"Despite the burning of my eyes from facing the sun, the retinal afterimages conveyed to me that the spectrum of light dwelled in the abyss, wide open and sublime. That is where I had to search, in the vicinity of the precipice. Let the tormented surface of my irises bear witness to this; the light of a candle is not perceived in broad daylight. To wait, and see the evidence appear. The clouds were my allies, I knew it, I had to probe them, understand them. It was there that we met, at the edge of the shadow, in the greatest of our windmills, looking in the same direction and feeling the breeze on our fevered foreheads. There were many of us, and that was a sign.
Where it manifests, light traces signals. Most of the time, imperceptible; to see them, one must be there, present, attentive, together. We are here before the emergence of the marvelous, surrounded in its course by an aura of visceral, existential, metaphysical anguish. It is the very notion of commitment, from the dizzying impulse of the first step, to the collective, founding, and fundamental gesture. We are here before the freedom of imagination. It is your eyes, captive with boldness and love. We are here before your word and mine, may these remain intertwined forever."
Yo-Yo Gonthier
"Yo-Yo Gonthier initiates both technical and human protocols whose ultimate goal is to capture a fragment of the marvelous. The artist conceives it as an emanation, an emergence, the appearance of a phenomenon that, in his work, owes nothing to chance. Capturing the marvelous requires extensive preparation and is the subject of a project that unfolds over several years. Thus, the marvelous, commitment, and slowness combine into a philosophy where 'the process is more important than the result.' The artist does not work alone; each project requires collective investment, not only in the construction of instruments and flying machines but also in the gathering of information, desires, testimonies, and skills. The work becomes multidisciplinary and participatory. By bringing a group together around the same project, he activates a 'collective, sublime, and laborious gesture.' The energy is harnessed to reflect on our presence in the world, our relationships with people, landscapes, and history."
— Julie Crenn, Independent Curator