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| Stéphane Magnin |
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For L.F.D.A. 02.“4c” Stéphane Magnin’s work for La Force de l’Art 02 is based on a story told to him in a bar, fifteen years ago… A story about a rich maharajah and a poor maharajah. One day, the story tells us, the rich maharajah – the master of a sumptuous palace – decides to help the poor maharajah who lives in a neighbouring palace, in ruins. In a true spirit of chivalry, he has a casket of precious gems sent over, to pay for the restoration of the once-splendid palace. But instead of using the gift of rubies and diamonds to finance the work, the poor maharajah decides to grind the stones to dust and mix them in a paint which he uses on the floor of the palace, making it sparkle delicately in the last rays of the setting sun. Like the poor maharajah, Stéphane Magnin takes precious stones from Stuart (a lapidary on London’s Burbage Road) and grinds them into the paint covering the floor of the White Geology, transforming it into an artwork. Somewhere in the exhibition, the story of the two maharajahs is engraved into the floor. A short film by Jean-Baptiste Ganne retraces the making of the work.* “4C” : colour, clarity, cut, carat, the four criteria for the evaluation of a precious stone. With the participation of : Yves Tenret, writer ; Bruno Persat, video ; Alice Magnin, jewellery designer ; Emilie Maltaverne, sculptor ; Stuart, lapidary. Stéphane MagninStéphane Magnin conceives a work of art as a Protean area of spatio-temporal qualities, a continually reworked zone. The structure can be presented in the form of a "model", of a "temporary surface area", of "the vessel of space" or "module". It is usually loaded with references to avant-garde art, science fiction or the architecture of the 1960s and 70s, and his own unique goal is to bring about an encounter, to invite the public to participate in a group activity approaching that of play. [V. Th.] Stéphane Magnin was born in 1965 in Paris.
 Stéphane Magnin,
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