Azimut. Guillaume Leblon's proposals put the interior and exterior spatial relations of the exhibition into play. For example he has made a hole in the outer wall of the Frac as if to allow a neighboring dog to burst into the fictional exhibition space.
Azimut
Guillaume Leblon (born 1971) makes films, installations and interior
objects which transform the function and perception of space. After
finishing the Beaux Arts School of Lyons in 1997 he continued studies at
the Rijksakademie of Amsterdam, and today exhibits regularly throughout
Europe. He belongs to the generation of artists who believe that art is
neither a representation of the world nor of one's knowledge, but rather
an extension of the real in all its possibilities. In this case Guillaume
Leblon inhabits the Frac exhibition space, in other words he animates it
with images much the way a person is "inhabited" by them. The title
"Azimut", an astronomic term, refers to spatial positioning in relation to
the horizon. This project also deals with the presence of atmospheric
phenomena: shifting courses of air or smoke, magnetic changes or changes
in light, fleeting phenomena which appear in Nature as surreptitiously as
the images comprised in the group of works, some already existing and
others made specifically for this exhibition.
In each of his shows, Guillaume Leblon sees the works (sculptures, films,
photographs) as individual clues to understanding a situation that
oscillates between fiction and reality without either one being
distinguishable. The simple, architecturally stylized forms, the colored
surfaces as well as the films and photos refer to a domestic space with no
particular features. Mur Barasti 2004 is one example; extending between
two walls, it is based on a roof conceived by Egyptian architect, Hassan
Fathy. The viewer, hesitating between an apparently familiar world and one
which escapes any immediate perception of it, acquires a feeling that
Freud calls 'strange anxiety'. The rolled carpet placed in the middle of
the room (Volume d'interieur 2004) signals not only a change that is
occurring, a transformation, but a former state of the exhibition space as
well. Nothing explains the presence of this object which, although
noticeable, poses an enigma. Consequently, its questionable nature slowly
occupies the full consciousness of the viewer. Bleu- nuit is based on the
same principle. Its common advertising function is replaced by a saturated
monochrome support used for the projections.
Guillaume Leblon's proposals put the interior and exterior spatial
relations of the exhibition into play. For example he has made a hole in
the outer wall of the Frac as if to allow a neighboring dog to burst into
the fictional exhibition space. This does not have to do with interpreting
reality or creating another one, but rather grasping the different
dimensions which exist between the visible and the invisible, the real
image and the mental space, what is probable or pure chance, what we know
of a certain phenomenon and the reaction it provokes. In the film produced
for this show, lightening strikes at night over a house while mist seeps
through one of the walls of the exhibition (qi, 2003). "These images
reveal the relationship between the presence or absence of things and
occurrences, between their appearance and disappearance." (Marianne
Lanavere, excerpt from the forthcoming Frac Burgundy catalogue).
Guillaume Leblon constructs an elastic reality by juxtaposing different
dimensional scales in the same space and all the while allowing almost
narrative links to connect one work with another. This way, the viewer
will perceive certain works on a one-to-one scale and simultaneously feel
diminished, if not totally lost scale-wise, when confronted with others.
Time, like space or the interior realm, is a participating element in this
situation. The artist has purposefully chosen to vary the lighting in the
room in order to project the film. Its perpetual, rhythmic motion of the
light punctuates the whole exhibition. Also relating to time are two black
boxes which tally the work process. Selected traces of the actual
fabrication of the exhibition are placed inside, and again, only a few
clues allow an understanding of this uncommon proposal for the exhibition.
On the whole, Guillaume Leblon's work attempts to contract and dilate the
spatial and temporal aspects of the exhibition, and at the same time to
approach the reality it proposes.
A monograph related to this show including texts by Marianne Lanavère and
Eva Gonzalez-Sancho will soon be available. For further information,
contact the archivist, Karine Sérafin.
Opening: Friday, January 23, 6 pm
Free guided visits: Saturday, January 31 at 3 pm at the Frac
Conference by Guillaume Leblon: Tuesday, February 10 at 6:30 pm at the
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (3 rue Michelet 21000
Dijon) free entry.
We wish to thank the enterprises Doras and Knauf Est for their kind
contribution to this exhibition,
This exhibition was made possible through the support of the Minister of
Culture (DRAC: Regional Direction of Cultural Affairs of Burgundy) and the
General Council of the Cote d'Or.
Frac Bourgogne
49 rue de Longvic
F21000 Dijon, France
Phone + 33 (0) 3 80 6718 18
Fax. + 33 (0) 3 80 66 33 29