L’art sur Instagram : Rodrigo Gallo

Par Nicolas Pelicioni

Dans les réseaux sociaux on peut se faire des amis, rencontrer des personnes intéressantes et aussi découvrir des arts qu’on ne connaîtrait pas autrement. Instagram, peut-être plus que d’autres réseaux sociaux, nous permet de faire la connaissance de ces artistes que ne seraient pas facilement connus d’une autre manière. D’antre ces cas parmi ceux-là, il y a le travail de l’artiste brésilien Rodrigo Gallo. 

Gallo travaille avec le métal, sa page s’appelle « Full Metal Concept » (link fullmetalconcept), quelque chose comme « un concept complet sur le métal ». Ce n’est pas un hasard, un de ses thèmes de sculptures préféré est la guitare électrique. Pour le décrire avec un langage plus technique, je dirais que son travail est postmoderne — parce que ce style utilise l’incohérence, la discontinuité, la parodie, la culture populaire, enfin… Le même langage qui a produit et popularisé le « zombi » !

Toutes les photos sont autorisées pour l’artiste

Un jour, j’ai posé une question à Gallo sur l’oxydation sur son travail d’art. Il m’a répondu qu’il aime le métal rouillé. À vrais dire, j’aime aussi ! Surtout à propos de ses guitares, il me semble que l’oxydation leurs donne un air rustique qu’intensifie l’aspect de détérioration propre au langage postmoderne. Cependant, un jour, quelqu’un lui a demandé un violon — dans ce cas, il n’y avait plus la relation métallique avec le « heavy metal » et la détérioration, mais une relation très insolite avec la musique classique !

Ce ne sont pas tous ses travaux qui sont liés à des idées postmodernes de dégradation ; il fait aussi des répliques de motos, notamment, de Harley-Davidson. Ces motos, il en a fait plus d’une centaine, reçoivent de la peinture et ainsi ne sont pas exposées à une très grande oxydation ! 

Un jour, sur Instagram, Gallo a commencé à dire qu’il ferait un travail plus polémique. On lui a demandé un AK-47 et il s’est préoccupé de nous expliquer que dans un monde rempli de violence il ferait un travail artistique, pas une apologie à la guerre. Pour n’avoir pas de doute sur la nature de son travail, il a laissé très visible les marques de sculpture ! C’était un grand défi pour lui de faire un tel travail et il a bien réussi ! 

Plus tard, Virginia Soares lui a consacré un article sur le journal de ESAB (Link ESAB ), une entreprise de produit de soudage. ESAB n’est pas l’unique partenariat de Gallo, il a aussi le soutien de Dremel, une entreprise d’outils divers. Avec Dremel il a fait une loterie avec une de ses motos !

Il y a quelque temps, il a commencé une réplique de la Tour Eiffel. C’est un projet grandiose, à une échelle de 1 pour 100. Je lui ai posé une question sur l’étude qu’il a faite pour une telle reproduction et il m’a répondu que, à cause de ce travail, il a vraiment appris beaucoup sur la Tour Eiffel ! 

C’est seulement sur internet que je parle à Gallo. Nous habitons à plus de six cents kilomètres l’un de l’autre et nous ne nous sommes donc jamais rencontré ! Mais ce n’est pas la plus grande distance géographique pour se faire des amis sur Internet. Patricia, ma partenaire d’études linguistiques dans ce blog, et aussi Elena Zymara, une autre artiste sur Instagram, habitent plus loin de moi encore que Rodrigo Gallo ! Mais, je raconterai ces histoires une autre fois !

Become an Airbnb host and let the adventure come in…

By Patricia Thibaut

A friend of mine has decided to fix up a little area to receive guests from all around the world. She wanted to turn the ground floor of her duplex apartment into a cozy and welcoming entrance. She made up her mind a few weeks ago because she wanted to meet new people. She is quite easy going and the empty room downstairs was useless.

She has a spacious apartment with two very comfortable terraces in a peaceful and secure area out of sight. This sunny private space is the perfect place for sunbathing and enjoying a quiet summer day in Limoges. Before moving forwards with the renovation work, she asked me to give her some advice because she knew that I was already an Airbnb host and therefore, also fond of meeting people.

I was looking forward to visiting the newly furnished room with en-suite facilities. She invited me up for a cup of tea at her apartment to show me the brand new pleasantly equipped guestroom.

She had done a very good job! The bedroom, with its own private shower-room and toilet, was nicely decorated with a big king size bed in the middle. Just in front of the bed there was a flat-screen TV on a wooden shelf. It was a quiet and lovely place to spend a few days visiting Limoges and its surrounding areas.

We went upstairs to have a cup of tea, as she wanted to ask me a few questions about my experience as a host. I told her that Airbnb was a great experience; I really love having guests! I noted that most of the time, people are nice but discreet. It’s not always easy to build relationships with people who are just passing through. Nevertheless, I explained that I had particularly fond memories of three interesting sets of guests. I notice further interest in her eyes as I provoke her curiosity: she wanted to know more.

“Please, could you tell me more?”

“Of course. If you like meeting people and sharing knowledge about other ways of life, being a host is a thrilling experience. It helps you to broaden your mind and discover the world without moving outside of your home; you let the world and the people of the world visit you. This, at least, is how I feel about my host experience.”

“That sounds so exciting! What kind of positive experiences have you had?”

“I’ll tell you about my three best meetings:

The first one was when I welcomed a young Brazilian neurosurgeon. When he arrived, he didn’t speak much French and I didn’t speak Portuguese well either. We could communicate only in English. He stayed in Limoges for 2 months to develop his studies. We got along well and I even gave him some French lessons. We also had long conversations when we had dinner together on the terrace, during the warm summer evenings. I learnt a lot about Brazilian cuisine and customs, and about their big cities like Sao Paulo, and Rio. In a nutshell, the time spent together was very rewarding.

Another valuable experience was with a young girl who rented my room for 5 months. She stayed for the longest time of all of my guests. She had a fixed-term contract in a bank in the centre of Limoges. She was from Toulouse and was looking for a place to rent in the short-term. My home was the perfect spot for her because she had no car. She was very shy and discreet but little by little, she started to be more self-confident and feel more at ease with us. Sometimes she had dinner with my daughter and I. They used to watch American series together and I could hear them laughing. We shared long conversations and some great times together. Bit by bit, we became good friends. Last year, we flew to Malta together for a week-long holiday in August. Time flew by too quickly.

The last great memorable encounter was with a young Chinese couple who were spending their honeymoon in Europe. They were only in Limoges for one night. I invited them for a nice cup of tea together in my living room before bed. We fell into a lively and emotive chat until late. They left the following day. We shared big hugs and promised to keep in touch.”

“Wow! You really have had some fantastic experiences with your guests. I really want to be an Airbnb host so that I can share the same experiences. Let’s see what happens!”