Lock yourself in alone for nearly 72 hours, day and night, in a tiny cabin, in the middle of a playground.
This is the last challenge launched by Abraham Poincheval, a performer from Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), in collaboration with third year students from Gisèle-Halimi college, in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis).
It was on Tuesday that he isolated himself in a structure about three meters high, two meters long and sixty centimeters wide.
It only emerged this Friday afternoon, to thunderous applause from students, teaching staff and several elected officials.
"I can't take it anymore, I only ate freeze-dried chicken!"
After these three days of confinement, Abraham Poincheval has rested his foot on solid ground to the sound of the legendary soundtrack of the film “2001: A Space Odyssey”
.
He then took the time to share his first impressions with the students.
"I can't take it anymore, I only ate freeze-dried chicken!"
“, He quipped, microphone in hand.
Indeed, the artist did not move from his box during the entire duration of the experience, not even to eat or sleep, even if a bed compartment had been set up in height.
“You have to organize things well, compartmentalize a little food and there you have it, that's the challenge!
He continued, all smiles, without elaborating on the other details.
The structure is completely covered with mirrors on the outer wall but it provided the artist with a view of his surroundings, so that the students of the establishment were able to interact with him during his performance.
In particular, college students could take selfies
by staging himself, then send them to him, so that he collects them and watches them sitting on a chair.
"It's kiffant!"
His performance was filmed continuously and broadcast live to the college's documentation and information center during the week.
“The idea was to imagine what these young adolescents could apprehend from such an object, in which I locked myself for several days.
I'm happy to tell myself that finally, this object has become theirs ”, appreciates Abraham Poincheval.
“At the beginning, it was weird but afterwards, we would see him normally, as if he had become a friend,” testifies a schoolgirl.
“It made it possible not to be bored at recess.
It's kiffant!
», Adds another student, just as excited.
The interior, completely covered in mirrors, is approximately three meters high, two meters long and two feet deep.
LP / TF
Whoever defines himself as "a claustrophile" is far from being a novice in this type of exercise.
Abraham Poincheval is a true benchmark in the art of performance, always keen on opportunities to push one's mental and physical limits.
In September 2016, he had notably remained motionless for seven days on a lookout, twenty meters high, in the middle of Paris.
Then, he was engulfed for a week at the Palais de Tokyo in February 2017 in a limestone cut to the dimensions of his silhouette.
Introduce students to different forms of artistic expression
In Aubervilliers, the performance of Abraham Poincheval was part of the 1% artistic device.
Set up since 2012, this initiative aims to reserve, for an artistic action or a work of art, 1% of the budgets devoted to works carried out in the public establishments of Seine-Saint-Denis.
The aim of the process is to initiate and make students aware of different forms of artistic expression, in a fun and interactive way.
At Gisèle-Halimi College, the structure will remain in the playground to become part of it.
“Beyond the work itself and the performance, there was real work between the young college students and the artist,” greets Stéphane Troussel, the president (PS) of the departmental council, noting a unprecedented enthusiasm for this operation. "Art and culture are powerful levers to enable these students to succeed, while being a means of fighting against inequalities," he believes.