A Friendly Reminder

2020, Wood panel, Champagne chalk, LED 1 m, glass bottle, gold 21k

"Countryside. Green hills. A river. I am running away from the police. I do not know why they are at me. I see the police swimming against the current of the river, their guns are out and ready to shoot. There is a house at the top of the hill. I go there to search for materials to make Molotov cocktails. I do not find what I need. The police come and shoot me. I wake up.”

January 2020. While being in this dream, Maria B., a 33 years old woman with no known political affiliation or activity was shot dead by the police - she was the same age than Adriane Morard and the shooting took place on the very same street where she lives. Few demonstrations followed to denounce police violence, the latter being justified by false allegations against Maria B., as simple as being a woman with psychologic illnesses- and possibly part of the black block organisation.

“A Friendly Reminder” draws a tension between the gold that forms the flame, its traditional affiliation with the institution of the sacred (here, the police), and a symbolic representation of fire as revolt. The artwork is activated when the neon is connected to electricity, in the same way that revolt against hegemonic power may be ignited.