Catalogue

Vincent Fournier, solo show Brasília, Modernist Utopias

at Atelier Jespers Avenue du Prince Héritier 149, B-1200 Brussels

14.11.2019 - 12.01.2020

Preview days 14-15.11.2019, 1- 5pm Vernissage 16.11.2019, 2-10pm Finissage Weekend, 10-11.01.2020 - 1-5pm, Sunday Brunch on 12.01.2020 - 12-4pm in the presence of the Artist Vincent Fournier © Hugo Denis-Queinic© Hugo

Vincent Fournier is a French artist who explores signifi cant mythologies of the future: space exploration, utopian architecture, artifi cial intelligence, living transformation… After being awarded a diploma in both sociology and visual arts, he studies at the National School of Photography in Arles and obtains his diploma in 1997. His works can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York, the Centre Pompidou Paris, the LVMH contemporary Art collection, the Dragonfl y Collection in Massignac, the Museum of Fine Arts of Mâcon, Fondation Bullukian in Lyon, the ArtScience Museum in Dublin or the Baccarat Hotel Collection in New-York, among others.

2 3 VINCENT FOURNIER About the exhibition Brasília, Freeze Frame of a Future Past

Spazio Nobile presents Brasília, Modernist Utopias Interview of Vincent Fournier by Christian Larsen by French photographer at Atelier Jespers in the in TL Mag 31, 2019, Pro Materia framework of Brussels Photo Festival. 10 photographs have been carefully selected by In this interview with Christian Larsen, Deputy Vincent Fournier and Spazio Nobile which works Curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New in dialogue with the Modernist interior architecture York, artist photographer Vincent Fournier speaks of Atelier Jespers founded and run by Jean-François about the futuristic vision of the Brazilian capital: Declercq. Brasília. Brasília, a Time Capsule by Vincent Fournier Christian Larsen: How was your interest in Brasília born? Was it part of a broader project to photograph My work on the city of Brasilia comes from a mixture utopian cities, or were you interested in the Brazilian of fascination and nostalgia for the stories and capital itself? representations of the Future. Indeed, the city and capital of Brazil designed by Oscar Niemeyer, and Vincent Fournier: Brasília is a unique city. It is beautiful which was built in 4 years in the middle of a desert, and fascinating how the entire city was conceived and embodies the vision of the future of in the 1960s. created with the same aesthetic, the same coherence. What The “pilot plan”, conceived in 1957 by the planner rigor and what madness! It is also a very special case Lucio Costa, coincided with the beginning of the because in just four years, the architect Oscar Niemeyer space age and the first artificial satellite of Earth: and the urban planner Lucio Costa have literally birthed Sputnik. This was the golden age of the space age, this city in the middle of the desert. It’s a capital oasis, and the city of Brasilia, with its air of flying saucer- an island like Thomas More’s Utopia book. My interest like architecture that seemed to have landed in the in Brasilia also comes from my passion for stories and middle of nowhere, shows the nostalgia and the representations that question the future. All my projects, dream of a future frozen in time. The case is unique space exploration, humanoid robots, the transformation in its size and scope, an entire city, and by its state of of living by technology or even utopian architecture show conservation, the pilot plan of the city has remained the future in a historical perspective. I went to Brasília unchanged because of its UNESCO World Heritage with this idea in mind. Indeed, the genesis of the Brazilian designation. Brasilia, a fossilised modernist temple capital coincides with the beginning of the space age and in a utopian future, asserts itself as a time capsule. the aesthetics of the city is largely inspired. Some buildings I used the city as a backdrop for this series of work, look like real flying saucers and the entire city can be seen one in which its own inhabitants were part of the as a huge spaceship. Discovering the very linear aspect of staging. During my travels I kept coming back to the Brasilia, where, as Lucio Costa wrote, «the sky is the sea stories of Jorge Luis Borges and the strange empire of the city,» I decided to take only horizontal images. The whose map covers the city; (Fictions, 1946), by Dino tall buildings on stilts gave me the impression that it islike Buzzatti and the idea of time on the run (The Desert a city that can stand. It is therefore a very cinematographic of the Tartars, 1940), or the movie, “The Truman framing that I adopted, as if I shot a long shot sequence. Show”, by Peter Weir (1988) whose hero lives in an illusion. Finally, we must also mention the breath- taking and crazy beauty of the city of Brasilia where absolutely everything is composed with the same writing: linear, precise, minimal, fluid, radical, aerial, monumental, musical …

4 VINCENT FOURNIER 5 VINCENT FOURNIER Christian Larsen: I had the same impression as you: Instead of bringing the people together in a shared space, that of a vast horizontal landscape. Its buildings, as Oscar Niemeyer wanted, the city separated them and its proportions, everything seems to highlight the moved away from each other. This contradiction is found horizon, like a vanishing point. Your choice of a in Thomas More’s Utopia Island, whose perfection is horizontal format therefore seemed very wise. I largely based on the standardization of all its elements, imagine that you went first to discover the buildings at once geographical, architectural and human. In Utopia and their spaces. Your selection suggests that Island there is no diversity, the inhabitants all live the you have not encountered any surprises; did you same existence, work the same number of hours and live in ever manage to enter a building and be struck by a the same houses. moment of fleeting beauty that you had never seen in photography? We know, for example, the Itamaraty Christian Larsen: Everything is rationally subdivided spiral staircase, but Athos Bulcão’s lattice is rarely into sectors, which separate the population rather seen, which forms a screen / spatial and visual barrier than integrate it into its multiple activities. The at its summit. What do you think? shopping centres are thus isolated from residential areas, or superquadras, themselves away from Vincent Fournier: Your vision of a city whose architecture administrative and government buildings. This type highlights a vanishing point is very interesting. From this of organisation seemed to me very close to modernist point of view, Brasília is hypnotic because the eye is always thought, but far removed from socialism, to which attracted by the horizon. It is both an experience of the Oscar Niemeyer nevertheless adhered. It also body and thought. Indeed, the body is soothed because contrasts with Jane Jacobs’ judicious observations of when we look at the line of the horizon, our optic nerve is street animation, where diferent commercial, social, at rest, but this distant gaze also invites us to think about professional and recreational activities coexist at any the future. In this respect, the future word in Latin is time of the day or night. The wealth of a city lies in formulated as «coming». This is what happens, what will the plurality of people and activities that occupy the come: ad venturus. same space at the same time. The subdivision of all these functions and their partitioning into sectors Christian Larsen: At the sight of some photographs thus gives the urban experience a strangely hollow one feels both an overwhelming feeling of emptiness and military tone. One feels easily alone in a city and the luxury of practically having the entire city whose long horizontal stretches set the proportions. for oneself. This type of space often gives me an Very surreal, Brasília does not remind me less Los impression of loneliness. Angeles. Costa and Niemeyer considered that the city centre would be based on a motorized lifestyle: Vincent Fournier: It is true; in the architecture of Brasilia the distances are calculated for cars and no one the void is part of the general plan. It is a continuous moves on foot. But these photographs seem to be dialogue between full and empty. In fact, the space of more interested in architecture and spatial planning the city is so rationalised that even the empty places are than in urban planning. Did you ask these lonely integrated as so many units in the large plot of the overall characters to pose for you, or were they just there plan. Everything rests on a very geometric and abstract at that moment? The photograph of the National conception of space, as if the mathematical universe Theatre gives the impression that you asked this absorbed the physical universe. It’s a very strange feeling. man to go up there for you. Did you think that these There is indeed the feeling of being alone in a large solitary spaces needed to be animated by one or setting that reminds me of the news of Jorge Luis Borges more characters? «Fictions» where «a map of the Empire had the format of the Empire and coincided with him, point by point «. This impression of isolation contradicts the original project.

VINCENT FOURNIER 6 VINCENT FOURNIER 7 These characters were there and I asked them if they Take the example of the superquadras, where people were agreed to let themselves be led and played a role. My goal supposed to live in these autonomous environments but was to create situations with narrative and aesthetic they did not want to confine themselves to it, preferring intent. For example, the character of the National Theatre diversity. The superquadras did not work out as planned, is a contemporary dancer who was walking in the area. I but are a wonderful dream that I deeply respect. Utopias invited him to improvise movements echoing the shape of are necessary to challenge habits, to make assumptions, to the building. The idea was to create a dialogue, a tension propose other models and to upset the norms. between a static, heavy and massive architecture and a moving silhouette. Christian Larsen: The city is very interesting in terms of aesthetics. It has the feeling of modern palaces, Christian Larsen: The photographs you took and that take cues from ancient Roman architecture, the feeling of walking alone through these spaces reduced and multiplied on a large scale. In these vast are very abstract. The sense of rhythm, the materials empty spaces, especially the large fields of grass on and the spaces are like geometric abstractions, the Monumental axis, one has the impression that the sometimes disintegrated, sometimes ordered, but city could at a given moment contain the population always spacious. It is an interesting challenge for of Brazil if it were necessary. There is this idea of a photographer to capture them, and to do it in space and infinite horizon. But it’s a contradiction. beauty. But your work is not content to equal the Indeed, the city was not designed to accommodate best geometric abstraction or the best architectural the entire population of Brazil. The plan provided photography: it is the presence or absence of humans for 500,000 civil servants. It’s also why the city is so that gives depth or confers poetry to your shots. strange. Government employees were supposed to I’m intrigued by the spaces that provide the vague live in the main central plane but city planners did not sensation a recent or imminent event, such as the expect waves of immigration to arrive. The satellite lobby of the Brasília Palace Hotel, where a party has cities have therefore grown to welcome all the other just ended, or the Itamaraty blue staircase, which an citizens who came to make a living. Now the city has important ofcial could at any time borrow. more than 2.5 million inhabitants. This is much more than the planners had expected. Vincent Fournier: That’s right. The image of Brasília Palace Hotel is entirely staged. I bought these balloons and Vincent Fournier: Planners did not expect workers to stay everything, as if a party had just ended there with the idea in the satellite city of Brasilia once the work was done. To of a happy melancholy. return to this feeling of strangeness related to the large empty spaces of the main axis it makes me think of this film Christian Larsen: I also enjoyed Brasília, which gives with Jim Carrey. He plays a character whose life is filmed, a fascinating glimpse of a past. Maybe someday, our without his knowledge, for a reality show. His world is a current city design will also become obsolete. Do gigantic film set. you think this is a success or that some aspects of the city have not lived up to the utopian aspirations? Christian Larsen: Oh «The Truman Show» !! Yes, it’s like a movie set. Vincent Fournier: The utopian future of Brasilia runs up against the very principle of life and the notion of the Vincent Fournier: And the satellite city would be the individual. In fact, Brasília is based on the aspiration to real life, as opposed to the heart of the city and all its transform life into a perfect equation, a global language, administrations. I really like this movie! It reminds me of a unique vision, but this desire always comes up against the parallel universes of Philip K Dick’s books. reality.

VINCENT FOURNIER 8 9 VINCENT FOURNIER National Congress of Brazil #2, Brasília, 2019

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 1/10 + 2AP

10 VINCENT FOURNIER 11 VINCENT FOURNIER Captain Edivaldo, General Army Headquarters, Brasília, 2019

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 1/10 + 2AP

12 VINCENT FOURNIER 13 VINCENT FOURNIER Chamber of Deputies [Annex IV] #2, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 9/10 + 2AP

14 VINCENT FOURNIER 15 VINCENT FOURNIER Facade of the Claudio Santoro National Theater, concrete panel by Athos Bulcão, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 5/ 10 + 2AP

16 VINCENT FOURNIER 17 VINCENT FOURNIER General Army Headquarters #1, Brasília, 2019

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 1/10 + 2 AP

18 VINCENT FOURNIER 19 VINCENT FOURNIER The Itamaraty Palace – Foreing Relations Ministry, wood and steel panel by Athos Bulcão, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 6/10 + 2AP

20 VINCENT FOURNIER 21 VINCENT FOURNIER The National Museum #3, Brasília, 2019

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 6/ 10 + 2AP

22 VINCENT FOURNIER 23 VINCENT FOURNIER The National Museum, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 3/10 + 2AP

24 VINCENT FOURNIER 25 VINCENT FOURNIER TV Tower, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 3/10 + 2AP

26 VINCENT FOURNIER 27 VINCENT FOURNIER The Itamaraty Palace – Foreing Relations Ministry, stairs, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 6/10 + 2AP

28 VINCENT FOURNIER 29 VINCENT FOURNIER Voting Chamber, Chamber of Deputies #2, Brasília, 2019

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 1/10 + 2AP

30 VINCENT FOURNIER 31 VINCENT FOURNIER Brasília Palace Hotel, Paranoa Lake #2, Brasília, 2019

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm ed. 1/10 + 2AP

32 VINCENT FOURNIER 33 VINCENT FOURNIER The Itamaraty Palace – Foreign Relations Ministry, spiral stairs, Brasília, 2012

Ink jet on Hahnemühle Baryta 315g 90 x 153 cm #2AP

34 VINCENT FOURNIER 35 VINCENT FOURNIER Vincent Fournier Post Natural History

Vincent Fournier’s serie Post Natural History is presented in Hangar, Art Center (Brussels, BE), in the framework of Photo Brussels Festival

36 VINCENT FOURNIER 37 VINCENT FOURNIER Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 89

Dans cet entretien avec Christian Larsen, Conservateur adjoint au Metropolitan Museum of Art à New York, l’artiste photographe Vincent Fournier s’exprime au sujet de la vision futuriste de la capitale brésilienne : Brasília.

TLmag : Comment est né votre intérêt pour Brasília ? S’inscrivait-il dans un plus vaste projet visant à photographier des villes utopiques, ou vous intéres- siez-vous à la capitale brésilienne en elle-même ? Vincent Fournier : Brasília est une ville unique. C’est magnifique et fascinant la façon dont la ville entière a été pen- Brasília sée et crée avec la même esthétique, la même cohérence. Quelle rigueur et quelle folie ! C’est aussi un cas très particulier Freeze Frame of a Future Past puisqu’en seulement trois ans, l’archi- tecte Oscar Niemeyer et l’urbaniste Lucio Photos de /by Vincent Fournier Costa, ont littéralement fait naître cette Interview de /by Christian Larsen ville en plein désert. Enfin il s’agit d’abord du Plan pilote, la partie administrative de Brasilia, mais 3 ans c’est comme un instantané à l’échelle de la construction d’une ville. Le plan pilote de la ville est ainsi resté inchangée, gelée dans le temps en raison de son inscription au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. Brasilia montre la nostalgie de l’âge d’or du futur des années 60. C’est un temple moderniste fossilisé dans un avenir utopique qui n’a pas eu lieu. Mon intérêt pour Brasilia vient aussi de ma fascination pour les mythes et les histoires qui interrogent et explorent le futur ; de la science à l’architecture, en passant par la technologie. Tous mes projets : l’exploration spatiale, les robots humanoïdes, la transformation du vivant par la technologie ou encore l’architec- ture utopique ont en commun d’imaginer le futur dans une perspective historique, comme un archéologue qui daterait dif- férentes strates de temps. Il peut s’agir du futur du passé, ou bien d’un futur très proche, presque parallèle à notre pré- sent, ou bien encore d’un futur possible, une anticipation fantasmée. L’esthétique et la forme de ces univers « futuristes » me fascinent, tout comme leur façon de repenser les frontières du possible. Je

1 — Le Palais d'Itamaraty (palais des arches), ministère des Affaires suis allé à Brasília avec cette idée en tête. étrangères, escaliers /Itamaraty Palace, Stairs, 2012 En découvrant la ville, j’ai décidé de n’en

38 TL MAG31 39 TL MAG31 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 90 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 91

prendre que des clichés horizontaux, car intitulé Fictions, où « les collèges de car- vous. Considériez-vous que ces espaces ses nombreuses colonnes m’ont fait l’im- tographes firent une carte de l’Empire, solitaires avaient besoin d’être animés par pression de pilotis et d’une ville capable qui avait le format de l’Empire et qui un ou plusieurs personnages ? de se tenir debout sur ses jambes. C’est coïncidait avec lui, point par point ». Tout V.F. : L’architecture me sert de décor donc un cadrage très cinématographique y repose sur une conception très mathé- comme dans un film. Je cherche un que j’ai adopté comme si je tournais un matique et abstraite de l’espace, comme équilibre entre un style à la fois docu- long plan séquence. si l’univers mathématique y absorbait mentaire, distancié, frontal et objectif, l’univers physique. C’est là une contradic- et des images soigneusement com- TLmag : J’y ai eu la même impression tion : au lieu de rassembler les habitants posées et mises en scènes. Ces gens que vous : celle d’un vaste paysage hori- au sein d’un espace partagé, comme le étaient bien mais je leur ai simple- zontal. Ses bâtiments, ses proportions, voulait Oscar Niemeyer, la ville les a sépa- ment demandé s’ils étaient d’accord tout semble y mettre l’horizon en valeur, rés et éloignés les uns des autres. pour se laisser diriger et jouer un rôle. à la façon d’un point de fuite. Votre Mon but était de créer des situation choix d’un format horizontal m’a donc TLmag : Tout y est rationnellement sub- dans une intention narrative et esthé- semblé très judicieux. J’imagine que divisé en secteurs, qui séparent la tique. Le personnage du Théâtre vous y êtes avant tout allé pour décou- population plutôt qu’elle ne l’intègre national est un danseur contempo- vrir les constructions et leurs espaces. dans ses multiples activités. Les centres rain qui se promenait la. Je l’ai invité à Votre sélection pour TLmag laisse pen- com-merciaux sont ainsi isolés des sec- improviser des mouvements en écho ser que vous n’y avez guère rencontré teurs résidentiels, ou superquadras, avec la forme du bâtiment. L’idée de surprises ; vous est-il malgré tout eux- mêmes à l’écart des bâtiments était de créer un dialogue, une ten- arrivé d’entrer dans un bâtiment et d’y administratifs et gouvernementaux. Ce sion entre une architecture statique, être frappé par un moment de beauté type d’organisation m’a semblé très lourde et massive et une petite sil- fugace que vous n’aviez jamais vu en proche de la pensée moderniste, mais éloi- houette animée. photographie ? On connaît par exemple gné du socialisme, auquel adhérait l’escalier en colimaçon d’Itamaraty, pourtant Oscar Niemeyer. Il contraste éga- TLmag : Les photographies que vous avez mais on voit rarement le treillis d’Athos lement avec les judicieuses observations prises et la sensation de déambuler seul à Bulcão, qui forme un écran/une barrière de Jane Jacobs sur l’animation de la rue, travers ces espaces sont très abstraites. 2 — Le Palais d'Itamaraty (palais des arches), ministère des Affaires étrangères, Chambre des traités /The Itamaraty Palace Foreign relations Ministry, Treaty Room, 2012 spatiale et visuelle à son sommet. Qu’en où cœxistent différentes activités com- Le sens du rythme, les matériaux et les pensez-vous ? merciales, sociales, professionnelles et espaces qu’ils délimitent constituent des V.F. : Votre vision d’une ville dont l’archi- récréatives, à n’importe quelle heure du abstractions géométriques tantôt désin- tecture met en valeur un point de fuite jour et de la nuit. La richesse d’une ville tégrées, tantôt ordonnées, mais toujours est très intéressante ! L’utopie elle- réside dans la pluralité des habitants et spacieuses. C’est un intéressant défi pour même pourrait d’ailleurs être définie des activités qui occupent un même un photographe que de les saisir, et de le comme un point de fuite : une expé- espace au même moment. La subdivision faire en beauté. Mais votre travail ne se rience de la pensée qui questionne le de toutes ces fonctions et leur cloisonne- contente pas d’égaler la meilleure abs- champ des possibles. Brasília est une ment en secteurs donnent donc à traction géométrique ou la meilleure ville hypnotique. J’étais avide de tout y l’expérience urbaine une tonalité étrange- photographie d’architecture : c’est la pré- découvrir. Je n’avais rien planifié : avec ment creuse et militaire. On se sent sence ou l’absence humaine qui donnent mon assistant brésilien, nous nous facilement seul dans une ville dont ces lon- de la profondeur ou confèrent de la poésie levions très tôt et passions toute la jour- gues étendues horizontales fixent les à vos clichés. Je suis intrigué par les née à marcher dans la ville. Lorsque proportions. Très surréaliste, Brasília ne espaces qui procurent la vague sensation quelque chose d’intéressant se présen- m’en rappelle pas moins Los Angeles. d’un événement récent ou imminent, tait, nous restions plus longtemps pour Costa comme Niemeyer considéraient en comme le hall du Brasília Palace Hotel, où réaliser des images. effet que le centre-ville reposerait sur un une fête vient de se terminer, ou encore mode de vie motorisé : les distances y sont l’escalier bleu d’Itamaraty, qu’un impor- TLmag : À la vue de certaines photogra- calculées pour les automobiles et per- tant fonctionnaire pourrait à tout moment phies on ressent à la fois une écrasante sonne ne s’y déplace à pied. Mais ces emprunter. sensation de vide et le luxe d’avoir prati- photographies semblent s’intéresser V.F. : C’est juste. L’image du Brasília quement la ville entière pour soi. Ce davantage à l’architecture et à l’aménage- Palace Hotel est entièrement mise en type d’espace me procure souvent une ment du territoire qu’à l’urbanisme. scène. J’ai acheté ces ballons et tout impression de solitude. Avez-vous demandé à ces personnages composé, comme si une fête venait de V.F. : C’est vrai. On a l’impression de solitaires de poser pour vous, ou se trou- s’y terminer. déambuler dans un décors grandeur vaient-ils simplement là à ce moment nature où la fiction se mêle à la réa- précis ? La photographie du Théâtre natio- TLmag : Cette mise en scène est très lité. Brasília me rappelle une nouvelle nal donne l’impression que vous avez ingénieuse et contraste magnifiquement dans le livre de Jorge Luis Borges demandé à cet homme d’y monter pour avec la fresque murale. Prévoyez-vous

3 — Le Palais d'Itamaraty /The Itamaraty Palace, 2012 # TL 31

40 TL MAG31 41 TL MAG31 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 92 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 93

de retourner à Brasília pour y prendre de gouvernement étaient censés habiter le In this interview with Christian Larsen, nouvelles photographies ? plan central principal et les planifica- Associate Curator at The Metropolitan V.F. : Oui j’y retourne pour faire de nou- teurs ne s’attendaient pas à ce que des Museum of Art, photographer Vincent velles images qui seront publiées dans vagues d’immigration arrivent en ville. Fournier speaks about the futuristic un livre avec les Éditions Nœve à la fin Les villes satellites se sont donc dévelop- vision of the Brazilian capital: Brasília. de l’année. Après mon premier séjour pées pour accueillir tous les autres à Brasília, j’ai cherché en vain un autre citoyens venus pour faire leur vie. TLmag: How did your interest in Brasília endroit qui ferait écho à ce que j’y avais Maintenant la ville compte plus de 2,5 start? Was it a larger project to go photo- trouvé : un esprit utopique et une vision millions d’habitants. C’est bien plus que graph utopian cities, or a specific interest du futur. Il y a bien sûr Chandigarh, mais ce que les planificateurs avaient envi- in the Brazilian capital itself? cette ville a beaucoup changé. J’en sagé de faire. Vincent Fournier: Brasília is very unique. reviens toujours à Brasília, la belle et V.F. :Les planificateurs ne s’attendaient It’s beautiful and fascinating how this city unique Brasília, où je me réjouis en effet pas à ce que les travailleurs restent was designed with the same unified aes- de retourner. dans la ville satellite de Brasilia une fois thetic. What rigor and madness! It is also les travaux finis. a very special case since in just three TLmag : J’ai également apprécié Pour revenir à ce sentiment d’étran- years, the architect Oscar Niemeyer Brasília, qui donne un fascinant aperçu geté lié aux grands espaces vides de and the urban planner Lucio Costa, liter- d’un futur révolu. Peut-être qu’un jour, l’axe principal ça me fait penser à ce ally created this city in the middle of the notre conception actuelle des villes film avec Jim Carrey. Il joue un person- desert, which, on the scale of the con- deviendra elle aussi obsolète. Pensez- nage dont la vie est filmée, sans qu’il struction of a city, is instantaneous, like vous qu’il s’agisse d’un succès ou que le sache, pour une emission de télé a photo that would immortalize a precise certains aspects de la ville n’ont pas été réalité. Son monde est un gigantesque moment. The pilot plan of the city has à la hauteur des aspirations utopiques ? plateau de tournage. thus remained unchanged, frozen in time V.F. : C’est là une autre contradiction. due to its UNESCO World Heritage des- L’utopie se heurte au désir. En effet, TLmag : Oh « The Truman Show »!! Oui ignation. Brasilia shows the nostalgia for Brasília repose sur l’aspiration à trans- c’est comme un décors de film. the golden age of the future of the 60s. former la vie en une équation parfaite, V : Et la ville satellite serait la vraie vie, It is a modernist temple fossilized in a en un langage global, une vision unique, par opposition au cœur de la ville et utopian future that did not take place. mais ce désir se heurte toujours à la toutes ses administrations. My interest in Brasilia also comes from réalité. Prenons l’exemple des super- J’aime beaucoup ce film ! Ca me rap- my fascination with myths and stories quadras : censés vivre dans ces milieux pelle les univers parallèles des livres de that question and explore the future, autonomes, les habitants n’ont pas Philip K Dick. from science to architecture, to technol- voulu s’y confiner et ont recherché la ogy. All my projects: space exploration, 4 — North Super Block 107, Building I 185, 2012 diversité. Les superquadras n’ont pas www.vincentfournier.co.uk humanoid robots, the transformation of fonctionné comme prévu, mais consti- @vincent_fournier_paris life through technology or even utopian tuent un admirable rêve que je respecte @christianalexlarsen architecture have in common to imag- profondément. Les utopies sont néces- ine the future in a historical perspective, saires pour repenser le champ des Le Metropolitan Museum of Art à New as an archaeologist who dates different possibles et bouleverser les normes. York a fait l’acquisition pour sa collection time strata. It may be the future of the permanente en 2016 de 5 œuvres de la L’esthétique de la ville de Brasilia série Brasilia. past, or of a future very near, almost par- continue de me fasciner : tout y est par- www.metmuseum.org allel to our present, or even of a possible faitement cadré et composé. Le vide future, a fantasized anticipation. The lui-même y trouve sa place, dans un dia- Un livre va paraître en 2019 aux Éditions aesthetics and form of these “futuristic” logue avec le plein. Noeve sur ce travail photographique réa- worlds fascinate me, as do their way of lisé par Vincent Fournier à Brasilia, avec des contributions de Christian Larsen et de rethinking the boundaries of the pos- TLmag : La ville est très intéressante en la conservatrice adjointe au MET New York sible. I went to Brasília with this idea in termes d’esthétique. On a le sentiment en architecture et design, Beatrice Galilee. mind. When I discovered the city with all de palais modernes inspirés de l’archi- Spazio Nobile représente Vincent Four- those stilt-like columns, I photographed tecture romaine antique, réduits et nier depuis 2016 et sa première exposition in horizontals only because I had this vi- à la galerie Season I- Post Natural History multipliés à grandes échelles. Dans ces www.spazionobile.com sion of a “walking city”: a city with legs. vastes espaces vides, en particulier les @spazionobilegaller I framed the city this way, with a very grands champs d’herbes sur l’axe cinematographic mood, just like a long Monumental, on a l’impression que la sequence shoot. ville pourrait à un moment donné conte- nir toute la population du Brésil si c’était TLmag: I had the same impression of nécessaire. Il y a cette idée d’espace et Brasília when I was there, that it is a d’horizon infini. Mais c’est une contradic- vast horizontal, sweeping landscape. tion. En effet, la ville n’a pas été conçue The buildings, their proportions, every- pour recevoir toute la population du thing seems to emphasize the horizon, Brésil. Le plan prévoyait 500 000 fonc- a vanishing point. It was very smart that TL # TL tionnaires. C’est aussi pour cette raison you chose to frame them in the hori- 31 que c’est si étrange. Les employés du zontal format. I assume you were going

42 TL MAG31 43 TL MAG31 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 94 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 95

6 — Tribunal suprême fédéral /Federal Supreme Court Palace, 2012 5 — Chambre des députés, annexe IX #2 /Deputies Chamber Annex IX #2, 2012 TL # TL 31

44 TL MAG31 45 TL MAG31 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 96 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 97

7 — Façade du théâtre national Claudio Santoro, panneau en béton de Athos Bulcão /Façade of the Claudio Santoro National Theater, # TL concrete panel by Athos Bulcão, 2012 31

46 TL MAG31 47 TL MAG31 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 98 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 99

8 — Grand "hall vert" du Palais du Congrès national, mur en carreaux de céramique d'Athos Bulcıão /Green Hall at the National Congress Palace, 10 — Le Palais d'Itamaraty (palais des arches), ministère des Affaires étrangères, panneau en bois et acier d'Athos Bulcão ceramic tile by Athos Bulcão, 2012 11 — /The Itamaraty Palace, Foreign Relations Ministry, wood and steel panel by Athos Bulcão

9 — L'hôtel Brasilia Palace #1, hall avec mur en céramique d'Athos Bulcão 12 — Le théâtre national Claudio Santoro, mur de céramique d'Athos Bulcão /The /The Brasilia Palace Hotel #1, Hall with a ceramic wall by Athos Bulcão, 2012 # TL Claudio Santoro National Theater, ceramic tile by Athos Bulcão, 2012 31

48 TL MAG31 49 TL MAG31 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 102 Architectural Landscapes PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY Vincent Fournier - Brasília 103 people to stand there, to give this feeling, future past. The way that we used to think TLmag: Oh “the Truman Show”. Like a to impose this situation. It’s all staged, but cities might be one day. Do you think it stage set. all the ingredients are real. These people was a success? Or do you think aspects VF: And the satellite city would be real life, were actually there. I talked with them and of the city fell short of those utopian as opposed to the heart of the city and all asked if they would mind following my in- aspirations? its administrations. structions. The photo you’re talking about, VF: That’s the contradiction. Utopia is a I really like this movie! It reminds me of the the man is a contemporary dancer who contradiction about desire. Brasilia could parallel universes of Philip K Dick’s books. happened to be there. I told him it would be be the desire to turn life into a perfect interesting for him to propose some moves equation, a global language, a unique vi- www.vincentfournier.co.uk that will echo the shape of the building. It sion but reality always resists… If we’re @vincent_fournier_paris is an aesthetic intention to give a tension talking about the Superquadras for in- @christianalexlarsen between a big solid concrete composition stance; I was told people were meant to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New and something very dynamic on the scale live in the Superquadras as a self-con- York has made the acquisition in 2016 of 5 large formats photographs from the of the small human figure. tained life. But people didn’t want to stay Brasilia séries. in the same Superquadra, they wanted TLmag: The photographs you took and variety. So it didn’t work in the expected www.metmuseum.org the feeling of walking through these way. However, it is a beautiful dream that I spaces are both very abstract. The sense respect a lot. We need utopias to question A book on this series of photographs, of rhythm, materials, the spaces they the fields of possibilities and challenge the with contributions by Christian Larsen and Beatrice Galilee, Associate Curator define, they are geometric abstractions. norms. I am also fascinated by the aes- of Architecture and Design at The Metro- Sometimes they disintegrate, sometimes thetic of the city. It is hypnotic. Everything politain Museum of Art, will be published they are orderly, but they are always spa- is so perfectly framed and composed. by Noeve in 2019 cious. It’s an interesting challenge for a Even the emptiness is part of the compo- Spazio Nobile represents Vincent Four- photographer to capture this, and you do sition and echoes with the fullness. nier since 2016 and his first gallery exhibi- tion Season I- Post Natural History it beautifully. Your photos have the qual- www.spazionobile.com ity of the best geometric abstraction and TLmag:The city is very interesting in @spazionobilegallery architectural photography, but you give terms of aesthetics. One has the sense us something more. These spaces take that these modern palaces, that take on their sense of scale and poetry with cues from ancient Roman architecture, the human presence, or lack thereof. I stripped down and multiplied to enor- was intrigued by spaces where you sense mous modern dimensions, one has the an event will happen or has already hap- sense that in these vast empty spaces, pened, but you can’t guess hallway of the if the city needed to, especially on the Brasília Palace Hotel. What went on here? Eixo Monumental, those large grassy Or the blue stairway ramp at Itamaraty. I fields, that the city could contain all of the have the sense an important government population of Brazil in a given moment if official might ascend or descend the needed. It has this sense of infinite space, stairs at any moment in a ceremonial dis- that if all Brazilians marched on Brasília, play of pomp and circumstance. the city would hold them. It feels like the VF: That’s right. The image of the Brasília always continuous horizon, that it is infi- Palace Hotel is completely staged. I nite. Here’s another contradiction: the city bought these balloons and staged every- was not planned to contain all of Brazil’s thing as if we were there “after the party.” population. It was planned for 500,000 government workers. This is also why it TLmag: It’s very smart. It plays off the is so strange. The government workers mural in a very beautiful way. So you’re were meant to inhabit the main central 15 — Le Palais d'Itamaraty (palais des arches), ministère des Affaires étrangères, escalier en spirales /Itamaraty going back to Brasília to take more plan. But the planners didn’t expect that Palace, Spiral Stairs, 2012 photos? waves of immigration would come to the VF: Yes I will go back to Brasilia in order to city, and so the satellite cities evolved, to make new images that will be published accommodate all the other citizens who in a book with Noeve Editions at the end came here to build their lives. Now the city of the year. After my first trip, I wanted to is 2.5 million. It’s far more than the plan- find another place to echo what I found ners ever envisioned it holding. in Brasília, the utopian spirit and a vision VF:: The planners did not expect workers of the future. But I didn’t find it. Of course to stay in the satellite city of Brasilia once you have Chandigarh but it changed a lot the work is done. To come back to this since the original city. I ended up circling feeling of strangeness related to the large back to Brasília, the unique and beautiful empty spaces of the main axis it makes Brasilia. That’s why I want to go back. me think of this film with Jim Carrey. He plays a character whose life is filmed, TLmag: I enjoyed the city as well, in part without his knowledge, for a reality show. # TL because it’s a fascinating look at the His world is a gigantic film set. 31

50 TL MAG31 51 TL MAG31 SPECIAL GUESTS Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 19

Vincent Fournier Kintsu!

Par /by Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle Photos de /by Vincent Fournier

En exclusivité pour TLmag et Spazio Nobile, l’artiste français a produit une série de photographies inspirées de l’art séculaire du « kintsugi » et de son amour pour l’esthétique japonaise.

The French artist draws inspiration from the ancient art of kintsugi and his love of Japanese aesthetics for his new photographic series produced exclusively for and Spazio Nobile

52 TL MAG32 53 TL MAG32 Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 20 Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 21

Capable de sublimer les défauts, le « kintsugi » est une Embracing faws, kintsugi is the Japanese art of re- technique japonaise de réparation des porcelaines pairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed ou céramiques brisées au moyen de laque mélangée à with powdered gold, silver or platinum. By high- de la poudre d’or, d’argent ou de platine. En prenant lighting cracks and holes instead of hiding them or le parti de magnifier les fissures et les accrocs plutôt throwing away the object, a damaged ceramic ves- que de les dissimuler, cette technique évite de jeter sel becomes useful again and even an expression of les pièces endommagées, leur donne une seconde vie luxury with its illuminated seams. The craft is also et les transfigure même en de luxueuses pièces aux a symbol of psychological resilience associated with veines illuminées. Le « kintsugi » symbolise également the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi – the beauty la résilience psychologique associée au « wabi-sabi », la of impermanence and imperfection – and Japanese philosophie japonaise qui exalte la beauté de l’imper- aesthetics that value marks of wear and tear through manence et de l’imperfection, et à l’esthétique nippone the usage of an object. For French artist Vincent qui valorise les marques d’usure d’un objet. Passionné Fournier, this 15th-century technique was the point par le Japon, un pays qu’il sillonne et où il travaille of departure for his new series of ten photographs depuis vingt ans – il a participé par exemple à l’expo- shot at the Guimet Museum of Asian arts in Paris. sition collective inaugurée en octobre 2019 au Mori Passionate about Japan, a country that he has been Art Museum de Tokyo –, l’artiste français Vincent travelling to and working in for the past 20 years (his Fournier s’est inspiré de cette technique du XVe siècle work is in the group show, Future and the Arts opened pour sa nouvelle série de dix photographies prises in October 2019 at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo), dans l'hôtel d'Heidelbach (pavillon du thé) du Musée these images of kimono-clad Japanese women that national des arts asiatiques – Guimet (MNAAG). have been spliced and overlaid with gold paper, then Recollés, marbrés de papier doré puis re-photogra- photographed again, tell the story of “a beautiful acci- phiés, ces clichés de femmes en kimono témoignent dent,” he says. “Something beautiful that was broken, selon lui d’un « heureux accident, le réassemblage d’un then reattached. For me, it has to do with the work of bel objet brisé, qui évoque à [ses] yeux les rouages de la memory. When we search for a memory, incomplete mémoire. Afn de faire ressurgir un souvenir incomplet and fragmentary, we necessarily change this memory. et fragmentaire, il faut nécessairement le modifer, en We reattach the pieces in our minds. By bringing the réagencer les pièces dans notre esprit, explique-t-il. En memory to the surface, we modify it and recolour it remontant à la surface, il se teinte alors de nos senti- with our present feelings. Our memories are memo- ments présents. Nos souvenirs ne sont en réalité que ries of memories. It is a dynamic process from the past des réminiscences de notre mémoire. Leur dynamique to the present and the future. I believe that kintsugi décrit une trajectoire passé/présent/avenir et l’art du has something to do with that. This ‘reassembly’ is a « kintsugi » repose à mon sens sur un mécanisme simi- way of integrating the past and its feelings into our laire. En recomposant l’image dans ce cas précis, il present.” réintègre le passé et ses états d’âme à notre vécu actuel et instantané. » TL # TL 32

54 TL MAG32 55 TL MAG32 Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 22 Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 23 TL # TL 32

56 TL MAG32 57 TL MAG32 Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 24 Appetizers Vincent Fournier – Kintsugi, Hôtel d'Heidelbach, musée Guimet, Paris 25 TL # TL 32

58 TL MAG32 59 TL MAG32 Info Vincent Fournier, solo show Cover of TL Mag 32, Brasília, Modernist Utopias Cover: Vincent Fournier, The National Museum#3, arch. Oscar Niemeyer Brasília, Brazil, Contemporary Applied Arts, photograph, 2019, 90 x 153 cm, ed. 6/10 + 2AP The Culture of Gesture by Vincent Fournier, Kintsugi, Hôtel d’Heidelbach, Atelier Jespers Atelier Jespers has hosted in its public/private Modernist musée Guimet, Paris house renown designers and architects such as Domeau & Peres, Michael Anastassiades and architecture duo Berger & Berger. Major events of the Belgian cultural scene have happened there in the past 5 years. It has established itself as a key venue for Brussels artistic programming. The setting of the Modernist house built up in 1928 by Belgian architect Victor Bourgeois, member of the CIAM and fi rst professor at the Architecture studio of La Cambre, provides to Atelier Jespers, the historical and aesthetic anchorage and an exceptional frame to welcome art & design, architecture and photography exhibitions.

Spazio Nobile, Rue Franz Merjay 142, 1050 Brussels , Belgium Wed - Sat, 11am - 6pm Lise Coirier , assisted by Salomé Elbaz T. +32 (0) 2 768 25 10 M. + 32 (0) 475 53 19 88 [email protected] [email protected] www.spazionobile.com

Atelier Jespers, Jean-François Declercq, T. +32 (0) 475 64 95 81 www.atelierjesper.com

Press & PR: Atelier Jespers, arch. Victor Bourgeois, photo Filip Dujardin Sophie Carrée, +32 (0) 2 346 05 00 [email protected] www.sophiecarree.be

TL MAG32 By opening Spazio Nobile in April 2016, in the dynamic and cosmopolitan Ixelles neighbourhood of Brussels (Belgium), Lise Coirier and Gian Giuseppe Simeone have united their passions for design and art history, initiating a dialogue between contemporary applied arts, design and photography. Commissioning installations that are both experimental and artistic, with a particular sensibility to everything connected to nature and minerality, the gallery organises four to five exhibits each year, dedicated to both rising and established talents. Without creating borders between the disciplines, the visual arts interact with the fine arts. www.spazionobile.com @spazionobilegallery #spazionobilegallery #spazionobile