1. Tell us a little about yourself and your background.
I grew up in a modest family. My father was a sales representative for Kodak
in graphic arts. As a teenager, I used to spend a lot of time in his lab.
There was an enlarger and everything needed to develop black and white
photos. Chemicals and paper were free. My mother was a cooking teacher
for the wives of iron workers. Quite often I had to help her preparing the meals but my real hobby
was canvas. My biggest piece, made at age 11 was a 80*120cm reproduction
of Millet's "Les glaneuses"... that was probably my first contact
with Art.
After highschool I entered a business school in Angers and after that I started
working. I set up a furniture shop in Dubai (Emirates) then I became a show
proudcer in Nantes. I worked with well-known French singers such as Jacques
Higelin, Claude Nougaro and Leo Ferré. I sometimes organised shows for
international singers such as James Brown, Elton John or Nina Simone.
After the birth of my two children I wanted a more financially stable job so
I joined Reuters in Paris to work on the first financial databases. It was
in those boring times that I started sculpture.
Today my son travels across Canada on a dog sled and my daughter works in a
communication agency as a graphist.
2. Which artists have influenced you?
The first thrill I felt was before a painting from Jean Michel Basquiat...
It was the trigger that made me start studying the history of art. Later
I discovered too many mind-blowing artworks to pick up just one prticular
influence. I am also interested in architecture and haute couture
3. What in life motivates you as an artist?
Being an artist today is a privilege, that of playing instead of working. People
allow the artist to keep playing by buying his artwork. The real gap in european
society is not between left and right, or between the poor and the rich.
The gap is between workers and players.
4. Tell us a little about your process, or how you work.
I have two assistants who help me collecting and dismounting the computers
to salvage the components. They work in a 200 square meter workshop which
I also use to store the components. I create my artworks in my own 40 square
meters workshop/gallery. Components come to me ready to use. To find new
ideas I flip though the virtual catalogue - in my mind - that contains all
the pieces I still have to make... and I can clearly see there won't be enough
time to make them all...
5. How do you get the supplies that you need to make the unique
and beautiful sculptures you create?
I get the hardware (computers, screens, VCRs...) through a partnership with
the local public company that collects waste electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE) around Grasse. I can go directly through the skip and cherry-pick the
devices. I use appx. 3000 pieces of hardware per year.
6. Some of the items that you work with contain somewhat hazardous
materials, such as lead and mercury. What measures do you take in protecting
yourself while you create your art?
Of course handling electronic components all day long exposes me to some risk...
not as much as smoking a cigarette pack each day... but in contemporary art,
if one wants to get famous quick... one has to die early...
7. By using these materials and saving them from landfills, are
you making a statement about the importance of recycling? If you are,
then please tell us more.
It is very important to show consumers that an end-of-life device can be recycled.
Waste sorting and recycling are necessary to stop ruining the earth. Cybertrash
can be inspiring and encourage everyday ecological practice.
8. What are your favourite art works? Choose one of your own,
and one from another artist.
Among my creations, the ones I like best are the most recent. These benefit
the most from my enhanced skills and latest techniques. Everyday I craft new
details, work up my skills and assembly techniques. The most advanced is in
my opinion "Megaoctet"... but ask me the same question in one year
and I will choose another one - that is not created yet. About other artists,
there are plenty of masterpieces... especially on DeviantArt... My favourite
is "sphere
sculpture" shot by "Tsar". It's a masterpiece from Pomodoro
that really knocks me off...
9. What do you want people to know about you and your work that
they may not already?
What people don't know is that all my artworks are spoilt... But I am the only
one who knows... Because only I know what they should have looked like.
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