Claude Cattelain
Claude Cattelain's work dismantles traditional structure and utilizes elements of action and raw material to explore the limitations of various mediums and of the body. In his performances and videos, Cattelain gives himself instructions to follow and rules to abide by, such as in Empirical Column Online (2012), in which he must "proceed on a line of blocks using the block crossed to rise gradually, without putting (his) feet on the ground" as it becomes increasingly difficult to balance on the unstable stacks of blocks. He creates his sculptural work in the same way, instructing himself to "overlay boards face to earth, tighten them together with clamps, straighten the assembly, discover and accept or not the composition / Overlay face-to-face planks, clamp them together, raise up, discover and accept or not the composition." Cattelain's personal bio, excerpted here, is a work in itself, indicative of his methodical instructional writing, even when dealing with the absurd.
1972 - Born in Kinshasa
1999 - Dismantles his painting's frame.
2000 - Produces unstable wooden constructions.
2001 - Buys a camera to record his failures.
2004 - Makes his first unpremeditated public performance.
2005 - Hangs himself in the void.
2006 - Turns on …
Claude Cattelain's work dismantles traditional structure and utilizes elements of action and raw material to explore the limitations of various mediums and of the body. In his performances and videos, Cattelain gives himself instructions to follow and rules to abide by, such as in Empirical Column Online (2012), in which he must "proceed on a line of blocks using the block crossed to rise gradually, without putting (his) feet on the ground" as it becomes increasingly difficult to balance on the unstable stacks of blocks. He creates his sculptural work in the same way, instructing himself to "overlay boards face to earth, tighten them together with clamps, straighten the assembly, discover and accept or not the composition / Overlay face-to-face planks, clamp them together, raise up, discover and accept or not the composition." Cattelain's personal bio, excerpted here, is a work in itself, indicative of his methodical instructional writing, even when dealing with the absurd.
1972 - Born in Kinshasa
1999 - Dismantles his painting's frame.
2000 - Produces unstable wooden constructions.
2001 - Buys a camera to record his failures.
2004 - Makes his first unpremeditated public performance.
2005 - Hangs himself in the void.
2006 - Turns on himself even faster.
2007 - Raises a column of blocks from the ceiling.
2008 - Gets forward standing on a line of unstable blocks.
2009 - Produces a weekly video for 65 weeks.
2010 - Draws the outline of his body with a flame.
2011 - Walks on the beach and sinks into it.
2012 - Tirelessly raises an unstable structure.
2013 - Hammers a wooden stake of his size in the ground.
2014 - Walks on the spot counting his steps.
2015 - Lives in a chapel in Brittany.
2016 - Tries to hold the sand in his hands.
2017 - Installs large planks pressed against the walls.
Cattelain has performed and exhibited his works at galleries and museums in France, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, and Russia. In 2016 he recieved the Sculpture Award from Polaris Gallery in France.
