Sad and angry
I have just learned of the cancellation of an upcoming collective exhibition which was planned for September 2021 at the Casino d'Aix les Bains with a postponement to May 2022. An exhibition in which I participated for the second time with an immense pleasure.
A few weeks ago I learned that the health pass would be compulsory. This news, although upsetting, allowed me to question the posture to take in the face of this obligation which was not originally supposed to be one according to political commitments. My anger is not at the level of vax or anti-vax because I fully assumed my position on this point and given the location and the general instructions I would have gladly submitted to the test to allow me to be present at the installation and at the opening.
And this despite a somewhat ironic and ubuesque situation, because if I am authorized to enter a public place following a negative test less than 72 hours old and I rub shoulders with vaccinated people who entered thanks to the magic pass, I will not I have no guarantee of coming out as negative as when I entered. In these comments I include all the uncertainties that can be read in various scientific press releases.
My anger is mainly due to the fact that an exhibition bringing together several artists is canceled meaning that the games room will be under the control of the health pass and that the exhibition rooms will remain inaccessible. It is useless, I think, to try to understand such a decision but in the meantime it demonstrates that with or without a pass, culture and the artistic world are sidelined.
We could utopically imagine hanging works in place of slot machine screens with a self-destructing effect when handling the machine... just a little nod to a memorable pre-covid auction. I'm not used to rants as they say, but here I really think that this constraint will lead to distortions whose ramifications we don't even yet understand.
Furthermore, it appears unspeakable that certain professionals will have to add to their daily tasks a control and surveillance mission which will inevitably project them into unenviable situations. And what do you think of this situation? Certain places will remain closed, certain events will be canceled because certain structures will not have the possibility of training or simply putting in place control personnel, and perhaps even no desire.
It's just terribly disappointing to have to accept a situation which borders on the absurd and which will penalize many people. Faced with this constraint which actually pushes certain structures to close, cancel or abandon a cultural idea and thus evade an obligation which has no meaning, makes me angry.
In a society and a country whose motto is liberty, equality, fraternity, I grimace as I wonder about the human value of these three words and where the health pass will become the new social gauge of control. I cannot accept the idea of the power that such a measure provokes.
For some time now, I have never so clearly perceived the different meanings of the verb adapt and by adopting the posture of the famous little Gaul who resists. As an artist, I like to paint works that are often classified as part of life and which reveal spaces in relation to people or feelings in relation to places.
Despite my anger and the fact of having to accept the cancellation of this exhibition which was close to my heart, I would like to share the possibility of discovering my work on my website and to be one of my privileged guests to find out about my next exhibitions and discover my work in progress. It's a discovery without a Pass and I stay tuned for all messages. If you want to know more about my work…
