PORTFOLIO

MAXIMEGARCIA

« Heterotopia » 3D modeling, 2007-today.Looking for other spaces, secludedplaces remote from the world. Theseimaginary places are based on theruins of a contemporary civi l isationwhere functional elements blend in apostmodern and brusalist visualapproach.

« letmeseeyourstripyveins ». 201 3. (wood, ink, digital printing), 24.5x6x1 .5cm.This wood piece was designed during a workshop with French artist Yves Chaudouet.This work arose after thinking about the concealed subliminal messages found in massmedia and bil lboards

« suicide is not a lifestyle ». 201 4. Digital print 60x60cm.

“Rana Plaza”, instal lation composed of24 wooden cubes (6x6x6cm). 201 4.Digital print on each side.

After the notorious tragedy ofBangladesh-based texti le factoryRana Plaza, this instal lationchallenges the visitor to try torecompose the 24 smaller cubesinto six different pictures takenfrom Web photo documentaries.An active connection between thepublic and the tragic event ismaterial ized, so is the implicationof the visitor in the building’scol lapsing. The passive viewerthen becomes an actor of thetragedy by spinning the cubesaround. The childish game’simagery triggers a reflection on ourrole in this context of modernslavery.

"Lemondeestbeau (theworldisabeautifulplace)", sound andinstal lation (paper shopping bags, ipod), 201 4

Out of the smallest Hermes shopping bag comes a recordedtrack that keeps repeating the sentence “le monde est beau”(“the world is a beautiful place”) - as though distorted by itsauditory feedback. Only when you get closer can you hearthe sentence, otherwise it sounds l ike a mere buzzing noise.The sweeping statement is blatantly naive, as a directreference to Voltaire’s philosophical tale “Candide”.

Voltaire draws an implicit paral lel with the lack of hygiene ofParis when he depicts the rose-scented fountains that canbe found in the mythical kingdom of Eldorado. I find itfascinating how some people’s l ives revolve around luxuryitems. The current generation is raised along the concept ofcapital ism and they are used to taking wealth for granted.This instal lation paints a rosy picture of today’s gi ldedgeneration. With a counter-rel ief statement, I am referring tothe concept of upbringing indocrination and the waycapital ist values are passed on to children. When lifebecomes all about consumption and appearances, chi ldrenare no longer able to think outside a capital ist pattern.

A specific type of consumption has emerged in China,known as a “consumption to keep up appearances”.According to this, a large percentage of the youngergeneration would buy empty luxury shopping bags even ifthey couldn’t afford the luxury items themselves. They wouldspend money on empty paper bags to feel l ike theybelonged to the upper classes.

"The solution is highlighted in pink", 201 5. digital printing,1 3.7x1 2.5cm.

This redacted version of an Elizabeth Jennings’ poem highl ights thelast verse as a “solution”. This designated “solution” refers to thestructure scheme of a rhetorical text where the last paragraphsusually hold the conclusion. This pattern is ironical ly applied to apoem, as a satirical reference to the way literature is taught atschool. These norms of perception result from the readingexperience we were taught and through which we are able tounderstand a text, depending on whether its nature is political orpoetic.

"Look ! There is nothing to see", artistic book, 1 9.5x11 cm, 38pages. 201 5

Art is not measured in terms of the number of finished works, it ismore likely to be a collection of fragments and unfinished pieces.Similarly, this artistic book embraces a self-reflection processwhereby each drawing embodies broader perception-relatedquestions: pol itical, tautological or merely humorous or satirical.The drawings are thoughts become visible.

"Life of a female secretary in Wall Street", five wooden elementsand digital printing, 201 5.

This instal lation consists of a 3D textual portrait devoted to anunknown « female secretary in Wall Street ». All the blocks areconnected and put together so that their meanings echo and extendto one another. The sentences are drawn from my own text corpus.The pressure of work, lonel iness, the fear of a blurry and loomingdanger - these are all themes in this anonymous portrait.

The composition is meant to be modular and it can be rearrangeddepending on where it’s exhibited. Form does not fol low functionhere but the composition takes into account the meaning of thesentences and this determines the way the components are shownto the public, in relation to space and the visitor’s physical presence.

"Fifth Amendment", video instal lation, 201 5.

Built on extracted questions from online psychology tests, thisvideo replies to these questions by invoking the FifthAmendment to the Constitution of the United States. ThisAmendment pleads the right that al lows a witness to decline toanswer questions where the answers might incriminate him orher.

This multi-meaning video instal lation looks at the way peoplelet themselves be defined by what others may think of them. I talso refers to the psychiatrist’s approach, which would be tolabel one’s patients based on what one knows aboutbehavioral patterns – according to the DSM. Another layer ofmeaning in the video is the reference to the fictional iseddocumentary “Citizen Four”, about and starring EdwardSnowden, who unveils the global spying and tracking devicesdeveloped by the NSA throughout America and parts ofEurope.

We are likely to incriminate ourselves when talking, even morewhen sharing thoughts on social media. Once they’re takenout of their context, our words can be held against us. The actof fi l l ing an online form, even more when it comes to sharingone’s personal thoughts on a topic, is a type of self-incrimination. One’s own words can be twisted and used as atestimony against oneself.

Through these online psychological tests l ies an obviousnotion of judgement, with questions such as “Do you reallyenjoy every minute of your l ife ?”. I ’d rather not answer.

Script (sample), generated in a typewriter way.

"Apolitical Speeches", series of three digital prints,40x60cm, 201 6.

The Apolitical Speeches series is intended to givethe floor back to the visitor. I want people to be ableto think for themselves. Despite its shape, the posteris l iable to change according to the viewer’s point ofview – the immaterial space wil l be defined by thevisitor’s thoughts on the subject, and they wil l thuspartake in the co-creation of the work. Differentsources include political speeches and pressarticles. The body of the text has been redacted,while I also wrote some lines of introduction andconclusion.

The color green alludes to the green screen used invideo studios, which can be seen as a laboratorywhere rhetoric happens. I want the visitor to expresshimself freely, as opposed to the goals of mostmainstream political speeches. I don’t want to givean answer to something that is obviously morecomplex a problem than you can sum up and solvewith a neat final conclusion. This series is an ironicspin on political speeches that claim to have ananswer to global pol itical questions. This is meant tostir people’s conscience.

Untitled (masks and frames), monotypes, 20x29cm (ink on photography), 201 5

Black Supremacy from the Ikea series,1 8x21 .5cm(feltpen on magazine), 201 5.

The Ikea series, along with Magazines, reveals theunderlying messages concealed in advertising. Thisseries stresses the potential power of images as wellas their multiple levels of interpretation, which are oftensubliminal ly conceived. The intention is to dismantlesome of the marketing strategies used in the realm ofadvertising and to warn the viewer about their attemptsto mislead our subconscious perceptions.

Magazines and Ikea (detai ls), 201 6

"I beg you" from the Supplications series. 3D modeling. 201 6 - work in progress.

"33 Tours", contribution to the group exhibition"Bashung Bashing" at the CCAM in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy,201 5. Series of 33 digital photographs. 7x4.6cm each.

This series is conceived as a photographic paththrough the exhibition, strewn with smaller series ofphotographs taken from a range of 33 outdoor shots.These multiple series embrace the idea of a physicaland active contemplation. The physical connectionwith the pictures changes as the visitor’s body movesaround the work. The photographs have doors, shopwindows and/or rai l ings in them, al l giving a glimpseof a world behind the one immediately captured. Thisseries of interwoven pictures paints a portrait of mythree-day nostalgia-tinged walk around Nancy,France.

"The act of running from a city to its suburbs", on loop video 1 6/9, 0'37"(fi lm sti l ls), 201 5.

As the title implies, this video is about the act of running from a city to itssuburbs. While some borders are natural, others are only conceptual --that’s to say either historical, cultural, intel lectual, and so on. A borderdefines a territory, not only physical but also conceptual. Our perception isas much cultural as it is affected by social norms and biases. Our way ofseeing is influenced by many layers of conceptual fi l ters through which wesee the world. This video represents the concept of territorial border to itspurest level. While some borders can’t be physical ly crossed (an erectedwall , the Iron Curtain, oceans), most of them are purely conceptual.Historical borders announce the increasing complexity of today’sgeopolitical atmosphere in a globalised world. Crossing a border is apolitical statement, and walking becomes so too. The Schengen Agreemental lows me to go wherever I feel l ike in the EU as though there were noborders. Changes in density of population, mortal ity rates, touristicattractiveness, the laws of the land - these are all indications that we havecrossed a border. I t also affects our personal status by crossing a border asit means leaving one’s home country, getting to another country andbecoming a foreigner.

I am running towards my city’s nearest suburb and the video stops once Ihave reached this destination. This simple, yet privi leged, act points out theintricate chaos of today’s geopolitical situation. Albeit tiny, this token actembodies the concept of crossing a border, modelled on migrants, who areoften seen as pawns in a bigger game, not people but as numbers on apolitician’s spreadsheet.

"Cheap Casino", 1 6/9, 3'1 8" on loop. Videoinstal lation, (CRT screen, confetti), 201 4-201 5.

This piece was featured in the group exhibition"Bashung Bashing" at the CCAM in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy. Along with a busy soundtrackcomposed of various ambient casino sounds,this video displays numerous pictures takenfrom the Internet. This multi-layeredjuxtaposition of images gradually fi l ls up thescreen. Thought of as an avalanche ofdisenchantments, this gloomy theatre exudesbleakness and loneliness. Not only do theimages interfere with each other as they pop up,but they also extend their meaning so as tocreate one complete al l-over composition.