
Temoin Oculaire: Shelter or Prison: a meditation on incarceration and madness, courtesy the artist.

Temoin Oculaire: Shelter or Prison: a meditation on incarceration and madness, courtesy the artist.

Temoin Oculaire: Shelter or Prison: a meditation on incarceration and madness, courtesy the artist.

Temoin Oculaire: Shelter or Prison: a meditation on incarceration and madness, courtesy the artist.

Temoin Oculaire: Shelter or Prison: a meditation on incarceration and madness, courtesy the artist.
A departure point for this project is the Menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. The garden was created in 1626, by Gui de la Brosse for Louis Xlll, initially as the royal medicinal herb garden, and the Menagerie was added in 1820. This zoo is maintained as an historic display, sadly it still holds a number of animals in the original pavilions and, as we observed and recorded, they display abnormal behaviours such as repetitive, irrational actions reflecting the unnatural conditions of their existence.
At the same time we also made the chance discovery of the vinyl release of Antonin Artaud's _Pour en finir avec le jugement de dieu To Have Done with the Judgement of God, a radio play and his last work. The performance, recorded in November 1947, was described as the utterances of a madman and remained banned until 1973 when it was broadcast on France-Culture. For nine years until his release in 1946 Artaud would see nothing but the inside walls of asylums, he suffered physically and mentally with what he called his 'mental erosion'.
Presented in partnership with the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Temoin Oculaire: Shelter or Prison: a meditation on incarceration and madness, courtesy the artist.
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