The closing moment of the chapter of its own in the history of not-just-Rennes, France’s art life that was Galerie 126 and its residency manifested in just an event bound to be just as special; the intent of « LA FIN, and We’re Looking Forward » was indeed to crystallize the essence of the place in a way that would challenge time itself, via the capture of its essence on black and white film photography shot and developed on the spot, their subsequent enlargement and fitting onto its walls by the means of a copy machine, and then the audiovisual blending and syncopating of the results thanks to strobe light usage.
The resulting experience would be one of intense mixing and stirring of kaleidoscopic fragments of the venue’s unique atmosphere, exposure to uncertain memory flashes one might miss if they happen to blink, and spatial and temporal confusion due to plays on transparency, textures and persistence of vision, as well as on dimensions - when patterns can no longer be verified as belonging to either the image or its support.
The relative unreliability of such relentlessly inflicted sensorial and emotional stimulus that is complete, constant exposure to repeated representations and reproductions would take charge of the visitor’s immersion, spiritually curating their feel of the location via the working of subconscious triggers.
Simultaneously, such enclosed celebration of the venue also marks our fundamental attachment to, and glorification of the material world, as well as the creative trap it may be to remain anchored to a given space and time, calling back to the artist’s aspiration to ubiquity when the time spent creating and federating could also be spent experiencing new horizons and challenging new interpretations.
Aymeric Nocus