Whimsical

Text/Photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang | Location: Palais de Tokyo | Time: February 3 to May 8

Abraham Poincheval (born 1972) is currently one of France's most unique new-generation body performance artists. An explorer who can never be satisfied with art, he lives in Marseille and draws attention for his whimsical self-sufficient, closed-off, immobilized, or gradually sensation-loss body performances and unimaginable sculpture-objects. These sculpture-objects serve as spatial fields for his body performances, testing existential will, spirit, and physical limits, experiencing the impossibility of life, and intending to develop human instinctual existence.

Many of Poincheval's sculpture-objects are environments where he lives through his body performances, such as "Bear" (2014), a majestic black bear specimen with a skylight on its side. Inside were daily objects arranged for self-sufficiency. When exhibited at the Museum of Natural History and Hunting in Paris, he lived inside this animal carcass for thirteen days. One can imagine this object as a battlefield for the body. The artist says: "The process of time being absorbed by location is like mysterious digestion. It requires enough time for me to fully experience acceptance until I disappear, allowing me to leave unharmed simultaneously, becoming functional." (Note)

"Large Bottle" (2015): Do you remember the story of the small bottle thrown into the sea? Here, the artist built a human-sized transparent glass bottle to realize his childhood dream. Inside were solar panels, plastic water jugs, and three boxes of self-sufficient objects. It traveled from the Rhine estuary through Camargue to glaciers before docking. At each stop, he camped for a week on his eccentric self-sufficient vessel, often conspicuously stranded on beaches, parks, or in front of museums, sparking discussion. This sculpture-object creates a dreamlike situation in each scene, echoing the message of the small bottle cast into the vast ocean, thus "creating an interface between people," bringing everyone together for discussion.

"Lookout" (2016) is a work I encountered at the Place de la Gare de Lyon in Paris during "Day and Night" late last year. "Lookout" implies gazing far from a high vantage point. The artist performed a six-day live-in on a bare iron platform 20 meters high (equipped with self-sufficient objects and food), using his own body day and night. It dramatically presents extraordinary tension; regardless of whether it is art for art's sake, it is indeed a major test of body and willpower. Now seeing "Lookout" again indoors at Palais de Tokyo, no one is performing on it. Unless witnessed firsthand, who could imagine that scene? The support structure has become an empty shell.

In this Palais de Tokyo exhibition, two of the most dramatic works are mineral-based "Stone Carving" and animal-based [works]. Both require strenuous physical and mental performance. "Stone Carving" (2017) features an oval concave shape carved according to the artist's seated posture and silhouette. Divided into two halves resembling boxes, they open for display before the performance, clearly showing similar concave silhouettes on left and right. During the performance, the artist sits inside (equipped with self-sufficient objects and food), sealing it shut like a spaceship cabin, completely isolated from the outside for a week. In the dark space, he embarks on an inner journey of body and spirit. Testing the artist's impossible mind and willpower is unpredictable, realizing that impossible behavioral manifestation. The artist intends to escape human time and perceive the speed of minerals. He says: "Our speed seems only connected to us, within our inherent viewpoints." (Note)

Imitating animals, "Incubating Eggs" (2017) marks the first time the artist faced a living world. The artist says: "I am interested in humans incubating eggs because this raises questions of transformation and attitude. It clearly states the ability to become multi-perforated, eroded, and transformed all at once." (Note) Placed in a glass showcase, wrapped in sheets, he sits on eggs surrounded by self-sufficient objects, food, and drinks. Like a mother hen beyond imagination, he continues incubating until the chicks hatch. Through dramatic substitution of maternal behavior, he endures a serious test over 21 or 26 days day and night. Within the limited transparent glass showcase space, he idly faces the audience, but under appropriate temperature and patient time tests, miracles of new life emerge. This body performance becomes an incredible experience of existence, elucidating the wonder and profundity of life.

Note - From the exhibition materials of the solo exhibition "Whimsical" - Abraham Poincheval at the venue.