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It was
a three-month journey that gave the initial impetus to the
development of what I would later call 'InstaPackage'. I had
already worked for several years in a more or less traditional way
as a painter in a studio, when I was invited in 1989 to come to
Switzerland and work for three months in a studio in La
Chaux-de-Fonds, a city situated in La Suisse Romande and
birthplace of the famous architect Le Corbusier. Lucie Vergriete,
deputy of Cultural Affairs of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Denise de
Ceuninck, a journaliste, introduced me to a great number of
people, ranging from wealthy watchmakers to gallery owners. La
C-de-F, as the place is called, appeared to be a rich region with
people that are very cultural minded in a broad sense: theatre,
film, visual art, music attract a great deal of interest. I
intended to continue painting the way I did before, but now in a
new and different environment, yet things turned out otherwise.
The invitation to make a tour of a
factory for watches changed my artistic career. Much to my
surprise Mr. G.'s factory is covered with calendars and posters of
tulips and bulb fields. When I ask around, employees tell me in a
somewhat embarrassed manner that the director's wife is Dutch and
that she had hung these posters. Posing the question whether they
like these pictures, I barely get an answer. It eventually becomes
clear that they have no choice in this matter, and nobody ever
asks them anything about it. It is even more |
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disheartened when I find out that at the end of every year all
non-Swiss employees get fired and have to leave the country. Many
of them are from Italy or Spain. With each New Year they have to
apply again for their previous job. Voiceless people working very
hard, always afraid that something bad is looming. I decide to
make a photo-reportage on this watch factory. I receive permission
to take photographs and Kodachrome slides of every employee of the
watch factory and I am able to walk around and communicate with
these people for several days. The staff are careful and watch
closely upon entering and leaving the building, because of the
gold shavings that stick to shoes and clothes. Special doormats
and brushes throughout the factory collect even the tiniest gold
shavings. The gold bars are hidden in a large safe and are shown
to me with great pride.
I compare the watch factory and its 'time is gold' with the
magnificent golden environment of the River Doubs, Maison
Messieur, la Gorge du Doubs and the like. The Vue
des Alpes is especially majestic and I often go there to
make sketches. I record my walks on audio and later on combine the
slides I made in the factory and slides of the landscape with the
recorded walks in an installation. This
three-month journey marks the beginning of a more contextual
related form of art in which writing and making installations will
become core activities, along with investigating social practices
and cultural attitudes. |
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