The Wrestlers, 2017
‘The Wrestlers’ is not a commission, but rather a fascinated investigation into the study of the body in its closest connection with play, sport and confrontation, a recurring theme in my body of work. Combat sports such as wrestling lend themselves to this exercise and in 2017 I spend evenings in the training halls and dojos of the Île de France suburbs, especially the 93. Sport is the educational and performance element. It also represents the values of democracy and social and cultural diversity. In the training room, everyone is equal when it comes to effort, and the charismatic volunteer trainer is sovereign.
While the action expresses the ‘modern intensity’ fundamental values of the Russian Futurists and Constructivists, it also pushes back the frontiers of death. Respecting the rules of the game, the game in combat is a regulated, non-transgressive activity, the circle, the round: it’s the anti-tragedy: we don’t know the outcome.
This work questions the hierarchy of bodies and their place in space. The different planes, the different blurs, revisit the depth of field. The bodies are boxed in, as if compressed into the frame, or soar into the air, in a choreography that is both powerful and tender. The nuanced colours of brown and white skin add a warm, tactile sensuality to the photographic images.
Tina Merandon
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