{"id":12971,"date":"2024-01-02T08:50:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T07:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/?p=12971"},"modified":"2024-03-19T11:13:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T10:13:16","slug":"fleuryfontaine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/en\/fleuryfontaine\/","title":{"rendered":"fleuryfontaine: thinking State-sanctioned violence by means of architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nfleuryfontaine employs architecture and digital technologies to explore several subjects of major concern to society: police violence, the impact of urbanisation on our bodies, loneliness and isolation\u2026 Through their most recent installations and 3D videos Antoine Fontaine and Galdric Fleury explicitly address the theme of State-sponsored violence. A zoom-in on a hybrid artistic corpus, midway between documentary and fiction.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n

The theme of State-sanctioned violence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of the interview, Antoine Fontaine and Galdric Fleury \u2013 both graduates of the \u00c9cole d\u2019Architecture de Paris Malaquais (2008), the \u00c9cole d\u2019Arts de Paris-Cergy (2014) and Fresnoy (2020) \u2013 are keen to clarify their position: there is no question of labelling them \u2018militant artists.\u2019 <\/em>Galdric Fleury explains: \u2018We do not consider ourselves activists, but we do wish to bring things to light and take part in the debate by other means<\/em>.\u2019 All precautions having been taken, it has to be acknowledged that some of the subjects they handle are particularly complex. In 2020, the duo presented PAX <\/em><\/a>and CONTRAINDRE<\/em><\/a>, two works devoted to the subject of police violence. \u2018In 2016, the social context in France was electric, with demonstrations against the Labour Law. Then in 2018, there were the yellow vests protests. From that moment, the media and political debate on the monopoly on violence skyrocketed. We wanted to try to bring a plus-value to the public debate in our particular way<\/em>,\u2019 explains Galdric Fleury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In concrete terms, PAX <\/em><\/a>is an installation consisting of several video screens. On each screen there appears a section of a mutilated body (cuts, bruises, scars, etc.). These injuries are found on people who have been in clashes with the police in France. \u2018The mutilated body appears progressively on the screens. In this way, we implicitly show the actions of the forces of law and order and the mutilations they engender. This questions the mechanisms of maintaining pressure on a population<\/em>,\u2019 specifies Antoine Fontaine. CONTRAINDRE <\/em><\/a>continues this reflection in interrogating by means of a film (best international film, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2022 \/ Prix France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions, Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es Film Festival, 2021), how the space of a city can come to coerce the bodies of the citizens. \u2018Military concepts have taken root in the language. This lexicon of \u201ctheatre of operations\u201d tipped the city over into the idea of a battlefield. Remember that the media spoke about certain neighbourhoods as \u201clawless no-go areas, which had to be reclaimed\u201d<\/em>,\u2019 continues Antoine Fontaine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A documentary and sensitive approach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In these two keynote works from the fleuryfontaine corpus, the concept remains identical: raising awareness of the mechanisms of State violence. \u2018It is also for that reason that we didn\u2019t wish to show police officers in our videos\u2026 The most important thing is to identify the general mechanism<\/em>,\u2019 emphasises Antoine Fontaine. The writing of bodies undergoing suffering is thus inspired by real cases. This documentary approach is sourced in three ways: \u2018the first is via Twitter or YouTube and is based on real images. The second source consists of gathering information from the press and the journalistic work which is produced. The third source consists of analysing the academic literature (urban planning, philosophy, sociology). The idea is to understand the subject we are dealing with as best we can. To construct an overview and to treat it in a way which is not a factual reconstruction<\/em>,\u2019 explains Galdric Fleury. This approach therefore nuances the often-existing border between documentary and fiction: here the objective is to come face to face with the real whilst offering a sensitive perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Given the subjects tackled, we cannot produce a superficial treatment of them. We are talking about serious subjects and mastering the narrative is essential. We are greatly concerned with never distorting the emotions of the people who are victims of violence, which is why we try to be accurate and relevant<\/em>,\u2019 continues the artist. We find this same in-depth work in ANGE<\/em><\/a>, a film on the Hikikomori<\/em> phenomenon, a term designating young adults and teenagers who choose to never leave their bedrooms or their apartments for months, sometimes even years, on end. \u2018We raise questions about what is solitude, isolation. It is a subject we are sensitive to<\/em>,\u2019 points out Antoine Fontaine. This work recounts the story of Ael (\u2018Angel\u2019 in Gaelic), who has shut himself away in a shed in the garden of the family home for 13 years, somewhere in the south of France. \u2018We have had discussions with him over the internet. We used the medium of video gaming to attempt to recreate the world of thishikikomori. To engage in conversation with Ael, we created digital environments in which he lives. His bedroom, the objects found within it, the parental home, his neighbourhood, this film unveils the fragmented portrait of a man who has retreated from the world<\/em>,\u2019 the artists further explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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