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"Becoming" - 25 Studies from Ghislain Pfersdorff
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BECOMING is an immersive installation comprising 25 artworks arranged in a circle, each corresponding to one stanza of Arthur Rimbaud’s “Le Bateau Ivre.” Created over nine years (2016-2025), each work measures 46 x 61 cm and employs a two-stage process: Chinese ink calligraphy transcribing Rimb
Visitors remove their shoes and follow a traced path, physically experiencing the poem’s journey of departure, transformation, and return.
The installation features ambient audio of French actors Gérard Philippe, Jean Marais, Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Fanny Ardant reciting the poem and alternating French and English, accompanied by Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel.”
Limited to a few visitors at a time, the work explores themes of artistic rebellion, political resistance, and psychological transformation while addressing contemporary concerns about polarization and dialogue. The calligraphy-watercolor technique embodies creative doubt—ink providing structur
Submitted as a performance to the 2025 Phillips Collection Art call.
... more...
- Ghislain Pfersdorff
- "Becoming" - 8/25 - Ile de Ré, 2018
- Watercolor and Ink on Arches paper
- 46 x 61 cm (18.11 x 24.02 in)
- Inv: 180725GPBECOMIX8
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€3,500
8/25
"Je sais les cieux crevant en éclairs, et les trombes
Et les ressacs et les courants : je sais le soir,
L’Aube exaltée ainsi qu’un peuple de colombes,
Et j’ai vu quelquefois ce que l’homme a cru voir !"
- Collections: "Becoming" - 25 steps