What is the commonality between a flying crepe and a padded cell?
Between a game of chess and a Moulinex toaster?
Between a certain Titan and a certain Iseult?
An art of jest, no doubt, but above all an outfit… not as banal as it appears. With the same gray suit, the same tie, and the same blond wig, Titan and Iseult split into two, no longer being one, or dress up as one another. We don’t really know anymore. This eccentric duo’s photographs take on boredom and illustrate stagings as comical as they are conscientious. As carefully designed as they are farcified.
Deceptively clean-cut, this first series depraves our habits to better question daily proportions, conventions, and gestures. Dare to slip discreetly into a matchbox? Dare to become a tightrope walker atop an electrical wire?
Ideas pour out and combine. The images say, “I dare you.” Against a backdrop of careful framing and geometric compositions, the wacky poses of the two “old children” are out of place.
Each challenge instigated by one of the two partners in crime is accompanied by its share of improvisations, but the sophisticated trompe-l’œils of their photographs always withdraw from shock-value in the name of poetry. The story of their spontaneous impulses is written here and there, even though none of their pieces resemble one another. With their appetizer aesthetic and joyful rebellion, Titan and Iseult bring us closer to child’s play.
Lola Crochet
Lola Crochet is a journalist. She lives and works in Paris.
Titan et Iseult sont représentés par la galerie WIJ, à Paris.
