Icones

Tout cela n’aura servit a rien / It was all for nothing
“Icones” is a disposition of a silk screen print series hung horizontally across the length of the wall. The spectator equipped with sterile medical gloves is asked to roll down the pieces so that they may experience & acquaint themselves with the complete image.
The images are all replicas, varying in tonality and color that equate to the differentiates of perspective yet the consistency of the issue. The visible images point to the infinite pattern, inspired by explanatory diagrams dating from the slave trade, on which is explained how to fit the maximum number of slaves on a boat in a laying position. Here, this extract of the diagrams becomes a motif, the bodies are lost in their own mass, making the image illegible or at least abstract at the first glance. In front of the saturation of the pattern, the only way for the viewer to understand what he has in front of his eyes is through an explanation, or his own concentration and interest to see which has been blurred.
Camille Bleu Valentin is a french visual and conceptual artist. She was a part of the Haven for Artists' residency program from the beginning of August 2018 to end of September 2018.
Haven for Artists is an all-inclusive arts organization (NGO) based in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 2011. Haven has evolved from events that hosted and promoted local and regional artists, into an NGO dedicated to supporting the MENA regions creative, LBTQI and women’s community; via residencies, access to networks, international collaborations, workshops, social change campaigns, community cohesion as well as cultural activities, programs and projects.