Dear Cyprien Gaillard,
I just saw your latest show, The Crystal World at MOMA PS1, and I came out quite shaken..… I mean all this violence and demolition mixed up with war pictures and criminal youths, overlapped to such beautiful images of the most important archeological sites of the world… And you had even your sound designer composing the right beats to torment our hearts and souls. Ugh… not so easy to swallow.
Even if you’re showing “only” pictures we can see daily in our news and the Internet. I don’t know weather this is extraordinary art or not, but I can definitely confirm that you was able to address deep inner emotions of all of us. Maybe also because of the employ of such trendy devices like the Polaroid camera, 35 mm films and Koudlam’s music, which arouse exactly memories and feelings of something belonging to the recent past, a kind of gloomy nostalgia. Good (psyco-) job! I wish you could have read Generation Golf (Florian Illis, Fischer Verlag, 2000). Maybe you did?!
May I ask you some questions? Did you choose those images of crime and violence in order to wake people up or are you attracted to this kind of contemporary voyeurism as you would never be brave enough to do things like that? Through praising the act of demolition and self-destruction in combination to a party ambient you make us feeling really confused if we are allowed to like it or if our morality would forbid it to us. And do you think it’s fun watching to bleeding noses or guys in ethylic coma? Do you remember when we met in Berlin on the occasion of the Beer Pyramid? We were all so drunk that no one can really remember, so you’re excused if not, but I was already asking myself what would have been the real motive for recreating an ancient architectonical structure of high developed societies (Mayan and Egyptian) with the idea of having a party “over it”. Are you kidding on them???
In the meantime, I can really recognize your research, the roots of humanity for example, the relationship between architecture and nature, the growth and decline of civilizations. I actually appreciate also a lot to have someone who compares our contemporary society to very old and important cultures, but finding exhibited rakes as if they were archeological discoveries and the copies of sewer covers astound me a lot.
I know, lots of questions and critique, I hope I did not go to private. And my English is also really bad, so sorry in advance, but hook me up if you want to discuss all this. My fridge stores enough Efes Beer for a long long talk! 🙂
xo
S. Crown
sarahcoronacurator.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.