1-channel sound installation, 2’06’’
Glasgow International, Festival of Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland
June 2024
For Glasgow International, I explored two letters written by Jean Cocteau to his lover and muse Jean Marais (the actor in the film “Orphée”). The sound piece was played through a car radio.
The first letter to Marais is from 1938, and the last one is from 1963, shortly before Cocteau’s death. The feeling of infatuation and excitement is contrasted with the sadness of distance and the impending end. Since the radio only presents one side, there are no responses from Marais. The voices sometimes overlap and merge, as is often the case with radio, but at times, they also form fragments of a dialogue.
Two letters spoken by the same voice remind me of two images seen when looking into a mirror. Between them lie 25 years of passion and love.