LAURENCE PAYOT -
LIVERPOOL.UK
31 JANUARY 2010
Written by
TRAVIS LEE
STREET
EYRE STREET IN EYRE STREET [2009]
Take a look, then take a
second, then a third. Then just stare. Payot's work
deals with the interplay between the physicality of art in
reality, and the art of reality. A French interdisciplinary
artist, Payot mixes photography, installation, design, and
performance to create a world within a world (ad infinitum)
that draws an unsuspecting audience in and provides a unique
look at the world, as though we were all children seeing
through a mirror reflecting a mirror in a changing room for
the first time.
HUMAN BILLBOARD HAVING A BREAK [2009]
But although it may be the images that intrigue us, it is
the simplicity behind the ideas of the images that captures
our attention. Her work is very succinct and offers what
appears to be a verbose portfolio of work that has direction
and conceptual development that flows along a linear path.
Take for example her most recent installation/performance
I Thought It Was Real.
I Thought It Was Real [2010]
Quite obviously playing on the 'performers'
in the street who work with perception of a human portraying
a statue, Payot created a statue portraying a human playing
a statue. Simple concept right? But it drew a static crowd
in a high-traffic public space that would have taken a
fire-breathing snake-lady to have gotten any other way.
I Thought It Was Real [2010]
Talking to Payot about this piece, she
told me how the crowd just stood there, daring the
'statue' to move. The piece sparked the people's (dis)belief
in their own reality. No human performer could have
performed so well. Impossible. The crowd stood around until
(usually) a young audience member mustered up the gusto and
went to touch. Wild exhalations from the crowd ensued, most
choosing the route of laughter, but some leaving angry and
disappointed grumbling about what can only be construed as
their own gullibility.
I'm sure the next time they see a person /
object pretending to be something else, they will very
vividly recall Payot's work and think twice.
http://www.laurencepayot.com/
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