L’INCONFORT ACT I ; MOVING ART

PART 1 ; STEMMING AND DISTRIBUTION OF GRAPES

L’inconfort act I part 1 ; Stemming and distribution of grapes.
Happening

HD photography
2022

In this first phase of the happening titled L’Inconfort act 1, I welcome the audience in a manner that is both humble and unexpected. Sitting on the floor, in a simple and almost meditative posture, I am meticulously destemming bunches of grapes. This seemingly mundane, almost ritualistic gesture creates an atmosphere of calm and intimacy.

The audience arrives gradually, allowing me to create a moment of interaction with each person. Through brief exchanges—a simple "Hello," a "How are you?" or "Did you have a good day?"—I aim to establish a sense of closeness, even familiarity. These seemingly trivial exchanges unsettle the audience’s usual habits; instead of being passive observers, they find themselves drawn into personal, spontaneous conversations.

As visitors continue to enter the space, I distribute individual grapes, one by one. This gentle offering sets the rhythm for the waiting period. Time seems to stretch, suspended in this moment, as we wait for the official start of the happening. This prelude, often charged with silent tension, is transformed here into a shared experience where we collectively savor a moment of slowness, perhaps even discomfort, echoing the title of the performance.

The banality of the gesture—destemming grapes and engaging in light conversation—serves as an introduction to a reflection on social conventions, waiting, and the everyday. The contrast between the triviality of the actions and the careful attention given to them immediately creates a sense of dissonance. The audience, expecting to witness a happening, is gently brought into a fundamental human experience, all while being aware of the latent theatricality of the situation.

PART 2 ; MOVING ART

L’inconfort act I part 2; Moving art

Happening

HD photography

2022

In this second phase of the happening L’inconfort Act I, I take the process a step further by actively involving the audience in the installation itself. After the initial exchanges in the exhibition space, I invite the audience to follow me outside. Together, we leave the exhibition space to head towards my studio, located nearby in the same neighborhood. This seemingly mundane act takes on a performative dimension as it disrupts the usual relationship between artist and audience.

Simply leaving the exhibition space—a place traditionally sanctified for art—and entering the studio, an intimate and laborious place often either unseen or fantasized, is a deliberately unsettling gesture. This collective walk, through a familiar urban space transformed by the performance, creates a transitional moment where discomfort arises from this unusual invitation to share the artist’s everyday environment.

The objective of this journey is clear: to retrieve the plaster chaise longue, a key element of the final installation. Although practical and straightforward, this task becomes a performative act as it involves the audience directly in the process of creation. The fact that the installation remains incomplete before the spectators’ arrival creates, intentionally, a situation of incompleteness, where the work only fully exists through the participation of the audience. They become not only witnesses but, indirectly, actors in this evolving installation.

Together, we physically (and perhaps symbolically) transport the chaise longue back to the exhibition space, reintegrating the object into the artistic context. This collective movement prompts a reflection on the roles of both the artist and the audience, raising questions about labor, collaboration, and the boundary between the creation and exhibition of an artwork.

Beyond the mere transport of an object, this phase of the happening also questions how art takes shape and reveals itself, and how it can simultaneously be both process and result. By directly involving the public in this process, I aim to, if only for a moment, dissolve the barrier separating art from everyday life, the finished object from the ongoing work.