[POWER TOOLS BUZZING]
It came to me like, uh, like a fairy tale. Ya know?
A sculpture produced in
the boat
during the trip
The fairy tale was, ya know, this idea of a sculpture
Somehow an art piece
produced in this, uh,
in the middle of the ocean, ya 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, ya 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
Ya 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, uh, 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, ya know?
It's not about their personal stories.
But it is about, even about their presence.
Ya 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, uh, 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, uh, 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, ya 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
Ya know? With the--we connect it with power.
And it's erected, ya know? It's vertical.
The fact here, the column is lying down, ya know?
For the whole trip it's lying down and it's still--
I want to keep it this way, ya know?
So of course, it's a game somehow between the
uh, the power and being impotent somehow, ya 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, ya 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.
Ya 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, uh, being in this, uh, 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]