La Tentation de Saint Antoine

This fictional work shifts the myth of “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” and his desert to amusement parks that crave attention. The installation features fairground architecture (carousel, Ferris wheel, and roller coaster), a desert bed made of glass waste, and a representation of Saint Anthony. Originally a monk, he is famous for having isolated himself for thirty years in an abandoned fort where he was tormented by his own demons. In his desire to escape, he attempted to dismember his body until he «became matter.» Made of polystyrene, plaster, and glass, two figures of the saint compose the same sculpture, the first praying in profile, the other struggling against his attackers. Carved from a single block, the sculpture floats in a desert of inertia. Using glass scraps from craftsmanship, I expose the waste of a material that is radically inert in both its function and its materiality. All that remains of the carnival are structures composed of emaciated human figures that have lost their color and decoration to plaster and metal.