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ARNAUD EUBELEN (BE) - He drank me
« To be sure, I will have shared nothing all that new with you. All the world knows about wine; everyone loves it too. When a true doctor-philosopher appears, which is as yet a thing unheard of, he will be able to carry out a grand study of wine, a sort of double-psychology where wine and man are its dual aims. He will explain how and why certain drinks contain the power to vastly magnify the personality of the thinking being, and of creating, so to speak, a third person: a mystical operation wherein the natural man and wine, the animal god and the plant god, play the role of the Father and Son in the Trinity; they beget a Holy Spirit, which is the superior man, who proceeds equally from both of them. (...) An old, anonymous writer once said: "Nothing rivals the joy of the drinker, except maybe the joy of the wine that we drink." In effect, wine plays an intimate role in the life of humanity, so intimate that I would not be surprised that, seduced by some pantheistic idea, rational thinkers should attribute a kind of personality to it. Wine and man resemble a pair of wrestling friends who are always fighting, and always reconciling. The winner always hugs the loser. There are wicked drunks; they are wicked by nature. The bad man becomes odious, while the good becomes excellent.»
Artificial paradises, on wine and hashish, 1860 by Charles Baudelaire
Translation by Kirk Watson, 2016
Above, an extract of a Charles Baudelaire text. I’ve found interesting to have a continuity with the first installation I realized in the Brasseurs glassbox. I’ve been watering myself again in texts of « Artificial paradises », from which I’ve quoted an extract to comment on the first installation. Here I focus on wine. The last, and alcohol overall, is usually present in our social practices. Sometimes we enjoy it, sometimes we overdo it, but it’s certainly a spark of connections, ideas and reflections. Baudelaire’s text extracts depict in a remarkable way this relation between man and wine. I especially appreciate the positive philosophy and this mystical and almost sacred approach emerging from the texts.
The displayed installation « He drank me » stages this liquid, a kind of material metaphor of this extract which, in either way, creates a scheming atmosphere. Some bags of wine hidden behind corrugated iron will flow through some pipes, drop after drop. Then the liquid will land up on white breeze-blocks. The wine will gradually dye the stone. I want to make visible the passing of time, enabling to create an effect of accelerated aging of the material.
www.arnaudeubelen.be
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In a second phase, Arnaud Eubelen invites Eva L'Hoest and Michael Debatty to take part in his installation in our young artist glassbox.
Artificial paradises, on wine and hashish, 1860 by Charles Baudelaire
Translation by Kirk Watson, 2016
Above, an extract of a Charles Baudelaire text. I’ve found interesting to have a continuity with the first installation I realized in the Brasseurs glassbox. I’ve been watering myself again in texts of « Artificial paradises », from which I’ve quoted an extract to comment on the first installation. Here I focus on wine. The last, and alcohol overall, is usually present in our social practices. Sometimes we enjoy it, sometimes we overdo it, but it’s certainly a spark of connections, ideas and reflections. Baudelaire’s text extracts depict in a remarkable way this relation between man and wine. I especially appreciate the positive philosophy and this mystical and almost sacred approach emerging from the texts.
The displayed installation « He drank me » stages this liquid, a kind of material metaphor of this extract which, in either way, creates a scheming atmosphere. Some bags of wine hidden behind corrugated iron will flow through some pipes, drop after drop. Then the liquid will land up on white breeze-blocks. The wine will gradually dye the stone. I want to make visible the passing of time, enabling to create an effect of accelerated aging of the material.
www.arnaudeubelen.be
*
In a second phase, Arnaud Eubelen invites Eva L'Hoest and Michael Debatty to take part in his installation in our young artist glassbox.
