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Clarisse told me to meet at the Spitafields Antique Market where she
finds inspiration while looking through old photos and postcards. When
Clarisse was a child she thought that in the old days, the world was in black and white.
When she became an artist, she decided to pursue her obsessions to enter into vintage photos. For her
project Forget Nostalgia, she staged herself in the famous black and white photos
And now her project is in three dimensions. It is in this boutique hotel
where she wants to recreate the universe of a modest family of the Victorian times, entirely
in black and white. But before, everything starts with a scale model...
I found this photo at the Spitafields market, it was taken during the times of Jack the Ripper... And I wanted to recreate
I would like to recreate this photo because I literally fell in love with it. Where did you find it?
At the Bishopsgate institute, the Spitafields archive. And so
after that, I found a place at the Spitafields market where I could recreate the photo. This is a scale model.
So you recreated the entire setting of the photo in this scale model. Yes
it means that if you come to the exhibition with your iPhone
or your camera, you take a colour photo, the result will be in black and white
because everything will be in black and white, exactly as it is in the photo. I want to recreate
a photographic world in black and white, that did exist in colour
but not in black and white. Just like Mary Poppins. Only she enters into paintings and I entre into photographs.
So, tell me... how did you find these objects
that come from different times: the hats, the photos... People give me a lot of stuff
a lot of family photo, cameras, everything that is old ends up in my studio.
I often go to antique shops, second hand shops, I love
car boot sales, I love buying various things, all the time, old family albums,
I love that! It's my guilty pleasure. Your Obsession! Yes, my obsessions. I think...sometimes
that one day I'd want to get rid of everything and go away with my back pack. But then...
But then, what feeling does that give you, your project "Forget Nostalgia" when you
stage yourself... It's both humorous and sometimes melancholic. That's why
I called it "Forget Nostalgia" I use modern technology in order to
return into the past and enter into the black and white photos. So, its...
humorous and funny but there is a melancholic touch. That the case
with everything old, it's nostalgic. What do people say when you tell them you are an artist?
The question then is...
because I do a lot of different things and I always tell them that my magic power
is to enter into the black and white photos. Rather than saying
that I paint or take photos, I prefer to say that what I do
is enter into black and white photos. And then...
How do you define success as an artist? For me success...
in my life as an artist, is my quality of life, in a sense that I'm free
to wake up when I want, go to bed when I want, nobody...
tells me what I need to do. For me this is a true success. Not financially, of course...
But that's OK... Freedom has no price! And I think this is a real success.
I'm very happy with the life that I live...