Master MIRC Paris Cité, University
Entretien - Emilien Sarot
The concept of the book is based on the idea of transversality, where the depth between the past and the present coexists and overlaps in layers, through the notion of a work where the present is juxtaposed with the past. The artist, through a hybrid approach, draws inspiration from the great classical works of painting, while infusing them with a distinctly contemporary aesthetic. His canvases thus become suspended bridges between distant eras and current artistic concerns. Iconic figures from the past, myths, and universal symbols are reinterpreted with a vibrant color palette.
Through his technique, the artist seeks to blur the boundaries between these two worlds. It is not simply a citation or a historical reference, but a living reappropriation that creates a dynamic relationship between the past and the present. The resulting compositions are dialogues between the old and the modern, between tradition and innovation. This is the true richness of his approach: he does not merely paint the image of a bygone era, but that of transmission, appropriation, and the evolution of the gaze through the centuries.
Espèces d’espaces
A book about two years' work through space, in search of its limits, its vestiges, its residues, hollows, absences...
Title and preface borrowed from the work of George Perec
A3+ format / Photographs Sébastien Salord
SUN-TZU
Vide et plein
Duality, complementarity, referring directly to the concept of yin and yang.
The concept of the book is based on a duality that cannot be separated. The two booklets add up to form a single booklet; unity in diversity (yin and yang).
The booklets cannot be separated from each other; they can only be dissociated by reading.
The blocks of text in the two booklets, one with the original Sun-tzu text, the other with the commentaries, clash in their page layouts and justifications. They attract, complement and unite. The highlighted sentences emphasise the importance of certain points in the text, creating a transition to the next page.
The symbols (places of combat seen from above) separate the composition as a whole and create three parts (square/ring/dojo, round/fight, octagon/free combat). The iconographic sources: Show the closeness, the amorous and carnal aspect of the contact between the boxers. The bodies mingle, merge, create tension and unite.
Manipulation during page changes gives rhythm to the work.
SUN-TZU
Le terrain
The form remains the same. However, in terms of content, this is a comparison of male and female bodies with the terrain, always with the same idea of union. The iconographic sources offer us a map, a discovery of the body. A new land to conquer.
Errance
Errance en 36 poses : Wandering around the railway line. The photos are arranged in such a way as to create interaction, opposition, and links between them. In this way, they respond to each other and complement one another throughout the edition.
The encounter : The choice: an accidental, bad encounter that remains unclear. The disorder that reigns in this evening is represented by the mixture of blocks and phrases that move frenetically through the edition, appearing and disappearing as the pages turn. The photos are cut out and then reappear in fragments, prolonging the effect of amnesia. The framing reflects the tensions that inhabit this place. The arrangement of the photographs shows a flight from memory, its fragmentation, until it is dissolved by alcohol.
Time and space : These days, we live and breathe current events as they happen around the world. Our relationship with space and time is no longer the same when it comes to getting information or getting around. The world is now completely visible and can be accessed at any time with a single click. We are no longer somewhere; we are everywhere. The human race around the world is accelerating. Over-mediatization and technological progress have opened up live windows onto our planet, free from the constraints of time and space.
The three projects are in the same edition. They intertwine, extending the wanderings within the document itself. They create random moments. The 18 views of Mount Fuji were taken throughout the day and on the same day as the 36 exposures. They show the passage of time and remind us of the nuclear disaster that Japan is going through, a disaster that we can follow in real time. The notions of time and space are also reflected in the edition, as the projects alternate. The views of Japan introduce the webcam projection. The changes in layout for the wandering photos give rhythm to the journey.
On the Road
Jack Kerouac
The purity of the road. The white line in the middle of the highway unfolded and brushed our left front tire as if it had stuck to our bow.
The destination. The departure and the anticipation of arrival.
Imaginary projections of the place to reach. The uncertainties, the unexpected. The detour.
The pilgrimage, which shows that the journey is more important than the destination. On the Road is, above all, The road, the unknown, the randomness of encounters. The recurring theme is travel. There are few passages that stray from this theme. Mobility is at the heart of the work. It is on this element that my work and graphic process are based.
My grid overlaps with the guiding line of the journey, connecting two destinations through stopover cities. Thus, the text, which is itself an excerpt from this journey, takes on the synthetic form of the trip. One moves through the book as one would cross America.
The principle aims to reproduce the wandering, the roaming.
The stages follow one another, the cities chain together, the texts overlap, like a tracing paper to the line of the journey.
The book was written during a tumultuous time in history: the Cold War, the Korean War, the use of the first nuclear bombs...
This is not reflected much in the narrative, or very little. My intention was to parallel the narrative with a political and social context.
At each period of prolonged stop in a city, a summary of the miles traveled is provided. The goal is to fully convey the round-trip journey of Kerouac throughout the book. This is what the novel consists of: a series of back-and-forth trips, searching through wandering for the "acceptable place" (Alexandre Laumonier).
The cover is a summary of all the routes traveled by the author. Its white line evokes the immaculate road line, which delineates on the asphalt the travelers’ path, these "celestial homeless" as Kerouac wrote.
Countdown
Time eats everything
Alzheimer's, a countdown to the disease. We don't know how the disease will progress or at what pace. Memories are lost like seconds. Memories fade away, anecdotes and memories (after-effects) of the disease remain... as do the decreasing seconds of the countdown, but it is also a time that moves forward.
This book is dedicated to André Moles