devotes himself
at that time
where the artist
explores
This performance, which offers a device that integrates the public, took place from the 1st to the 9th of September 2023 at the Condor factories in Courfaivre (Jura).
Limestone is the follow-up to the experimental process called Scherten (brudaïsme 3). The process is in appearance simple, but complex to realise: to destroy a huge calciferous bloc solely with the strength of arms and using a sledgehammer. Aesthetically, the bodies mix to the tools and the roc in a frenzy of incalculable movements. The whole becomes material per se, which transforms between flesh and sediment. In its intellectual depth, there are symbolic parallels that we find with greek mythology or Camus’ literature; when he introduces the absurd and humankind’s search for meaning in vain.
The space
Courfaivre is a small place in Switzerland located at the heart of the jura mountain range. The calciferous roc is a strong symbol of this region; with a very interesting geological past, it is a link with the times when, in this region, warm seas full of corals were surrounded by tropical forests. As with any sedimentary roc, limestone went through diverse stages of transformation, punctuated by different phenomenons of erosion (weakening, transportation and accumulation). It is used in the construction of our infrastructures and at the same time is a trace of ancient times. Entering in relation with this roc is communicating with a natural process dating millions of years, when humankind and the creation of meaning did not exist.
The Condor factory, which used to be known for the manufacturing of bicycles and motorised two-wheels, disposes of a huge empty space (60x10m): the perfect playground for the experience Limestone, which will become the gallery for this art performance, The primary framework of the building is made of prestressed concrete specially designed to accommodate and move enormous loads. The 7m high ceiling is supported by metallic beams on which circulates a hoist. This infrastructure has therefore permitted the installation of a 4-ton roc in the gallery. The roc, which Joan Schertenleib chose, was brought by truck from the quarry of Courrendlin to the Condor factory, a place still resonating with a glorious industrial past.
The device
During the performance, the gallery is separated in two halves by a huge black curtain. One of the sides is dedicated to exhibiting the results of past works (brudaïsme 3: Scherten), the other is the performance space (brudaïsme 4: Limestone).
The roc weighing 4 tons is placed at the centre of the performance space. A hundred square meters of white canvas cover the floor and the walls. A huge white panel is hoisted on top of the limestone roc to lessen the echo of the hits on it. A large table faces the scene. Alvin Schwaar and Cori Nora have installed their music instruments and a large quantity of coloured cables on it. Ten sledgehammers of various sizes along with chisels are set against the canvassed wall. A stream of water from a neighbouring room runs along the wall, threading its way behind the whitewashed canvases and ending up on the right of the stage. Next to it, a basin of water to wash feet and hands before accessing the canvasses. Sixty spraycans and paint pots have been ordered by colour and set on the ground. Next to them, always, paintbrushes and empty pots for colour-mixing. Paint rollers and their telescopic extensions wait to be used.
Flesh
Physically, you cannot feel your arms, or you feel them too much. Your back and your shoulders strain under the force of gravity. The muscles of your legs try at best to hold you up. Shards of stone slash the landscape of your morphology. You take care to avoid the thousands of scraps of stone lying on the ground. You are bare-footed, so you are careful of everything, for example of avoiding a sledgehammer hit misplaced because of tiredness. Your posture never leaves you at rest. You constantly move to keep away the sluggishness that threatens you. You walk with the impression of pulling a ton of rocks. The blisters on the palm of your hands remind you that your skin adapts easily to the constraints of life. These little liquid cushions open an exchange between the sledgehammer and your fingerprints. The object becomes the prolongation of your movements. You become a skilled human being. During the process, you have the feeling your spirit is completely dissociated from your body. When reason reaches you, your body reminds you vividly of the backbone of your life. You realise there are things that weaken your homeostasis. Sometimes you surrender, and plunge within yourself. You are in security when you rely solely on your body, because very often it harbours resources you completely ignore the existence of. And when your emotions overwhelm you, you spill them out on the canvas, like a tidal wave. Like an earthquake, it’s an emotional fracture that feeds the inspiration wave that pushes you to create. Offshore, you try to steer a course based on the mastery of time and space but actually, it is the pictorial movements and the hits on the stone that guide you on your way.
Mentally, you are not really conscious of what happened during these nine days. You have the sensation of coming out of a tunnel rather than taking time to observe the horizon. You unburdened yourself of your impulses through sprays of paint and the well-placed blows of a sledgehammer. However, as you are one with the situation, there is no violence in these movements. The stone is there to be transformed, as you are there to be transformed. The spectators, they also, are there to be transformed. The body and the objects around you are only tools available for your first impulses. And between the two, an imperceptible membrane filters your movements, which can be coherent and disordered at the same time, but never mistaken. You movements are busy leaving traces as proof of their existence. Moving is the first form of action. It reveals who you are. Movement makes you realise your emotional state. You resonate amongst a group by living a singular experience. There is only the rhythm emanating from the sound of metal on stone that can unite the people present in the space. All the rest is only an imaginary world that each conceives for himself. Obviously, we are visited by the creativity of the musicians, the dancer, the sculptor, the painter and the energy of the public. Obviously, the actions of the others resonate in us. Obviously, we are permeable to the emotions of those around us. However we are alone with ourselves. Only the rhythm imposed by the hits of the sledgehammer maintain us in a common objective ; a temporal cadence to which we can adapt:
-there is a beginning and there will be an end to this staging, and, between the two, stories which take shape with their share of symbolism.
the heart of stone
Joan Schertenleib lived a singular experience with an employee of the Condor factory, Hasan, who was observing the performance from the beginning. Wednesday 6th of September 2023, around 7 in the morning, Hasan approaches the rock and starts to work on it. Joan wakes up in his van located between the railroad track and the building where the performance is held at 6 Scheffer street at Clos des Pouges. He slips on his colour-stained shorts. He hurries up, runs up the ten steps which bring him to the gallery, goes through the enormous labyrinth of canvases, opens the black curtain and sees the stone which has been drastically reduced to a few big pieces. Two precise sounds, two blocs who again fall to the ground. A particular smell fills the space after six days of stagnant water mixed to sediment and acrylic paint. During the day, a beautiful beam of light plunges directly on the rock. The photons reflect on the water. Sometimes, the drops of water which emerge from the ground when we shake the canvas look like fireflies dancing in broad daylight. Another hit. Joan rushes in to pick up a sledgehammer and hits on the stone. He is impressed, even a bit in shock, to see Hasan master in such a way his hits and his strength. Hasan hits on the chisels while Joan holds them with his hands. They don’t speak, but they understand each other. After a few minutes, Joan halts the activity and explains to Hasan that it would be judicious to stop there, as there remains still three days of performance with the public. He offers him coffee, but Hasan refuses as he must start his day of work.
At midday, both meet to share a meal. Hasan then explains his road to Switzerland after having left the Afghani mountains to flee the dictatorship. His life and his family have stayed there. We know of the Afghani regime through the media, but we barely know the history of its people. Little, Hasan has the habit of running and climbing in the rocks looking for gemstones. He is capable without hesitation of detecting the fragile points of the mountain and the rock. Over time, he becomes an emerald seeker. The word emerald means « heart of rock ». This intense green gem is said to have the power of bringing peace, calm and harmony. Hasan must find this stone to live, or rather, survive. He does it because Humanity has one day decided to attach value to certain rocks instead of others.
These revelations disrupted Joan a lot, who then had the impression that his performance revealed itself to be quite futile. The action of a privileged white man who has the luxury of enjoying the pleasures of life. What right had he of breaking this rock without the pressure of accomplishing a job to feed himself ? And why then had he started this whole process ?