malo
malo

Still
Still : not in motion, not moving, motionless.
As in "to stand still"

Still : free from sound or noise, quiet, silent.
As in "to keep still about something that bothers me"

Still : at the present time, for the present, as yet
As in "we are still waiting"

Still : one of the frames of a motion-picture film
As in "each of these products is a still of our life".



White tiles and black joints. Cameras. Grannies. Shopping carts. Checkout. Light. Radio. Promo. Packs. 1 bought / 1 free.

It bores me. Yet I consciously travel in the supermarket, I observe carefully. I focus on what shouldn't be catching my attention. But I am witness to a frozen space, a kind of unreal place in which nothing is in motion. An inert state of which I myself am a part.

I go from aisle to aisle. From row to row. They are always fulfilled. Not once did I have to reach out to the back of the aisle. The products appear to me like in a vending machine. I just have to turn my back for it to fill up again. The supermarket erases my passage as it erases everyone else's. He swallows the only trace of me and turns it into numbers and statistics, which he may use to surprise me, by moving the chicken trays in a row to sell them better.
Chicken breast fillet, France, 435g, 5.31 euros.
So I have this feeling, when I go to the supermarket, to be alone in front of the products. It’s not just a feeling, it’s a feeling: I have everything inside this supermarket available to do my shopping. And everything inside the supermarket is born the moment I lay my eyes on it. The department employee did not exist. The transporter did not exist. The conditioner did not exist. The producer did not exist.

Loss of link. Shortcut. Simplification. Purification. Automating. Control.

On the stall, a compartment for each fruit and vegetable. And in these compartments, every fruit and vegetable. I buy a leek. I buy a zucchini. When I choose it from the stall, I say, “this zucchini is very tough”.
I can make leek soup and zucchini salad.
Leek, France, by the piece, 1.59 euros per kilo.
Courgette, Spain, by the piece, 2.99 euros per kilo.
In my head, I can envision everything because the supermarket gives me the choice. I have access to everything that is possible to eat at all times. Only my desires dictate my purchases. I want to eat tomatoes. I buy tomatoes. I visualize this tomato-based recipe. I buy tomatoes. I see tomatoes. I buy tomatoes. I am alone in front of the tomatoes and between them and me, nothing stands. I have to make the decision to buy this or that variety. Round tomato, vine tomato, ribbed tomato, elongated tomato, kumato tomato, cherry tomato ...
I have the choice.

Deconstruction of logical links. Oversight. Weaving new logical links. Restructuring.

In the charcuterie department, I buy the bacon. I am fascinated by the boxes of bacon. There are around 140 bacon in each box. Each is approximately 15cm long, 8cm wide, 6cm high. Content: 200 grams of bacon, sometimes 150. Prices ranging from 1.10 to 2.76 euros. Some are divided into two parts of 100 or 75 grams each, which can be split by pre-cutting in the plastic. Inside, the bacon bits are all more or less the same shape and size: one centimeter wide by one centimeter high. Three centimeters in length. In the middle of each bacon, a thin slice of fat. They are most often called “matches”. Some are sold as “diced” bacon. These are slightly shorter than the others.
Plain pork matches, French pork meat, 2x100g, 1.85 euros.
Lardons are most often sold plain or smoked. Each brand offers this choice. Others offer them in a plain version and smoked without nitrites, smoked without antibiotics, plain -25% salt, smoked -25% salt, plain -25% salt without antibiotics, smoked -25% salt without antibiotics, smoked -25% organic salt, organic smoked.
I notice that, according to the merchant reference I use, either the U store next to my house, the choices are not sold: plain without antibiotics, organic nature, organic nature -25% salt, plain and smoked -25 % salt without nitrite or even natural and organic smoked without nitrite, without antibiotics, -25% salt.

Recipe for making bacon yourself. I need to get myself a piece of smoked pork belly, fresh or salted without nitrite, without antibiotics, -25% salt or even organic. This is the ventral part of the animal. Then I have to remove the rind and remove the cartilage. If the piece is too thick, it is necessary to slice the breast in half crosswise. Now I can cut the meat into sticks, strips, slices or triangles, whatever.
Now I need to blanch the bacon, which removes the excess salt from them. I pour my bacon into a large volume of water, which I bring to a boil. It is important to put the bacon in the water while it is still cold so as not to rush the meat and give back its salt. When the water boils, I withdraw off the heat, I drain the bacon and put them in a bowl of very cold water. If the water becomes too cloudy, I drain and plunge the bacon again into clear water. I must then place the bacon on a plate covered with absorbent paper in order to pat them dry. Once this step is completed, the bacon is ready to be grilled in a pan and will be used to decorate many dishes.

I am this bacon and the supermarket is my box. It bores me. But I go to the cash register. I pay for the bacon. I pay for the tomatoes, the leeks, the chicken. I leave the store. I am coming back home. I put the products in my fridge. I put the products in my saucepan. I put the products on my plate. I bring the products to my family. I put the products in my friends.

I put the products inside me.

I put the supermarket inside me.

supermarket uppercut
2019-2020, Limoges, FR.
performance, Series of 19 photographs (35mm, b&w), text and vidéo (5’39’’, 1920x650, b&w)
Kicking in the too tidy and clean shelves of a supermarket that is a part of our daily life, I draw the
portrait of a sanitized place cut off from reality with text and images.

The photographs are taken following a strict protocol: with my camera strapped around my neck, I walk inside the supermarket and press the trigger once in every aisles until I’ve used a whole film. I am not able to use the viewfinder. I don’t know exactly what I am capturing.