The Surplus of the Non-Producer
Ève Chabanon
Born in 1989 at Poissy (France), lives and works in Londres (Royaume-Uni).
Date:
2018
Medium:
Installation – Stucco, plywood, metal, curtain, flowers
Ève Chabanon and Abou Dubaev, The Surplus of the Non-Producer, 2018. Installation view, Lafayette Anticipations – Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette, 2018. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations, Paris.
© Lafayette Anticipations
Ève Chabanon's project, The Surplus of the Non Producer, presented in Le centre ne peut tenir takes as its starting point the difficulty or indeed, the inability of the artisan, artist and cultural practitioner in exile to practice or carry out their work in the face of legal or practical factors, such as the lack of access to materials and tools, or the absence of proof of a past body of work. Some of these practitioners eventually abandon their practice, considered obsolete or too far removed from Western European canons.
The Surplus of the Non-Producer’s starting point is the difficulty, or even the incapability experienced by the craftsman, the artist or the exiled cultural practitioner when confronted with legal or practical factors. These can include the lack of access to tools or to a workspace, the absence of traces to prove one’s past work or one’s network. Some of these practitioners eventually abandon their practice, considered obsolete or too far removed from Western European canons. The Surplus of the Non- Producer questions the relationship between practice and identity, not only to prompt a debate, but also to create potential and value for those involved in the project.
The formal center of gravity for The Surplus of the Non-Producer is an object situated halfway between a sculpture and a conversation piece. Evoking a large mineral fragment nuanced by multiple layers and veins, this piece was developed by Ève Chabanon in the Lafayette Anticipations workshops, in close collaboration with the stucco worker Abou Dubaev, employed by the Fondation via La Fabrique Nomade, an organization advocating for the valorisation and professional integration of migrant craft workers. The mineral fragment juxtaposed to a floral composition, also made in partnership with an organisation who supports the professional lives of persons in exile, serves as the set of the film which is the second part of the project. During the exhibition, the artist and a film-making team of the said “non-producers” will direct a short film. This fiction tackles the main and secondary economies of non- production, providing a voice to the practitioners involved in the project.
First institutional presentation in France.
View of The Surplus of the Non-Producer, a piece developed by Ève Chabanon and Abou Dubaev in the Lafayette Anticipations workshop, 2018
© Lafayette Anticipations
Ève Chabanon and Abou Dubaev (detail), The Surplus of the Non-Producer, 2018
© Lafayette Anticipations