The artist Gzilépoc was in Perpignan for the opening of "Palais Petit".
On Wednesday September 11, the Faculty of Education in Perpignan hosted the opening of "Petit palais", a work by visual artist Gzilépoc. This "archisculpture", a fusion of sculpture and architecture, was created from reused wood and co-designed with students.
Gzilépoc, an artist like no other
Since January 2024, visual artist Gzilépoc has been in artistic residency at the Faculté d'éducation - site de Perpignan to create and produce an installation in the outdoor spaces of the campus. His artist's name is a reference to the xylocope, better known as the "carpenter bee", which nests in dead wood, and to the acronym poc, meaning "little" in Catalan. For him, it's a way of inscribing himself in a territory, a culture and bearing witness to the stories from which the pieces of wood come.
"Everything that makes up the architecture in which the students evolve makes no reference to any material experience of reality. By getting their hands dirty, they reappropriate this part of reality, experience it as construction, and project themselves intimately into their reincarnated environment," says artist Gzilépoc.
Palais petit, a collective and participatory work
Installed on campus, this work is the result of close collaboration with students, from conception to production. This "archisculpture", named Palais Petit, was the subject of a series of plastic experimentation workshops, whose contributions were integrated directly into the structure of the work. Inspired by the reflections of Nicolas Bourriaud (French curator, art historian, novelist and art critic) on "relational aesthetics", Palais Petit aims to connect its users, both in the present moment and through future generations of students.
The challenges of an artist residency at a university
Artist residencies are a public policy tool made possible by inter-ministerial partnerships. It supports contemporary creation and contributes to the humanistic training of students. It encourages openness, discovery, reflection and questioning through the arts and culture. It offers benchmarks for a better understanding of today's world, and contributes to the success and fulfillment of students and staff by promoting and encouraging their amateur artistic practices. It invites everyone to reflect on their own representations, while stimulating aesthetic experiences and creating spaces conducive to exchange and debate.
