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Artist Stephane Jaspert, Paris, born 1961 in Stuttgart

"The highest symbol for the people is the cobblestone, one walks on it, until it falls on your head"- Victor Hugo

The idea is light

The proposal is to paint well known pictures on the cobblestones from the streets of Paris.

It can be famous paintings, brand marks, logos, personalities, signs...all the images and symbols seen in today's visual culture.

This task is endless: there is an infinity of images. The choice of pictures is automatically related to the artist's environment.

The support is heavy

Symbolizing duration, the support is rock: Cobblestone, ancient street paves from Paris.

Cobblestone is "le pave" in french and also means "the street". They represent the organised public area in which all the social actors meet in reasonable order, or the chaos when they are used as weapons and barricades in the diffenrent revolts.

Only cobblestones that have really been used as such in the streets of Paris are utilized. They are loaded with history.

Generally granite, but also sandstone or porphyry. Often ligth grey with black spots, there is a huge variety of colors from pure white through light yellow, ochre, light blue, light pink, red, brown, dark green, to black. These colors are most visible on rainy days and on the sawed stones. It is a long lasting material, but also intensely vibrating, offering a very rich background.( --> sawed stones in the rain ) .....( --> Granite - Wikipedia )

In Paris there is mainly 3 kinds of cobblestones:

• the "Mosaïque" or "10x10" is the small one, an irregular cube of about 10cm side ( 4 inches ), it can be found in Montmartre and many little streets in Paris(--> Mosaique layed in fan pattern)
• the "Echantillon" rectangular around 20cm x 15cm X 15cm ( 8in x 6in x 6in), is very often hidden under the asphalt everywhere in Paris.
• the "Napoleon", the big one, irregular cube of around 20cm side ( 8in ), very rare, in front on "Notre Dame" or "St Germain des Pres" church.

Since 20 years they exist in the sawed version, with one or more plane surfaces.

Mostly these sizes are used :(--> Sizes used as support)

The paint is gouache ( or tempera ), with an appropriate finishing.

Installation in progress

Some of these works are inserted back where they belong : among the other cobblestones in street paving

(--> Installation in Public Spaces )

Goal

Make people question their own mythology of images and those related to different cultures.

Make people question about the pertinency and permanency of these symbols reproduced over and over, in relation with very various fields (ex.:advertising)

Offer a joyfull path, a rock painted history, testimony of today's consumption of imagery and growing interest in cultural matter, ready made fossiles for future anthopologists.

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Contemporary artist concept Paris rock painting images mythology visual culture art symbol public spaces cobblestone