Beaucoup de gens…

Mural, 180 rue Saint-Martin, Paris, June-August 2012

I was invited to create a work for mur saint martin, near Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Since 2008, some thirty artists have contributed to mur saint martin (http://lemursaintmartin.over-blog.com/).

For this project, I painted the following sentence :

« Beaucoup de gens n'ont pas les moyens – ou le temps – de se reposer »
(Many people cannot afford–or do not have time–to rest)

This sentence was taken from the notebook I wrote during my furtive action La Ville intérieure in the winter of 2011, during which I reflected about the time we give ourselves, especially in the artist’s position.

The relevance of this sentence is heightened in the light of contemporary life and its frantic rhythm, based on productivity–even in the context of art practice! The phrase took all its meaning in the difficult socioeconomic situation that went on in France. Yet we know since a long time that productivity increases when the body and spirit are refreshed, hence the importance of rest and leisure. Moreover, passersby had to stop for a few moments in order to read the sentence : a quick break, perhaps inspiring a more intentional rest. mur saint martin is besides a café’s terrace, which contributes to this invitation to deceleration. Due to its anonymous character, this inscription in public space constitutes a form of furtive action.

The typography chosen for this intervention is inspired by the inscription at the base of Trajan’s Column (AD 113) in Rome, one of the most remarkable early examples of insertion of writing into the public space.