Adrain Paci: The story of a stone

"The story of a piece of marble - the story of a stone - taken off the mountain, rolled down, brought onto the boat and then transformed from nature into culture by human actions."

Video artist Adrian Paci introduces his wondrous work 'The Column'.

Artist Adrian Paci (b.1969) escaped violent riots in Albania in 1997 and took refuge with his family, in Italy. The fact of being at a crossroads, at the frontier of two separate identities, underlies all his work on film.

In this video Paci introduces us to his 2013 film 'The Column'. The column is an art piece produced on a boat trip between East and West: It is "the story of a piece of marble, the story of a stone, taken off the mountain" he says. This piece of marble is "rolled down, brought onto the boat and then transformed by human actions" he explains. But, he adds, the film is also a story of faces, bodies, human presence and human actions. Nature is detached and transformed, turned into culture.

While a column traditionally symbolizes temples and power, Paci chooses to always have it lying down, and thus it also becomes a sign of impotence. As it is made in China, also a question of authenticity, he says.

Importantly, the trip continues - it is a process of becoming, demonstrated by tools moving.
Adrian Paci was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at Jeu de Paume, Paris

Camera: Germain Ferey

Edited by Kamilla Bruus

Produced by Marc-Christoph Wagner, 2013

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

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Louisiana Channel is a non-profit video channel for the Internet launched by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in November 2012. Each week Louisiana Channel will publish videos about and with artists in visual art, literature, architcture, design etc.

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Supported by Nordea-fonden.

[POWER TOOLS BUZZING]

It came to me like like a fairy tale. You know?

A sculpture produced in

the boat

during the trip

The fairy tale was, you know, this idea of a sculpture

Somehow an art piece

produced in this,

in the middle of the ocean, you know?

But, at the same time, this model coming from the west

that goes to the east and then is coming back

to the west in this travel

but very close to this fairy tale thing

It was the hardness of the reality

the hardness of the work

the, I mean, the way the work is exploited, you know?

The logic of the profit that is behind that

That was to create this coincidence between the time of transport and the time of production

[JACKHAMMER POUNDING]

In my work, you see a lot of people.

You see a lot of faces, you see a lot of bodies

and the stories are connected with these bodies

with these--they are human experiences.

In this piece it's a bit different

You know, it's the story of the piece of marble

It's the story of a stone

Taken off from the mountain

and then rolled down

and then rolled to a boat

and then, and then it start this trip

and then it's transformed.

Of course it makes it a bit more metaphorical

But at the same time, even in this piece, in the video you see faces, you see bodies, you see human actions.

It's about this piece of marble, but at the same time it's even about the human actions on it, you know?

It's not about their personal stories.

But it is about, even about their presence.

You know, their presence is important.

And their actions are, I mean, are important.

And their--and what they--

actually, the column is what they produce

so it's not being produced in a miraculous way somehow.

[BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING]

This transformation from, from something coming from nature

that you detached from that, from its context

and then

through the action it becomes an expression of culture

So it's from nature.

From nature going towards culture.

And what is getting and what is losing in this transformation.

So of course, the column that we see now

it's nicely done

it's perfectly responding to a model.

to a cultural model

but at the same time it's losing something from

from its roughness, or its natural aspect.

[BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING]

The film is ending with this boat and the ocean

and you don't see even the column at the end because, you know, the roof of the boat is closed.

So, the trip is still going on.

It continues.

It's continuing

But then I wanted the sculpture to be here in Paris.

To be here, like to, to consider the promise as a step of this trip.

Europe was a destination for the column

I wanted the column to be here.

In Paris

And we are here.

In a place that we are surrounded by columns in Paris.

Even just here the Plaza la Concordia

you see a column in the middle and then around you see a lot of columns.

The column is a very symbolic element.

It's in general a symbolic element, even in the East and in the West.

In the West we connect it with the temples

You know? With the--we connect it with power.

And it's erected, you know? It's vertical.

The fact here, the column is lying down, you know?

For the whole trip it's lying down and it's still--

I want to keep it this way, you know?

So of course, it's a game somehow between the

uh, the power and being impotent somehow, you know?

And as you said, it's made in China.

Ya know, when we see "Made in China" it has to do with something that is not authentic.

So even the, the same idea of authenticity is questioned, you know?

[RADIO PLAYING MUSIC IN CHINESE]

The image has the power to tell, and to keep it open, that is the nice thing.

The word is more defining.

You know?

When you give a name to something, you define it more.

The image is saying something but its always a secret.

[BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING]

It's always about this process.

It's about, being in this, continuous transformation and then

things are becoming always something else.

And in this process of becoming, if you manage to

to get some, some signs of the truth that is moving

That is the greatest thing.

[BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING, HAMMERS STRIKING]

[CRASH OF MARBLE]