, it all was becoming unbearable. She wanter to scream, strike through that oppressing block at the strength of the very sound of it. To repose her neck on a pillow or even a wall, who cares really, any supporting surface would do, and to - let go. She thought about it, and yet some again, and more of the same when it was time to go out, once at last no more at parents’ house, far from scrutinizing eyes, seated at her usual table, sitting on the couch of the tea salon, delicately she poured herself a steaming cup. With delectation, she dreamed about it, once her back straight, head perched on her rigid body, while trying hard not to stain the the tablecloth made of white lace. To rest her neck, simple as that. Ceaselessly, she kept on thinking about the release, marvelous repose. To let oneself be induced into sudden softness, to be invaded with no resistance, to delve, and succumb. She thought of it all the while craftily cutting the Speculoos cookies above the porcelaine plate, in four pieces exactly, as she oh so well had been taught to, her head barely feathering the pillow but not quite brave enough to touch it. She could guess the depth of it, the soft yielding substance welcoming the rigidity of her body. She even thought about it when dipping each tiny piece of biscuit into the steaming tea. To trespass those few millimeters to go, to let go at the sensual touch on her tense back of the neck, falling prey, while the warm biscuit was melting on her tongue. And she thought about it still. The warmth of the drink, flowing down her throat. Closing eyes at last and fall prey for good, for langueur. Nobody would even realize, she thought, no one. Her heavy head imperceptibly capsizing, her whole body moving towards repose, nobody, nobody could see nor even imagine in this crowded café… She’d still look upright, her body still as uptight, hands poised, palms of hand lying all flat, white metatarsals on bony knees. Her shoulders would still be solidly anchored on her bust, only hardly could one notice, if paying attention - a very particular kind of attention – that peculiarly enough, her eyelids were closed.

It was an orgastic kind of a feeling, to know that nobody could guess, alone in the crowd, melting within her own dream entwined, in the ambient noise, far from judging eyes, these tiny spying eyes following her everywhere in her home, whatever she may be doing, or might. And now, crowd surrounding her, swaying her, helping her escape, surrounded by unknown faces without an ounce of hostility. By moments, she was listening other people’s conversations enchanted by anonymous voices untying tiny morsels of their lives in bursts of laughter and awkward pauses of silence, pulling her further and further away from her own frights … Swallowing her tea slowly, fruits de la passion, today, a new flavor, just for a change, - passion - isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? Her smile turned towards an awkward one when ordering and she felt an interrogation in the look of the waiter, she even felt she was starting to blush but did not want to back out, she had to pick herself up, slight tremolo in her voice, trembling, not far from breaking, she chose, passion, an amber colored hot drink.{...}

LIGHTS & MOVES

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« EPHEMERAL QUALITIES OF BEING » Shari Baker INTERVIEW of dancer and choreographer Hiroaki Umeda

S H A R I B A K E R

EPHEMERAL QUALITIES OF BEING What was the context of this serie ?

The images in this series explore the essence of being, the ephemeral qualities of movement within a space. The traces of self left behind. The serie is a study of the human form in movement, dancers, as ghost-like beings, momentarily present in a space and then gone. Through these images i attempt to capture the traces one leaves behind, the essences of self, recorded in pure light and color. Fleeting glances, a mere suggestion of those who have passed through the frame.

The blur, the movement, the light, how did you work on it ?

Simply put, i use photography in its purest form - recording light over time - to explore and experiment and attempt to unravel the world that i feel. I use the camera in a way that allows me to see what our eyes cannot see, to document what we do not understand. I use a technique that overlaps several mediums, which i hope, will encourage the viewer to look and to feel, and to see beyond the image and into the essence of the photograph itself. Photography can be used to document a moment in time, in these images i prefer to experiment with time itself and to explore how time interacts with light and movement. It is this notion of time as a medium that intrigues me and inspires me to create works that play with the concept of stopping time, stretching it, and distorting it. My photography is merely a suggestion, to stimulate the viewer and inspire a connection, and hopefully, a deeper understanding of the emotions captured in each photograph.

What does dance represent for you ?

I find dance, to be like photography : a creative response. Whereby a photographer might use light and color to paint a photograph, dancers use their bodies to become the music. Bringing the two mediums together excites me as a photographer, i long to capture the essence of the music itself, the visual representation of a musical score. In this series i am experimenting with exposure and motion to intimately capture the dancers as they become light, become color, become time. I am trying to connect, through photography, to create an intimate understanding, a visual flow of the music itself. A painting of their essence into a visual score.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/floebee floebee@mac.com

H I R O A K I U M E D A

INTERVIEW How did this idea of mix danse and light occur to you ?

My approach is visual, as people look at the dance, but play of light is just as important to fine-tune it. This is why it is essentiel for me to build dance and light right within my shows.

The show itself is very impressive, how do you go about producing the mixture between dance, light and storyline? Maybe because you are telling a story...

Maybe... But more importantly for me it is a shared experience with the public. What I am interested in is how the audience will react to the show. This is what I wish to transmit. I compose my show according to the way one moves, the way my body evolves (with light so as to create an illusion and to produce a visual experience for the audience.

When you dance, sometimes one does not really know if it is you moving, or luminous effects giving off this impression. The first part is like a illusion on the emotional and visual plane, a show in 3-D....

Yes, «illusion» is exaxtly the concept of the first piece «Adapting for Distortion».

Whereas the second piece (or part) feels more peaceful, sometimes more aggresive, but also more colorful.... do you chose colors in a specific manner ?

Yes there are only colors for the «Haptic» piece. I usually only work on black and white, so here I chose to try and work with color only.

A few words to describe your art ?

My dancing is an object, but non-specific, it is not alive though. It is like a chair, for instance, it is not anything special, just an object. And my show is an experience. For instance, if you take a train, there is something going on with spatiality, same thing.

Is this the first time you produce yourself in France ?

No, I have been in France several times, but for the first part, it’s an international prime. http://hiroakiumeda.com info@hiroakiumeda.com

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WRITINGS

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« GRAFFITOLOGIE » Thomas Metais INTERVIEW of stencil artist STF

T H O M A S M E T A I S

graffitologie How did you get the idea for this series ?

I actually don’t have any preconceived ideas before going to take photos in the street. I let myself go along my own footsteps and light, while minding instinct and coincidence. I get it when things suddenly come together in a moment of harmony, when a silhouette of an anonymous passer-by resounds with decor.

What is the meaning of urbanity to you ?

Being a pure-blooded country boy, maybe I would not feel completely at ease in the city. This inadaptation to urban flux creates a distance and preserves the eye from progressive anesthesia installing itself in places where we feel well.

What is difficult for me is the fact that in urban life one carries one’s solitude in the middle of the crowd. When sitting down on a parcel of pavement with a camera, one imagines what might be going on in the mind of a stranger, one imagines all the stories that that piece of asphalt has seen fly by us and then one does not feel so alone any more.

And what about the presence of words in your photos...

I really love walls keeping track of life, strata of torn posters and scribbled words reading as archeological indications about the city. One can play with their meanings, extract them out of their contexts, these are many tiny elements on which to linger on in a picture. The calligraphic aspect of writings on walls also fascinates me, and I can get stuck and hit by a words of an unknown language simply because of its graphics. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tranuf

S T F

INTERVIEW TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORLD...

Rather dark some people might say... But I am quite keen on saying that as long as there’s black, there goes cheerful colours too! You get black by mixing the three other primary colours, so my world is like this mixing thing. It a synthesis of what I saw of the alternative and punk scene in the 80s and people producing it. While the disco fluo was at the top, the rock scene then was growing a committed claiming, and celebrating was part of that, without even care of how much energy you put in it, with a touch of ludicrous and provocation. The whole image of it was perverted, rough and unforgettable. Even if I try to be more soft in my work, this world is still underneath somewhere...

WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH WITH THE STENCIL? The punk’n’roll motto was DIY (do it yourself). That’s why I use stencil, it’s simple, even for someone who doesn’t know how to draw. It’s fast application and easy to use in the street. You can for example signpost with arrows a concert, claiming an anti- or pro- anything on the walls of your neighborhood. Thanks to another urban artist (Rnest) I learned the basis. Then you quickly get hooked because street is a living spot and you can do so much at a «street-art» level that you want to distinguish yourself.

So there’s only one way. At first you try many things to emerge but so much has been done before, you just go back to regular in themes or composition. I am on a multilayered stencil with different tracing, I like to progress in the fog. I use canvas again and use the stencil in a different way, I try to reach its limits as a prop. My cutting goes with deformed visual to outline a particuliar part, which confuse the eye of the one who sees it.

YOU CLAIM A TOTALLY FREE AND POPULAR ART...

Yes, that’s my DADA side. The movement base pointed out the reject of reason and logic, and gave place to eccentricity and derision. These artists were disrespectful and eccentric on purpose, showing nothing but contempt for past and current conservatism. They were in search of freedom in their creativity, for which they used any kind of material and shapes available, but also especially in language which they liked lyrical and heterogeneous. The only thing left was for the music to incorporate the movement in a way or another. You might say the DADA movement was led by the grand-fathers of the punk rock scene! As for the popular aspect, you can explain it with this notion of gift you have in the street-painting offered to passer-by. That’s what I mean when I say popular. Whether it’s put up in the street in posters, stickers or in a rough way on walls - the same goes for graffiti - all this ways feed the popularism. How many people will never go to a museum or enter an art gallery? And even if a lot of people doesn’t pay attention anymore, I think you ought to stick to your modern artists and keep on using common area as place of art.

DO YOU GET DIFFERENT SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WITH DIFFERENT KIND OF SUPPORT? Nothing easier for imagination.Spray painting stays on almost any support, so why deny it. Anything in the street can be used as a support, but this is not a place where you can linger and paint. As for canvas it remains an attractive prop, because academic, but often conventional. However many household objects can be used too. Objects which have history or a specific shape to use. But by doing so, you lose some harmony due to the object form and messes up things a little. Then you may as well try to tell the story of the chosen object or play with the typography of a title, even the object name itself. Hence some work on vinyl discs where stencils and typography favours rock’n’roll music and the round shape of the disc. You can use the cover of a book where suggestions are limitless when you see every kind of size and support that exist or even posters you can retrieve by chance on the street.

THERE IS A GREAT PLACE FOR TYPOGRAPHY IN YOUR WORK...

As much as there is in urban landscape... We are overwhelmed by publicity praising the latest «in», so we don’t notice that much anymore. Typography is - in many different ways- part of the space I have in my work. I try to get rid of its informative aspect and use it differently. Some fonts have particuliar types when enlarged to the limit where the eye don’t even recognize where the whole line merges with a letter or number. A gothic font gets spaced out, «full and loose» when enlarged, whereas a thick font becomes landscape or drawn forms.The symbol from the letter or the number serves my paintings. The one who looks at it wonders why and let his imagination wander, takes his time and I have his attention.Then I get to pass on a message and speak of the «big picture». http://www.myspace.com/stf_pochoiriste

CLAIR OBSCUR

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« AMBERLIGHT » Ann Marie Simard INTERVIEW du peintre Antoine Josse

A N N M A R I E S I M A R D

AMBERLIGHT What is the story behind this series ?

It’s the story of my life, no less. I am «am» as several people call me, and amber, when in light, is the gemstone I prefer.

Amber’s origin is tree resin, so nature is not lost here but found again in the city. As in Proust’s Search for Lost Time I had the feeling I had found it again all along this walk one special evening, as if eternity became compressed into tiny moments of light. This series also reads like a narrative of light, it is a signature style of sorts. It feels like I’m on my way towards home. This series also started a photo and text book called Late Harvest - Homebound I’m writing these days, often late in the evening.

There is nostalgia in these photos...

Yes, as all along this walk I have the feeling someone I do not quite know, but yet know so well, is both missing yet by moments, the presence lingers on. Hence also, «Souvenir d’avenir», Memories of the future.

And what about chiaroscuro...

«Darkness white light» comes to mind at the sound of the question. From a beautiful song I only wish to evoke. As well, I wanted these photos to appear black and white all the while being in color, so this is why I did my light reading off the lights themselves to darken all visible structures. I did not want to make that old choice between black and white film. And isn’t it also life itself, the essence if there ever is one, of photography itself, as it is physical light striking both film and life. And we, as physical beings all come from a place that may appear dark, but could it be possible that we ourselves do not only absorb available light but can also sustain and project inner light and feeling and warmth not only on film but also on darkest hours of life. Each one of amberlights are sparks of hope no less than victorious in my mind’s eye. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wintergarden marigold.ad@gmail.com

A N T O I N E J O S S E

INTERVIEW Your landscapes are very pure in a visually minimalistic way... Such as is the African soil... rich and arid at once.

Yes, like in many other locations in the world.. above all these are all No mans’ lands and each and every one of us can find a place they have known before.

In your canvases, light and shadow seem to oppose. And yet each finds its strength in the presence of the other.

True, some times of the day give depth and density to sky and land.

Yourself, being an artist , don’t you also oscillate between two elements? The Earth of your sculpture and painting on canvas?

Yes, it is a poetic way for me to oppose two media. I definitely use these two modes of expression in my artwork. Oui, c’est une façon très poétique d’opposer deux médiums. J’utilise en effet ces deux mode d’expression dans mon art.

Can you explain to me the differences existing for you between painting and sculpture?

As everyone (or almost!) I started out in drawing, but very fast, not feeling satisfied with the depth of my paintings, I felt a kind of a frustration in absence of this dimension... My paintings because bas-relief, then full high relief and at last, liberated themselves from the wall. Today my sculptures «exist» in the spatial dimension, as a presence, and each step I take around them is like a new painting to my eyes.

Why did you choose to do both?

Both are as important to me. Painting allows me to render «situations» I could not create in three dimensions. Additionally, the monochromatic nature of my sculpture is compensated by the colors of my landscapes. It has become a game; like a tennis match, some of my paintings inspire new sculpture projects and vice versa.

Then suffices for me to go from one to the other.

Why did you abandon painting for a given period of time to finally come back to it ?

I never really abandoned painting, but lack of time and the abundance of my scuptural projects have not allowed me to have a satisfactory level of productivity. My pictorial work has hence been very slow and laborious... and I ended up by creating my own technique.

You have not explained to me that this series of painting is very ancient... And since you have placed some characters on canvases... which are the reasons ?

Definitely, the characters very fast colonized by paintings, so as to maintenain coherence between sculpting and painting, it seemed necessary to me to maintain the same discourse in these two modes of expression.

Do you have other ongoing projects ?

Today, what I am after is to picturally translate the solitude of the human being and their* difficulty to communicate.

Permanently at the Toast Galerie in Paris From the 05th of March to the 05th of April 2009 at the galerie Reg’ART-Confrontations in Rouen From June at the Galerie Dollita in Quiberon (56) http://www.myspace.com/antoinejosse

Have participated to this issue : JULIE TADDUNI - Redaction and communication secretary SOPHIE L. CUVÉ - Graphic designer ANN MARIE SIMARD - Translation FELICITY CONSTANT - Translation VINCENT BENHARTT - Translation MATHIEU DROUET - Web LAURENCE GUENOUN - Cover’s photo and Contributor MARIE COULANGEON - Contributor ERIC BATTISTELLI - Contributor CARINE LAUTIER - Contributor RODOLPHE RADUEL - Contributor PAOLA HABRI - Contributor Thanks for their help and support to : LAURA BOUJENAH ERIC ECOLAN SEB PARRAUD ORIGINAL MUSIC SHIRT EMA MERCIER

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