SWAAAP
Contre-Addictions

August 25^th – September 12^th 2015

PRIVATE VIEWING Tuesday, August 25^th at 6:30pm

FINISSAGE Friday, September 11th at 6:00pm

“The series “Contre Addictions” is a reflection on the limit of Man, and his ability to hold and to communicate. On a higher level, it looks at the limits of sense. Sense, not solely as reasoning, but also as direction: of a work of art, a spirit, a person, a life, and above all, of the modern world.

The current evolution of mass communication keeps pushing back the limits and boundaries of our world. Our benchmarks are fading away and our networks webbing out…

Yet boundaries remain.

The individual, at a time where rituals and religions have lost all interest as a liaison between humans, takes it upon himself to redesign a virtual space in which he sketches a new image, of what he wishes to be or what he believes is the nicer alternative.

These new virtual benchmarks, although flighty, dive us into a sincere anonymity. These images are touched up, manipulated, just like the insipid and uninteresting speeches of the technocrats that govern us.

Contradictions invade us whether it be politics, the economy or even couples and families.

We witness the burst of all the cells, and the loss of benchmarks grows all the while imprisoning us under the motto “It needs to be done, I must” (act, be happy, in good health, smile, be kind but not too much, original but without excess…). The key is to be noticed but without leaving a mark.

And so, new addictions multiply themselves (whether it be drugs, sex, social networks, sports – we notice that even some disciplines which may seem healthy and risk-free at first are not any less dangerous).

It’s with this in mindset that the series “Contre-Addictions” was born, as a reflection on the sense of things and their limits.

The medium chosen is none other than wooden boards made from wine cases upon which old Letrasets are traced. The non-gentrified supporting materials are a choice.

It’s about an introspection, at a pivotal point where a complete rewiring of the situation needs to be done, at a time where things no longer have a price, especially liberty. At a moment where art is average, a space outside of boundaries, which offers an expiration when language is pointless. It is therefore a testimony for many women who have been victims of violence, wrongdoings, words…

“The future was better”, because it’s a shame to see how a smartphone can get more credit and attention than an individual in flesh and bones.

“To Get Her” looks at the fine line between the feeling of love and possession.

“Hel.” pays homage to Sartre…

SWAAAP was born during an all-nighter, putting into perspective the duality of life, the perfection in flaws, the destructive love, the roads that lead to no end… Restful insomnia pushing back the limits and taking over my life and my lost soul.

A work studying double-entendres, paradoxes, the breakup of complimentary ideas and the somewhat precarious boundaries within constraints.

The collages illustrate the gap between speeches and realities, between that which is fictional, and that which is real.

Absurdity predominates as the reflection of our time.

Is the definition of normality equally shared by beings?

Is it a value? A quality? How do we measure it?

SWAAP wishes to offer a new perspective on the world, exchanges, sense, and lack thereof.

This is not a commercial initiative, hence the 3A… Reference to the sometimes ubiquitous aspect of the value of Money in the art world.

Art loses it interest when it becomes elitist; the goal here is not to conceptualize the world, but to provoke a reflection/reaction from he who takes the time to contemplate and introspect.” (© SWAAAP)