How would you describe your style?We could describe our
approach with a few characteristics: overprints, successive layers,
composite arrangements, complexity, overlapping, screen-printing…
And
a few concepts: confrontation, simultaneity, dual interpretation,
temporality, mutation, variation, successive reformulation…
What are your main sources of inspiration (artists, graphic designers, etc.)?We
like François Morellet, Tomi Ungerer, Duane Michals, Giotto, Sol
LeWitt, Pierre Huyghe, Flannery O’Connor, Booba, Andrei Tarkovsky,
Anders Petersen, Bruno Munari, Ingmar Bergman, Riad Sattouf… in no
particular order, and the list could be much longer…
What can you tell us about the two works on display at ArtLigue?They
juxtapose and confront fields / subjects we like to bring together:
photography (of reality) along with geometry, figuration and
abstraction. They can be interpreted in two ways, either simultaneous or
consecutive, depending on the distance from which you view the work.
What was the creative process for these works? Is it consistent with your usual approach?Do you use different creative methods depending on the nature of the project (artistic, commission, experimental)?
Our
creative process is the same for artistic projects and commissioned
work. It’s always the result of “constraints”. Art and graphic design
are not disciplines of “free-roaming imagination”, as some longstanding
romanticized ideas would have it, but rather a constructive
confrontation with constraints, both external (commissions,
specifications, technical production...) or internal (methods of
creation, rules of the game…).
What is your view on graphic design today?There’s
a lot of it around, for better or for worse… Interestingly, graphic
creation is tending towards globalization: a lot of stuff ends up
looking alike… more and more images, less and less uniqueness.
Do you believe there is a boundary between visual arts and graphic design? If so, where would you place it?Should graphic design be included in the arts, or does it already belong there?If
there’s a boundary at all, it’s highly porous. A graphic designer is an
“applied artist”: he translates what the commission requires into
images. But like any other performer, he can’t help but contaminate the
message with his own subjectivity, vision, political and aesthetic
beliefs. Graphic design, as an applied art form, therefore falls within
the scope of art in the broadest sense, along with design, architecture
or fashion... It’s a debate we try not to go into that much: it often
generates (im)postures and questions of legitimacy... We practice
graphic design with an artist’s approach, and art with a graphic
designer’s approach. It’s very French to always try to drive a wedge
between applied arts and visual arts. In that sense, we feel close to
artists/designers like El Lissitzky, Bruno Munari, Paul Rand, Tomi
Ungerer… who crossed the borders unrepentingly, without ever changing
posture, with intelligence and generosity.
Édition limitée, numérotée et signée par l’artiste.
Thomas Couderc — Clément Vauchez
Collection
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