Flat sculpture?

What is the state of sculpture today?

Very little is said about today's sculptural works on trendy rooftops and in social salons. Many of us actually feel that there is nothing to say about it. Nothing more to expect. What is the point of producing new signs if they don't bring new meanings? To push us towards as many new questions about art as about the world.

We often confuse message and meaning a little too quickly. Art is not limited to creating new phrases. Its mission is to invent new languages. Has sculpture become intrinsically incapable of producing works of a certain size, worked in 3D, that still amaze us? Has it given us everything? Have we reached a glass ceiling with Koons' ironic Balloon dogs?

Since the message does not determine the artistic value of a work that conveys it, we will follow the magazine L'Œil somewhat reluctantly when it mentions the work of the Japanese sculptor Kawamata in the context of its article on the exhibition "Sculpture en fête" at the Villa Datris Foundation. From the outset, he is seen as a pioneer of eco-responsible art. That he works with recycled wood is a sign of awareness that is ultimately his own business, even if it is to his credit. This in no way increases the artistic value of his "ephemeral model of a 21m tower taken here as an emblematic creation of an artistic approach. The same goes for Dewasne's "geometric abstractions", which L'Œil invites us to think more brilliant because they are, let's say, recuperative art.

Nor, for similar reasons, will much be made of the discourse of André Bloc, who is featured in the same exhibition for his militant action in favour of a fusion of all the arts. On the contrary, the title of the exhibition promises a renaissance of sculpture rather than its transformation into a set piece for a small theatre of the other arts associated in a high mass to the glory of indifferentiation.

Where is sculpture going?  We are more inclined to follow L'Œil when it invites us to look for these new territories in the garden. The Foundation has in fact placed up to 25 sculptural works in its own garden. The magazine singles out Anne Claverie's Arbabra with its trunk made of tyres and 'an incredible copper weave by Antonella Zazzera'. Is there a formal research here and not a foregrounding of self-righteous intentions? Will we soon have to throw out Guernica if it turns out, for example, that Picasso was far from irreproachable in terms of respect for the environment. In thought and in deed.

To discover a sculpture designed to be contemplated in a context other than that of an exhibition, a gallery or a museum is already a promise of innovation in itself.

This is why the invitation to move made to the spectator by the work presented by Yaacov Agam is touching. But it is above all to Claude Viallat and Daniel Deleuze that L'Œil is well advised to turn our attention. Because apart from these leading figures of vintage Support/Surfaces, we can only count on Pierre Daquin to shake up the codes with a tapestry back. In short, it is not yet today that we will see a thousand and one glimpses of the sculpture of tomorrow concentrated in one place. Unless that place exists and it is your studio.

Illustration:
- Anne Claverie - l'Arbabra - 2013
- Antonella Zazzera - Naturalia 21M12 - 2012
- Daniel Deleuze - The Urban Mover - 2009