mannequin aux mensurations de benoît piéron, draps réformés des hôpitaux
mannequin with benoît piéron's measurements, used hospital sheetsChisenhale Gallery
Description
Human-crafted. AI-refined.
The artwork features a minimalist, abstract design with various geometric shapes and patterns in muted pastel colors. The composition is made up of intersecting and overlapping blocks of pale yellow, soft blue, and subtle patterns, creating a visually engaging and harmonious arrangement. The use of simple shapes and a limited color palette suggests an emphasis on the interplay of form, space, and textural elements. The piece appears to be a fashion design or textile study, possibly reflecting the artist's interest in exploring the relationship between art and wearable design. The overall style and technique evoke a sense of tranquility and understated elegance. ...
Benoît Piéron (b. Ivry-sur-Seine, 1983) was born with meningitis, and treated for leukaemia as a kid. In the 1970s and 1980s, 4,689 people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders were infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses through the use of contaminated clotting factors – Piéron was one of these people, and whilst he did not become seropositive, his body became more political.
Four years ago, he returned to the hospital with a cancer. Upon reliving his childhood trauma, he realised that his works are intimately linked to his survival of HIV/AIDS. Through his practice, the guilt he experiences as one of a few survivors is transformed into something generative – a compostable energy that through practices of care and attention renews material detritus into forms that carry the voices, secretions and powers of others.
When his last cancer went into remission, he began assembling hospital-reformed sheets, with the help of a phenomenologist friend, materialised into toys, beach mats, flags, gymnastics ribbons, floor lamps and armchairs. The colours are softened by the intensive washing the sheets were subjected to. In spite of this hygienic treatment, "clean stains", the indelible traces of previous uses remain.
Piéron seeks to produce alternative expressions of the disease, instead exploring it as a site of potential. Far from the romantic heroism of the usual metaphors of illness, Piéron places himself in a grey and joyful zone. ...
