Profile on Christian Boltanski

Profile on Christian Boltanski

Christian Boltanski: It's a jumble out there 

 Christian Boltanski has filled Paris's Grand Palais with a 50-tonne mountain of clothes, and the sound of 15,000 heartbeats... Adrian Searle

Théâtre d’ombres- Christian Boltanski

Christian Boltanski, born in 1944, is a French born artist—a sculptor, photographer, painter and film maker. He has a brother, Luc Boltanski, and he is the partner of Annette Messager. Boltanski’s work focuses on the theme of death, the uniqueness of each human being, the transience of life and the absence. His work can haunt a person’s imagination; his work is often inspired by the Holocaust, and the depth of human suffering that was experienced during this time, with recurring themes of death, memory and loss—all these elements are often used in his work as deep reminders of the past and to portray deep contemplation over the Holocaust. 

Boltanski creates work that will soon have to be destroyed, so he captures it through photography; the power of photography to revisit the past can be quite influential. He created puppets and hung them up in a dark area, which is then lit up to cast eerie and atmospheric shadows: Théâtre d’ombres.  These nightmarish figures dance in a theatrical pattern and create a feeling of loneliness and desperation, in my opinion, reflecting the Holocaust. As they dance across the walls, moving in and out of focus, they become evocative of devilish or skeleton-like characters from childhood brandishing spears and axes. This macabre imagery acts as a memento mori, reminding us of the transient nature of life and the inevitability of death.
Boltanski contributed to work in Britain.
The Folkestone Triennial is one of the most ambitious public art projects presented in the UK.
Located in the seaside town of Folkestone on the south-east coast of England, artists are invited to use the town as their ‘canvas’, utilising public spaces to create striking new pieces that reflect issues affecting both the town and the wider world.
 
Christian Boltanski’s contribution to the Triennial The Whispers, was a sound installation sited at four benches on The Leas. The sound was triggered when visitors sat down. The voices heard were reading letters to and from servicemen of the First World War. Having passed through Folkestone on their way to the battle-fields in France and Belgium, the town became a poignant site for the soldiers in these personal and intimate reflections on love and separation in the midst of war. The letters were presented to the Triennial by the people of Folkestone and were read to participants by the people of Folkestone.
 "A good work of art can never be read in one way. My work is full of contradictions. An artwork is open—it is the spectators looking at the work who make the piece, using their own background. A lamp in my work might make you think of a police interrogation, but it’s also religious, like a candle. At the same time it alludes to a precious painting, with a single light shining on it. There are many way of looking at the work. It has to be ‘unfocused’ somehow so that everyone can recognize something of their own self when viewing it."
(Christian Boltanski, “Tamar Garb in conversation with Christian Boltanski,” in Christian Boltanski [London: Phaidon Press, 1997], p. 24.)
 By appropriating mementos of other people’s lives and placing them in an art context, Boltanski explores the power of photography to transcend individual identity and to function instead as a witness to collective rituals and shared cultural memories.
In Boltanski’s 1986–87 work Autel de Lycée Chases (which means “Altar to the Chases High School”) enlarged photographs of children are hung over a platform constructed from stacked tin biscuit boxes, which are rusted as if they have been ravaged by time. The black-and-white photographs look like artifacts from another era. An electric light illuminates each face while at the same time obscuring it. The arrangement gives no way to identify or connect the unnamed individuals.
 At once personal and universal in reference, Boltanski’s work serves as a monument to the dead, hinting at the Holocaust without naming it.
  Known for a body of work that may be considered an archive of our social, cultural, ethnic, and personal histories, Boltanski is one of France’s most widely exhibited living artists.