Pre-Natal Phase

Pre-Natal

I called this phase 'Pre-Natal', then 'Baby' (2011–2013): the years of my bachelor's degree at ECAL, with Philippe Decrauzat as my tutor. I wanted to move my practice away from what is called contemporary art, towards the historical notion of the avant-garde, and to understand what an avant-garde could still mean. In 2013 I wrote that we take part in a universalised avant-garde, in which every individual artist embodies the collective by supporting the work of fellow artists, notably by showing it in the exhibitions they curate.

The space in which I presented my work counted for a great deal. The white cube of the exhibition and digital media both became places to work with. Brian O’Doherty's writing on the white cube and Marshall McLuhan's The Medium Is the Massage showed me the weight of the context in which art is presented.

My practice was mostly installation. Taken alone, my pieces could be seen as words; presented together or in groups, they became a sentence. I was interested in the limits of an object or a performance when it meets other elements. The succession of works on a wall could be imagined as film editing, in a 'sequence style', and each visitor's drift through the space edited it again. Several pieces came with notes instead of a fixed place: a canvas to be hung at eye level, a wall painting that stops at the highest point the painter can reach, a video that asks for its pale blue outline to be painted on the wall when it is projected.

Labels and wall texts became part of the research. Texts and ideas should accompany a work without overshadowing it or dictating how it is read: the visitor decides what they understand, according to their background or their mood, and this freedom left to the viewer is a great achievement of art. In 2012 I made Playing Labels (Cartels à Jouer), a deck of 37 cards: each card is the label of a work, with notes on how to show it. Robin Lebey and Frédéric Gabioud made some of the cards; the deck's rule is that tournaments of labels must be held regularly.

I came to treat every space involved in making art as material: the studio, the exhibition, printed formats and curatorial formats, through text, installation, painting, video, music and performance. Curating and my own practice began to meet. The deck of labels went furthest: P+ begins there.

Studio > < Exhibition
variable objects, variable dimensions
2013

Accident Painting
resin, phosphorescent spray, cotton canvas, spruce
121 × 31 × 4 cm
2012

Une Histoire de Plage
chair, latex, tarp, latex, tarp
130 × 80 × 35 cm
2012

L'une
resin, oil bottle
20 × 20 × 60 cm
2012

Levier
resin, bottle rack
60 × 40 × 40 cm
2012

Arthur Fouray, Mic/Not Working, écal, Renens

Arthur Fouray,
acrylic on canvas,
2012,
76.4 × 76.4 × 2.5 cm.

Notes:
The best conditions for this
canvas to be fully appreciated
are met when it is hung at eye
level, and is more than one size
away from the other pieces.

Arthur Fouray,
Canvas on frame,
spray-painted,
2012.

Notes:
This canvas can be displayed
vertically, or diagonally,
depending on use. The white wall
is a quality choice.

Arthur Fouray
Ok?
Installation view
Galerie Toroni, écal
Renens, Switzerland
2012

Arthur Fouray,
Resin and foam
on sagex,
2012.

Notes:
This sculpture must imperatively
be shown on the wall, at a height
other than 175 cm.

Arthur Fouray,
book on printed canvas,
2012,
27 × 46.5 × 3 cm.

Notes:
This testimonial-sculpture is to
be placed on the floor.
Connection with the video
“P.A.V.” is not necessary.

Arthur Fouray, FAUX PLAFOND, rosette (white) on painted wall (blue), 125 × variable height × 2 cm

Arthur Fouray,
Rosette (white) on
painted wall (blue),
2012.

Notes:
The rosette should appear on an
azure/sea-blue background. The
wall must be painted with scotch
tape on the left and right, starting
at the floor. The wall painting
stops at the highest point the
painter can reach. Paint is
applied with a roller.

Arthur Fouray,
Four layers of
resin, yellow, orange,
then 2× yellow,
on object,
2012.

Notes:
This panoptical object should be
placed intelligently on the floor. It
can also play with “FROMAGE
(BIS)”.

Arthur Fouray,
Spray paint and
resin on object,
2012.

Notes:
This panoptical object should be
placed intelligently, on the floor,
on the wall or on the ceiling, to
raise a question about its
function. It can also play with
“FROMAGE”.

DE)a(F – PDF, French

Pre Natal Portfolio – English PDF
Pre Natal Portfolio – two-page PDF view