Étienne Bossut
17 Oct 2012 - 20 Jan 2013
ÉTIENNE BOSSUT
Avec Nicole and other works
17 October 2012 - 20 January 2013
“I think that what really motivates me, and gives me a place of my own in this age of mass production, is making objects that have traditionally been churned out by machines, but doing it personally, by hand, in my studio —not out of irony or a fondness for paradox, but, in a way, so as to join the party.” Étienne Bossut’s sculptural work, and more specifically his moulding of objects, should be seen in this light.
His statement clearly defines his work as a craft, and reminds us that his technique is not so much a theoretical decision as the outcome of an empirical approach whereby the object is appropriated at the same time as the material and its specific properties are mastered. Bossut ’s work involves the constant use of a single process, moulding, and a single material, plastic. The artist had already revealed the importance of his choice of material in his monographic exhibition at Mamco back in 1999 when he called it 100% polyester. The most ordinary type of plastic thus became the common denominator for all the objects on display. His range of forms includes jerry-cans, food bowls, tyres and chairs (to mention just the most ordinary ones) ; yet, despite this seemingly run-of-the-mill repertoire, Bossut does indeed invite us to a party by redefining these objects with the help of fairly bright colours, a palette that recalls pop art and hints at the idea of abundance in consumer society. His purpose is not to reproduce objects, for he emphasises the craft-like aspects of the process by deliberately leaving joins, burrs and other technical imperfections visible (a reminder of Rodin). Although plastic is a product of the industrial era, moulding is a very ancient process, often associated with the art of making death masks.Made just before decomposition sets in, these capture the dead person’s face at a given moment and in a given state. Indeed, the artist explicitly refers to this, for he describes his objects as “last-minute images”, images that capture an object in its present state, whereas it is going to continue aging and changing.
Étienne Bossut’s work is sculpture, but also has a strong link with photography — for the mould records a state, just as photography records a moment that has been. This similarity emphasises the “indexical sign” of his work, for despite surface similarities this is not a replica of the object but a trace, an imprint of its existence, an image — and this is enhanced by the artist’s use of arrangements or installations in which the various objects are linked by colour. To this we may add his choice of titles, which involve metonymy, wordplay, or references to art or cinema. All these clues are there to help us see, but they also depend on distorted representation. Thus, Bossut’s Avec Nicole (“With Nicole”) is a set of eight mouldings of PVC pipe couplings made by the Nicoll company, which are set on pedestals. The Nicoll brand thus becomes a woman’s name, a feminine note resonating with these abstract, minimal forms that are also somewhat anthropomorphic, suggesting a torso, buttocks or other fragments of moving bodies. Such smooth, streamlined forms may recall certain modern works, especially those by Constantin Brancusi. The chosen means of presentation enhances the classical quality of these sculptures, for they are displayed on separate pedestals rather than ones made by the artist himself — a not insignificant detail, for Bossut’s works are normally placed directly on the ground. Thus an arrangement of jerry-cans on a mound simulates the ruins of a Parthénon bidon, a monument that plays on the two meanings of the French word bidon (“jerry-can” and “fake”). The work entitled Désœuvrement (“Idleness”) shows a similar jerry-can precariously balanced at the edge of the roof of a building. More paradoxically, Bossut has even given shape to elements with no real material presence, as in Spirit ... off, which consists of a set of moulded beams of light, or 266 litres, which represents the volume of water in a bathtub, turning the latter into a mould and a pedestal for its own contents.
Étienne Bossut was born in Saint-Chamond, France, in 1946, and lives in Rennes.
Avec Nicole and other works
17 October 2012 - 20 January 2013
“I think that what really motivates me, and gives me a place of my own in this age of mass production, is making objects that have traditionally been churned out by machines, but doing it personally, by hand, in my studio —not out of irony or a fondness for paradox, but, in a way, so as to join the party.” Étienne Bossut’s sculptural work, and more specifically his moulding of objects, should be seen in this light.
His statement clearly defines his work as a craft, and reminds us that his technique is not so much a theoretical decision as the outcome of an empirical approach whereby the object is appropriated at the same time as the material and its specific properties are mastered. Bossut ’s work involves the constant use of a single process, moulding, and a single material, plastic. The artist had already revealed the importance of his choice of material in his monographic exhibition at Mamco back in 1999 when he called it 100% polyester. The most ordinary type of plastic thus became the common denominator for all the objects on display. His range of forms includes jerry-cans, food bowls, tyres and chairs (to mention just the most ordinary ones) ; yet, despite this seemingly run-of-the-mill repertoire, Bossut does indeed invite us to a party by redefining these objects with the help of fairly bright colours, a palette that recalls pop art and hints at the idea of abundance in consumer society. His purpose is not to reproduce objects, for he emphasises the craft-like aspects of the process by deliberately leaving joins, burrs and other technical imperfections visible (a reminder of Rodin). Although plastic is a product of the industrial era, moulding is a very ancient process, often associated with the art of making death masks.Made just before decomposition sets in, these capture the dead person’s face at a given moment and in a given state. Indeed, the artist explicitly refers to this, for he describes his objects as “last-minute images”, images that capture an object in its present state, whereas it is going to continue aging and changing.
Étienne Bossut’s work is sculpture, but also has a strong link with photography — for the mould records a state, just as photography records a moment that has been. This similarity emphasises the “indexical sign” of his work, for despite surface similarities this is not a replica of the object but a trace, an imprint of its existence, an image — and this is enhanced by the artist’s use of arrangements or installations in which the various objects are linked by colour. To this we may add his choice of titles, which involve metonymy, wordplay, or references to art or cinema. All these clues are there to help us see, but they also depend on distorted representation. Thus, Bossut’s Avec Nicole (“With Nicole”) is a set of eight mouldings of PVC pipe couplings made by the Nicoll company, which are set on pedestals. The Nicoll brand thus becomes a woman’s name, a feminine note resonating with these abstract, minimal forms that are also somewhat anthropomorphic, suggesting a torso, buttocks or other fragments of moving bodies. Such smooth, streamlined forms may recall certain modern works, especially those by Constantin Brancusi. The chosen means of presentation enhances the classical quality of these sculptures, for they are displayed on separate pedestals rather than ones made by the artist himself — a not insignificant detail, for Bossut’s works are normally placed directly on the ground. Thus an arrangement of jerry-cans on a mound simulates the ruins of a Parthénon bidon, a monument that plays on the two meanings of the French word bidon (“jerry-can” and “fake”). The work entitled Désœuvrement (“Idleness”) shows a similar jerry-can precariously balanced at the edge of the roof of a building. More paradoxically, Bossut has even given shape to elements with no real material presence, as in Spirit ... off, which consists of a set of moulded beams of light, or 266 litres, which represents the volume of water in a bathtub, turning the latter into a mould and a pedestal for its own contents.
Étienne Bossut was born in Saint-Chamond, France, in 1946, and lives in Rennes.