Théodoulos, Wattwiller

Residence

January – June 2006
Wattwiller, within the framework of the Water Festival (Fête de l’eau) in Wattwiller

First of all, the participation of the Cypriot artist Theodoulos in the “Oceans” project of the Water Festival in Wattwiller stems from Apollonia‘s desire to support and promote the mobility of European artists in the best possible way.

Secondly, the works and the complex plastic universe of the artist, particularly through the abundance and diversity of his philosophical references, fully respond to the demand to work on the theme “Oceans”.
Generally speaking, Theodoulos chooses to start from archetypal forms – such as the square and the circle or the cube and the sphere – in order to show and contemplate the principles of evolution, transformation, movement and mobility. Each work is presented as a single cell, reminding us that every element is a “matter” that has an origin, a history and undergoes mutations.

The artist has decided to present two installations in the crypt of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Wattwiller: one with moving images of the sea projected on the ceiling and reflected, thanks to a system of mirrors, on the salt-covered floor; and the other, a sculpture, more precisely a cube made up of 8 small cubes with reflective faces on which images of the sea will also be projected.

In all his works, Theodoulos pays particular attention to the dichotomy between nature and culture, between raw materials and technological progress. Thus, the salt “beach” or the metal cube harmoniously rubs shoulders with the virtual moving image of foaming waves. To go further, the installations, thanks to the system of image reflections, perfectly illustrate the infinitely small and the infinitely large of which the oceanic world seems to us full. In conclusion, let us note that to this suggestive theatricality is added a respectful fascination that the artist devotes to the dynamic evolution of living things – animal, mineral, vegetable …