The Exhibition
Each new series is a risk for Rancinan, who does not hesitate, in his all-or-nothing vision of the world, to make a break with his preceding work. This time he has chosen to use the studio in a more intimate way, using contemporary music as a soundtrack and working with just one dancer. Applying a graphic, minimalist, pure graphic approach, he plays on contrast, producing an aesthetic that veers towards the black and white, without entirely eschewing other colours. Thanks to its contemporary and monumental aspects, however, the work is nevertheless very much identifiable as his own. Rancinan applies symbolism to describe Man’s attitudes to the world by playing with geometrical forms. He pushes the limits, seeks out the essential line of demarcation between Man and his world, the precarious equilibrium of the tension between them, sometimes in a harmonious relationship, sometimes in a destabilising one. It is always a question of finding the right axis, a metaphor for the meaning people give their lives.
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Caroline Gaudriault has examined the place of Man in contemporary society and commented on the contradictions inherent in the temptation to plunge head first into a promising modernity. Irreverent and humorous, she nevertheless goes to the heart of the matter, at the risk of occasionally setting an alarmist tone.
The lucide tone A Small Man in a Big World provides a place for a poetic perspective on human nature. As if, in an era in which questions on human identity are being posed, she wanted to evoke the human in all its beauty and fragility. It is not a question of threat, because humanity is already in a new époque. Playing with dystopian ideas, she imagines what the New Man might be like.
This free form of writing, was born of a conversation with the theorist of “ the end of History,” political scientist and philosopher, Francis Fukuyama. Together, they pose the questions of finitude and decadence.
The French, English, and Chinese versions of the book thus consist of two parts, with the first in a form of conversation between Caroline Gaudriault and philosopher Francis Fukuyama, and the second in form of poems by Caroline Gaudriault.
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A Small Man in a Big World. Part I “A Conversation with Francis Fukuyama”
Extracts
Caroline Gaudriault: You talk about a disillusioned man, an individual who has experienced history and who has now realized that it is vain to struggle, that one can die in vain for an idea, and who is therefore disillusioned. (...)
Francis Fukuyama: The individual that you speak of is Nietzsche’s Last Man. “Last Man” in the sense that he’s been exhausted by history. All the struggles for justice and for a better life that have characterized most of human history have been settled, and this person now lives in a rich, peaceful, secure society and therefore doesn’t have any aspirations beyond more of the same: more wealth, more security and the like. For example, many of my students, who grew up in such a society, want to go to Africa or to another part of the world where history hasn’t ended, where there’s still injustice and poverty, because they want to struggle over something. Today, a lot of them are going to Syria or to the Middle East or other places where there are still great issues that need to be resolved. And I think this is a side of human beings that, again, is an important one: it’s the source of all political greatness but it’s also the source of war and conflict and the like. But we should also hope that people don’t, in a sense, want to drag us back into that world because that was also the world of struggle and war and conflict over the centuries. (....)
A Small Man in a Big World. Part II: Dystopia
(extract)
Intimate conversation
The Man – Did you order me to love?
His Brain – No!
TheMan–...?...
His Brain – Listen, you’re too impulsive. Always following your emotions. A little reason ...
The Man – But to love... it’s the only thing a little human that I have left.
His Brain – It serves no purpose. You’re wasting your time and mine. It takes up too much of my energy, which would be more usefully applied elsewhere. Love, love ... Look at you with your shaking legs, your blushing cheeks; listen to you
stuttering like a complete novice. I can no longer control you. Can’t you see?
It’s not the kind of thing you’d expect from a strong man who still has many missions to accomplish.
The Man – (shamefaced) ...
His Brain – (whispering) Just between you and me, sex is a little archaic.
The Man – Yeah, right, that’s easy to say. Can’t you think about me for once? I find it agrea...
His Brain – What? No! You’re not going to come over all sentimental with me! Agreeable! That’s all we need!
The Man – OK, OK, calm down. I can’t have you getting angry, it wouldn’t be too much fun for me. It gives me convulsions.
But tell me what I’m for, then.
His Brain – What do you think? Not much! And, you know, it’ll soon be my turn, a brain more powerful than me will come along, and then you’ll have even less choice than you do now.
The Man goes home, his head stooped. He walks slowly, wistfully. He takes advantage of the fact that his brain is involved with its thoughts to smell a flower, letting its odor invade his lungs. He closes his eyes. "At least I still have that!
And Man in All of That?
The transplanted Man.
The implanted Man.
The modified Man.
The repaired Man.
The augmented Man.
The cryptogenetic Man.
The monitored Man.
The grafted Man.
The programmed Man.
The transfigured Man.
The robotized Man.
The manufactured Man.
Miniscule
People weren’t expecting that:
The more they develop,
The smaller they become.
It’s funny how they tricked themselves!
THE JOURNEY
Sinan Mansions, Shanghai, China - 2014
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Base sous-marine de Bordeaux, France - 2016
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Ancienne Patinoire Royale, Brussel, Belgium - 2014
In press media
“C’est le poids des mots et le choc des photos. Mais il n’y a pas de voyeurisme ou de complaintes emphatiques. Juste des appels lancés à la poésie, à la réflexion, sur ce monde nouveau qui nous habite parfois jusqu’à l’écrasement. Ensemble, ils le décortiquent, ils le cisèlent au scalpel, et la chimère se livre. Et c’est aussi fascinant qu’effrayant.”
Journal « CAUSEUR » – 20 Avril 2014
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Gang Bank
