burying art / 2016
On April 18th, 2016, I buried 3 works that I made between January and March 2016 in an empty field, close to the town of Saint Jean d'Angely (Charente-Maritime, in the South-West of France). I have never exhibited the works, nor did I even present them to anyone. A clear reason why I chose to bury the pieces is hard to put into words. The decision might be tied to the fact that at that moment I did not see a purpose in selling them, while also I felt disillusioned with the way in which the art market functions. I am sad to see that mostly commercial art ends up being promoted and then bought. I don't want to have my works gathering dust in my studio, nor do I wish to sell them for a bargain price - since I do respect myself and my art. I prefer to have them gather earth. I am happier to know that someone might find these and maybe enjoy them. It would be like finding a treasure (or a seemingly worthless treasure - for the ones that aren't connected with more recent works of art). Undoubtedly, it is my hope that the one that might discover my 3 pieces would also be able to enjoy them.
The titles of the pieces are: "The Khartoum hamburger", "Dead flowers growing from an Angel's intestines" and "Untitled #404". Sizes vary. Materials employed in crafting them: concrete, steel, wood, aluminium, canvas and acrylic colours.
The above photos were taken after I had dug around 20 cm in the ground. I wanted to be able to photograph the works at grass level.
Here are photos of the packed works, taken at Abbaye royale de Saint-Jean-d'Angély:
In order to support the search, I have also created a treasure map:
This project was developed during the writing Residency of Abbaye Royale de Saint Jean d’Angély, Odyssée Program – ACCR, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication