Arnaud Ferron: “What interests me are questions of culture and beauty”

At what level does this deeply private exploration intersect along with your broader reflections on colonial historical past and nationwide narratives?

The place to begin is all the time private. That’s true for all artists. However, my work is under no circumstances autobiographical. What pursuits me are questions of tradition and wonder. This bell, nonetheless, led me towards a broader historic context—notably French imperialism—which unfolded alongside main industrial, scientific, and cultural advances, reminiscent of the appearance of the steam engine, the invention of pictures, the beginnings of Impressionism, the Haussmannian transformation of Paris, and even the laying of the muse stones for the Ministry of Culture in the course of the Empire. I draw connections between all these occasions occurring on the identical time—it virtually borders on conspiracy theories.

Why did you select Paris as your home of residence?

My open studio on the Cité internationale des arts was titled My Little Paris, in reference to the title of the cathedral district in Ho Chi Minh City. The Notre-Dame Cathedral in Saigon was, in truth, designed as a miniature duplicate of Notre-Dame de Paris. All the supplies have been imported from France. The bell-making firm that initially crafted it nonetheless exists.

The place to begin is all the time private. This is true for all artists. However, my work is under no circumstances autobiographical. What pursuits me are questions of tradition and wonder.

Your work additionally appears pushed by a wariness of overly strict definitions. 

The thought of abstraction is fascinating. More than a type, it’s a gesture aimed toward neutralizing references to the world, concealing or silencing them. In my work, there’s all the time an try at abstraction, which opens the door to a sure potential, however it stays anchored to the world by way of empirical references. Ultimately, I usually discover myself on this unattainable house between definition and abstraction. Reconciling them is akin to montage.

How do you manage your work throughout this residency?

I don’t have a way. My work is knowledgeable by my day-to-day existence. Rilke known as it “the memory of blood.” It applies simply as a lot to intergenerational trauma because it does to my breakfast this morning. All of this in the end types a fancy, formless amalgam, in the identical means that Victor Hugo describes the stones of Notre-Dame as a entire that’s melted, mixed, and amalgamated. Cady Noland speaks of spill. A form of soup. But there’s nonetheless a steadiness between intuition and calculation.

I don’t have a way. My work is knowledgeable by my day-to-day existence.

You’re additionally very discreet on social media. Is {that a} deliberate selection?

The two-dimensional nature of the medium in query utterly negates physicality and time. For my half, I wish to interact with the works in all their complexity, whether or not by way of a relationship of seduction or battle. Beyond that, I’m additionally very reserved.

You nonetheless have three months left in your residency in Paris. What are the subsequent steps in your mission?

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