© Stephane Brion
I am humility
Performed 30th January 2015
Venue : Plateforme
I am humility
"I present to you our common project, "I am humility". Our project questions humility and commitment, and the need to affirm: "I am an artist". We wanted to put our project in the social context of terrorist attacks, and chose the form of the slogan "I am Charlie".
SILENCE
I am Jewish! I am a policeman! I am a maintenance agent! I am Charlie! I am Arab! I am, you are ! I am an artist !
SILENCE
To treat our subject, I expose Miki!
SILENCE
But think hard about my following difficulties: how can one tell someone we like that we do not understand her language, neither in French nor in English, neither written nor oral?! You reproach me and others visibly for not inviting you to spend an evening "between friends". I understand that it hurts you but I will be frank! Yes, I do not want to spend time with you who I do not understand anymore, who makes no effort to speak correctly. Nor do I wish to with C, because we have nothing to say to each other and because I disapprove of the way he speaks of women to his son. If he replace the word 'woman' with 'Japanese' in his perception of society, you would be horrified. Obviously you are not, and you tell K, in front of us, that women are fragile. You do what you want with your children and their father... but for me, it makes me back off and disavows me from committing further to a relationship! I do not want to spend time with someone who is not able to understand that it is inappropriate to always talk about O’s Ex when you see us! And yes, I do not want to spend a second more with someone who thinks, for example, that right now there are the "hetros" on one side and the "homos" on the other. It's stupid and shows how little thought and empathy you have. No, that's not the kind of party where I want to live!
SILENCE
* (TU ES ['you are' in French] is pronounced in the same way as tuer, 'to kill')
YOU ARE* STUPID! (Kill stupid!)
YOU ARE A SOCIOPATH! ( Kill sociopath !)
YOU ARE LIMITED! ( Kill Limited!)
YOU ARE INFREQUENTABLE! ( Kill infrequentable!)
YOU ARE A HOMOPHOBE! (Kill homophobe!)
YOU ARE INCONVENIENT! (Kill inconvenient!)
YOU ARE A BAD MOTHER! ( Kill bad mother!)
YOU ARE MACHO! (Kill Macho!)
YOU ARE BADLY SHACKED UP! ( Kill badly shacked up!)
YOU ARE ILLITERATE! (Kill Illiterate!)
YOU ARE UNCULTIVATED! (Kill uncultivated!)
YOU ARE UNCOMPREHENSIBLE! ( Kill uncomprehensible!)
YOU ARE SUSCEPTIBLE! ( Kill suscentible!)
YOU ARE JAPANESE ! ( Kill Japanese!)"
This work was presented during an evening event intended to enable Plateforme to continue. I collaborated (as the unit Domestic Duel) with Emmanuelle Dagnaud, who had the idea of exhibiting an artist, who was me.
It was her way to affirm the fact that she was an artist.
I brought in several elements such as an extract of received email which linked the current news at the time (the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack) to questioning humility.
We wrote the scenario together. We chose to be part of an encircled crowd, dressed normally, unnoticeable until Emmanuelle mentions that she is exhibiting me. The whole text above is read by Emmanuelle with many silences, creating discomfort and friction. I say nothing and just stand and listen like all the others. The text basically combines the two elements: the slogan "Je suis Charlie" (referring to Charlie Hebdo, the satirical weekly magazine where terrorists had killed twelve people) and the extract of an email that I had received from a feminist colleague. The message refers to who I am, who my partner is, and how I educate my son. How could she know so much about my family and I? She only met my partner few times briefly. We combined these two elements to ask: 'What is Humility?' (Miki), and: 'What is the engagement of an artist?' (Emmanuel). In my previous work there had been a reference to humility, that we wanted to recreate. Humility is giving someone the benefit of doubt. We wanted the people who were there to feel doubtful. This was also a way to question the ignorance and misjudgments that had been part of the first terrorist attack. Also, in the present world many people feel educated and well informed, so that they think they know everything, rather than asking questions and reflecting. The original text is in French below:
Je suis humilité
« Je vous présente notre projet commun qui s’appelle: « Je suis humilité » . Notre projet est un questionnement sur l'humilité & l’ENGAGEMENT et sur la nécessité d’affirmer « je suis une artiste » . Nous avons voulu inscrire notre projet dans le contexte social des attentats terroristes et avons repris la forme du slogan « Je suis Charlie » .
SILENCE
Je suis juive! je suis policière ! je suis agent de maintenance ! je suis Charlie! je suis arabe! je suis tu es ! je suis artiste !
SILENCE
Pour traiter notre sujet, j’expose Miki !
SILENCE
Mais réfléchis bien à ma difficulté suivante : comment dire à quelqu'un qu'on aime bien, qu'on ne comprend plus son langage, ni en français ni en en anglais, ni à l'écrit ni à l'oral ?! Tu me reproches, et à d'autres visiblement, de ne pas t'inviter pour passer une soirée "entre amis". Je comprend que ça te blesse mais je vais être franche.! Oui, je n'ai pas envie de passer du temps avec toi que je ne comprends plus, qui ne fait aucun effort pour parler correctement et C, parce que nous n'avons rien à nous dire et que je réprouve la façon dont il parle des femmes à son fils. Il remplacerait Femme par Japonais dans sa conception de la société, tu serais horrifiée. Visiblement tu ne l'es pas et tu affirmes à K, devant nous, que les femmes sont fragiles. Tu fais ce que tu veux avec tes enfants et leur père, mais moi, ça me fait reculer et ça ne m'engage pas à aller plus loin dans une relation.! Je n'ai pas envie de passer du temps avec quelqu'un qui n'est pas capable de comprendre qu'il est inconvenant de toujours parler de l'ex d'O quand tu nous vois.! Et oui, je n'ai pas envie de dépenser une seconde de plus avec quelqu'un qui pense par exemple qu'en ce moment, il y a les "hétéros" d'un côté et les "homos" de l'autre. C'est stupide et montre bien le peu de réflexion et d'empathie que tu peux avoir.! Non, ce n'est pas le genre de soirée que j'ai envie de vivre!
SILENCE
TU ES STUPIDE!
TU ES SOCIOPATHE!
TU ES LIMITÉE!
TU ES INFRÉQUENTABLE!
TU ES HOMOPHOBE!
TU ES INCONVENANTE!
TU ES MAUVAISE MÈRE!
TU ES MACHO!
TU ES MAL MAQUÉE!
TU ES ILLÉTRÉE!
TU ES INCULTE!
TU ES INCOMPRÉHENSIBLE !
TU ES SUSCEPTIBLE !
TU ES JAPONAISE !
Performed 30th January 2015
Venue : Plateforme
I am humility
"I present to you our common project, "I am humility". Our project questions humility and commitment, and the need to affirm: "I am an artist". We wanted to put our project in the social context of terrorist attacks, and chose the form of the slogan "I am Charlie".
SILENCE
I am Jewish! I am a policeman! I am a maintenance agent! I am Charlie! I am Arab! I am, you are ! I am an artist !
SILENCE
To treat our subject, I expose Miki!
SILENCE
But think hard about my following difficulties: how can one tell someone we like that we do not understand her language, neither in French nor in English, neither written nor oral?! You reproach me and others visibly for not inviting you to spend an evening "between friends". I understand that it hurts you but I will be frank! Yes, I do not want to spend time with you who I do not understand anymore, who makes no effort to speak correctly. Nor do I wish to with C, because we have nothing to say to each other and because I disapprove of the way he speaks of women to his son. If he replace the word 'woman' with 'Japanese' in his perception of society, you would be horrified. Obviously you are not, and you tell K, in front of us, that women are fragile. You do what you want with your children and their father... but for me, it makes me back off and disavows me from committing further to a relationship! I do not want to spend time with someone who is not able to understand that it is inappropriate to always talk about O’s Ex when you see us! And yes, I do not want to spend a second more with someone who thinks, for example, that right now there are the "hetros" on one side and the "homos" on the other. It's stupid and shows how little thought and empathy you have. No, that's not the kind of party where I want to live!
SILENCE
* (TU ES ['you are' in French] is pronounced in the same way as tuer, 'to kill')
YOU ARE* STUPID! (Kill stupid!)
YOU ARE A SOCIOPATH! ( Kill sociopath !)
YOU ARE LIMITED! ( Kill Limited!)
YOU ARE INFREQUENTABLE! ( Kill infrequentable!)
YOU ARE A HOMOPHOBE! (Kill homophobe!)
YOU ARE INCONVENIENT! (Kill inconvenient!)
YOU ARE A BAD MOTHER! ( Kill bad mother!)
YOU ARE MACHO! (Kill Macho!)
YOU ARE BADLY SHACKED UP! ( Kill badly shacked up!)
YOU ARE ILLITERATE! (Kill Illiterate!)
YOU ARE UNCULTIVATED! (Kill uncultivated!)
YOU ARE UNCOMPREHENSIBLE! ( Kill uncomprehensible!)
YOU ARE SUSCEPTIBLE! ( Kill suscentible!)
YOU ARE JAPANESE ! ( Kill Japanese!)"
This work was presented during an evening event intended to enable Plateforme to continue. I collaborated (as the unit Domestic Duel) with Emmanuelle Dagnaud, who had the idea of exhibiting an artist, who was me.
It was her way to affirm the fact that she was an artist.
I brought in several elements such as an extract of received email which linked the current news at the time (the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack) to questioning humility.
We wrote the scenario together. We chose to be part of an encircled crowd, dressed normally, unnoticeable until Emmanuelle mentions that she is exhibiting me. The whole text above is read by Emmanuelle with many silences, creating discomfort and friction. I say nothing and just stand and listen like all the others. The text basically combines the two elements: the slogan "Je suis Charlie" (referring to Charlie Hebdo, the satirical weekly magazine where terrorists had killed twelve people) and the extract of an email that I had received from a feminist colleague. The message refers to who I am, who my partner is, and how I educate my son. How could she know so much about my family and I? She only met my partner few times briefly. We combined these two elements to ask: 'What is Humility?' (Miki), and: 'What is the engagement of an artist?' (Emmanuel). In my previous work there had been a reference to humility, that we wanted to recreate. Humility is giving someone the benefit of doubt. We wanted the people who were there to feel doubtful. This was also a way to question the ignorance and misjudgments that had been part of the first terrorist attack. Also, in the present world many people feel educated and well informed, so that they think they know everything, rather than asking questions and reflecting. The original text is in French below:
Je suis humilité
« Je vous présente notre projet commun qui s’appelle: « Je suis humilité » . Notre projet est un questionnement sur l'humilité & l’ENGAGEMENT et sur la nécessité d’affirmer « je suis une artiste » . Nous avons voulu inscrire notre projet dans le contexte social des attentats terroristes et avons repris la forme du slogan « Je suis Charlie » .
SILENCE
Je suis juive! je suis policière ! je suis agent de maintenance ! je suis Charlie! je suis arabe! je suis tu es ! je suis artiste !
SILENCE
Pour traiter notre sujet, j’expose Miki !
SILENCE
Mais réfléchis bien à ma difficulté suivante : comment dire à quelqu'un qu'on aime bien, qu'on ne comprend plus son langage, ni en français ni en en anglais, ni à l'écrit ni à l'oral ?! Tu me reproches, et à d'autres visiblement, de ne pas t'inviter pour passer une soirée "entre amis". Je comprend que ça te blesse mais je vais être franche.! Oui, je n'ai pas envie de passer du temps avec toi que je ne comprends plus, qui ne fait aucun effort pour parler correctement et C, parce que nous n'avons rien à nous dire et que je réprouve la façon dont il parle des femmes à son fils. Il remplacerait Femme par Japonais dans sa conception de la société, tu serais horrifiée. Visiblement tu ne l'es pas et tu affirmes à K, devant nous, que les femmes sont fragiles. Tu fais ce que tu veux avec tes enfants et leur père, mais moi, ça me fait reculer et ça ne m'engage pas à aller plus loin dans une relation.! Je n'ai pas envie de passer du temps avec quelqu'un qui n'est pas capable de comprendre qu'il est inconvenant de toujours parler de l'ex d'O quand tu nous vois.! Et oui, je n'ai pas envie de dépenser une seconde de plus avec quelqu'un qui pense par exemple qu'en ce moment, il y a les "hétéros" d'un côté et les "homos" de l'autre. C'est stupide et montre bien le peu de réflexion et d'empathie que tu peux avoir.! Non, ce n'est pas le genre de soirée que j'ai envie de vivre!
SILENCE
TU ES STUPIDE!
TU ES SOCIOPATHE!
TU ES LIMITÉE!
TU ES INFRÉQUENTABLE!
TU ES HOMOPHOBE!
TU ES INCONVENANTE!
TU ES MAUVAISE MÈRE!
TU ES MACHO!
TU ES MAL MAQUÉE!
TU ES ILLÉTRÉE!
TU ES INCULTE!
TU ES INCOMPRÉHENSIBLE !
TU ES SUSCEPTIBLE !
TU ES JAPONAISE !
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