Our box is the result of many artistic influences, but the sculptor Joseph Cornell undoubtedly inspired us most. From his work emanates a sort of humanity. The boxes he made were "alive". This modern artist made creations about things we cannot see: ideas, memories, fantasies, and dreams; we find this fascinating. We love the fact that he shared his feelings. He created visual poems in which surface, form, and texture, all fit perfectly together. According to him, materials for making boxes can be found anywhere: attics, basements, bookshops, in the woods, and sometimes in the street… Cornell was a precursor in the use of boxes in art and his work really was the main starting point of our house. Our work will pay homage to Cornell.
The main idea of our project is to expose our tastes, our desires, our fears, our passions, or the things we reject. It is a mix of two different personalities: Alissa’s and Camille’s. The board, in the shape of a house, has lots of squares; it has no fewer than ninety three niches of different sizes, each one containing an object which has a particular meaning for us. Camille and I share the box because it is also about our friendship.
Over the last few months we have become obsessed with this box! How were we to show abstract ideas and capture our feelings? It has been essential to work on ourselves to understand ourselves better and decrypt our daily lives.
Most niches are common to both of us but some are personal.
The house is for us a symbol of safety, stability and happiness, as well as of our friendship.
To open a home, you need a key. It symbolizes opening, the finding of a solution... We have chosen to invite you to enter our home, our lives. A key is often symbolic, a sign of generosity, sometimes of responsibility, and in our case, trust in each other.
Our birth dates appear in black on a white background. We were born on the same day nine months apart. Both boxes are directly inspired by the artist On Kawara. In fact, he takes open wooden boxes and adds newspaper clippings with corresponding dates. He puts an item in his box, and thus captures life from day to day.
Our families are very different. Camille has a brother and three sisters, whereas I only have one sister. However, both our families are very important in our lives. We share the idea of founding a big and beautiful family. To be able to raise our children and have an interesting job too is really important for us.
Camille has a goldfish: Albert. I have a dog: Calisse. Both animals are very different, but bring us happiness.
In the middle of the house, there is Camille’s blanket when she was a child. This "transitional object" is reassuring and a childhood souvenir.
This year, Camille and I are in “Seconde 2”; there are twenty six students in the class and we are all friends. We wanted to honour our class mates through a box. And as you can see there is a box in the middle for them.
Working is a fundamental concern when it comes to high school. Career advice, quizzes, forms, everything is planned to guide us in our future project. Camille already knows what she wants to do later; she hopes to become an architect. I still do not know what I want to do later... I cannot make up my mind between journalism and advertising. When we were children, we dreamt of becoming hairdressers!
Our passion is dancing; it takes up three hours of our time every week.
We all love sports in general, it allows us to spend energy and feel free. Competition is also important for us; it helps us to surpass ourselves.
Reading allows us to enter into a whole new world. It is a real pleasure and we relish each new book.
Movies, music, photography, painting, crafts, writing; all forms of art are beautiful. Since we were kids we have enjoyed craft work. Why not make it our jobs?
Clothing, shoes, fashion accessories, etc. may seem superficial, but at our age, fashion is very important. Girls like to take care of their appearance; it is a facet of adolescence. Camille loves Zadig & Voltaire, me, I’m more Sandro. We love shoes and bags! But, is it so important to have the latest Gucci bag or the new Louboutin, at a time when the world is crying famine?
Paris is today one of the most famous fashion capitals, it annually attracts millions of tourists. It is the representation of all things French and elegant.
The computer is becoming ever more important, not to mention the explosion of social networking with Facebook. 48% of teenagers spend more than three hours per day watching TV. One of the niches is about this fact.
We dream of travelling. Trips free the mind and bring knowledge. We went to England a few years back and we found it amazing!
Food and cooking are everywhere in life, so we decided to devote four boxes to it: one with a recipe and a whip, the other for our love of sweets, the next for fruit and the last for fast food.
Religion plays an important role in Camille’s life, for my part much less. But an experience links us whatever our beliefs, that of the “PéléVTT”. This pilgrimage by bike opened my mind and heart. It is symbolized by a pink scarf, which represents our team colours last June. This adventure was rewarding and exciting for us.
The weather punctuates our days. It influences our moods, our activities, our habits, our dress codes. Not a day goes by without us talking about the weather. It is essential to enjoy life to the full, not to have regrets.
Several boxes in the house are locked up with a red cross; this cross expresses the things we reject. The first is Mathematics, an enigmatic subject for us (too many numbers!). It is an intangible and abstract art. The second deals with housework and other distressing chores: “set the table, make the bed, and empty the dishwasher!” The third is devoted to rain. Waking up in the morning in a good mood, and discovering through the window that it is raining is simply awful.
A (good) surprise is the most pleasant way to break routine! A big or a small one, surprises bring happiness and help to forget little worries. Let us be inventive!
Our birthdays are on the second day of the month and 2 is also our lucky number. It may be superstitious, but sometimes we believe in magic. 2 is inexplicable...
Our fears are numerous, both big and small: the dark, death, emptiness, unemployment, spiders, the white page, the Maths book...
Why a black box? Two possible explanations: black represents the lack of inspiration ("it's a total blank in my mind!” i.e. the difficulty of finding a good idea, of making the right choice) and the "black box" can also refer to the box found on a plane which contains a wealth of information. These two ideas are contradictory, yet it characterizes the frustration and the joy experienced by some artists when they do their work.
The Cantal is a land of cows. It is the only department where there are more cows than people! Aurillac, its capital, is considered as a town that is always cold, but it is in fact the 17th sunniest city in France. The city has had 2084 hours of sun every year between 1970 and 2000. From the outside, the town seems banal, but it is like a secret garden where, with a bit of effort, it is possible to discover a few pretty flowers.
Our house does not completely reveal our lives; there are still some hidden areas, our own secret garden...
If you look in the mirror in one of the niches you will find yourself invited inside our friendship box! You too are part of our lives now...
Our friendship box is also a "pas de deux", the result of our combined efforts. I met Camille two years ago, and we immediately appreciated each other. We share the same interests, though our personalities are different. Our differences have created links between us. We started the house two months ago; we have built, shaped and decorated it together. Eugene Cloutier said: "Friendship is slow to mature, whereas life is fast”. By creating this box together, our friendship has grown.
YOU CAN SEE THIS WORK OF ART DURING THE BWHAT?! FESTIVAL AT 12 RUE DE VERMENOUZE AURILLAC EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY FROM 10:00 TO 17:00 DURING JUNE 2011!
