L’Humanité (image), 2004 – 2006
Humanity (image)
Foamcore, watercolor, paper collage, Plexiglass, felt pen, mirrored glass, wood, glue, and mixed media
7 1/2 x 17 x 5 1/2 inches (19 x 43 x 13.5 cm)
[JG1003.04]
Citation of an equation. The visitor is to decipher it…
The image of humanity is given by a text by Laurent Schwartz along with a phrase reflected in a mirror in a shape of infinity sign (∞): ‘a curve which is infinite at each of its points, except for one, where it is equal to zero.’ Across from the exit door on a red ground: the figure of Christ with the inscription Ecce homo.
JLG: “It seemed to me a beautiful image of humanity, a sentence, a word, that is… just like poetry. So the two zeros are here. They’re not elliptical to give an image of the infinite, maybe we should draw a small symbol of the infinite here, otherwise people will think they are Armani glasses! […] That’s it. The other little text which is next to it is a biographical sketch of Laurent Schwartz, the French mathematician and distribution theory specialist. ‘Distribution’ is related to ‘projection.’”
Model 3 – Small Format
LLa Caméra (métaphore), 2004 – 2006
The Camera (metaphor)
Foamcore, watercolor, Plexiglass, motorized mechanisms, paper collage, felt pen, mirrored glass, wood, wrench, various metal screws, nuts, washers, bolts, lamp, glue, and mixed media
7 1/2 x 17 x 17 1/4 inches (19 x 43 x 44 cm)
[JG1005.04]
“It is in here that images are captured (camera)” – JLG
Painted décor with collage and inclusion of elements of the movie world, including film stock on a reel, scissors and editing materials…
The model is plunged into darkness. It is entered through a corridor where a wheel turns. The same wheel is found inside the model but smaller, with fragments of mirrors that receive light. The god Ra, symbol of the sun, is present in a corner of the room. The industrial aspect of cinema is materialized by the screws and bolts heaped on the floor. On one of the walls is an image of a library with old and modern books. Further, on a TV set placed on an upside down table one discovers a picture of Anna Kournikova screaming. A Goya engraving representing a hanged woman with the inscription ‘Porque liberal?’ is installed on the wall, and a sorcerer from one of his other engravings is on a swing hanging from the ceiling.As Godard notes, “it’s interesting because at the time, ‘liberal’ perhaps meant revolutionary. And at the time when she was imprisoned, it wasn’t worth it to be liberal. And today, with the current meaning of the word, it’s equally not worth it to be liberal, to chain the prisoners or the protesters once again.”