Sève Favre: Intervariactiv Social Distancing

Sève Favre is an artist and art historian of Swiss and Belgian origin. Her work explores the interaction between the art object and the spectator, allowing the audience an insight into the artistic process.

"I live in Switzerland and am spending lockdown near Lausanne in an apartment with my family. There are four of us and we have had to reorganize ourselves so that everyone can find their place between working from home and school for the children. We have a light confinement, I can still travel to my studio which is in an industrial zone 15 minutes away from my home.

I very quickly felt the effects of the COVID19 situation on my work and my artistic future. For example, last November, I was approached by a young gallery in Hong Kong, but very quickly in January everything was stopped because of the pandemic in Asia. Today, the gallery is closed indefinitely and I don't know if it will ever reopen. Furthermore, I was supposed to participate in the exhibition of the finalists of the Arte Laguna Prize in Venice with my installation 'Être au pied du mur'. Again, at the end of February everything was postponed indefinitely.

When the lockdown was first announced in Switzerland I took some material home in case I wasn't able to go to the studio so that I could continue to work. As the lockdown period progressed, my state of mind evolved between anxiety about the uncertainty of the future, nostalgia for the life before, concern for my loved ones, lack of social relations and human contact. The atmosphere also felt very heavy and it was sometimes very difficult to find enough energy to work.

To remedy this, I first needed to make abstract works with spring and cheerful colours; then I also decided to interview people in charge of art spaces undergoing the closure of their exhibitions for the blog 1Dex.ch in which I collaborate. During this time, I also recognised something very moving for me as an artist. All the concepts which I have been developing through my artworks and installations, and especially in my installation 'Être au pied du mur' suddenly took on huge importance. Concepts of borders, touch, visible and hidden, construction, destruction, reconstruction, interaction, real and virtual, fragility, and the value and understanding of all of this in our lives.

For years, during each exhibition the first question that visitors have asked me is always : "But are you not afraid? Afraid to let people touch? Afraid of the fragility of the work?" My answer is always the same: "The answer is in your question. I work on your fear and how you will behave in front of the artwork? What will your action be? Which responsibilities will you take?"

All this has inspired a specific installation related to containment and deconfinement. The use of balloons to signify our carelessness, our joie de vivre, play, the colour of life, the red of love, but also of blood. Then the masks which symbolize something more through social distancing, a form of gagging. The aim of this new art project is to highlight the fragility of our human condition. This fragility that explodes in the face of the virus which challenges our social ties, our sensoriality, our otherness, and therefore our life as a whole."

You can see more of Sève's work on her website.

CuratorSpace are currently featuring articles by artists, curators and organisations who want to share their experiences of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that is artists using their practice as a way of exploring new boundaries of isolation, or as a way to connect more broadly with their communities. We are also interested in hearing from curators and organisations who are offering support to artists and audiences during this time.

Contact us at louise@curatorspace.com to share your story.
 

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