John Cornu
2 photos
For Fluide, John Cornu took what already existed as his starting point: the history of Thuin, an old stronghold rising in terraces over several plateaux, and valleys overlooking a belfry classified as UNESCO World Heritage. Seemingly abstract, his work Comme un gant (Like a glove) is based on many different real and symbolic sources and interpretations.
John Cornu imagined a documentary sculptural piece based on the idea of the buttress. Installed in the centre of Place du Chapitre, beneath the belfry, it is comprised of eight monoliths in Hainaut stone positioned in a circle. Creating an open sun shape, that is almost floral, these universal buttresses evoke a panoptic system, offering a 360° view. Presented as though upturned on the ground, these buttresses don’t provide support for any building. They evoke a ruin; that of an old fortress over which the landscape has reconquered its rights. The installation also functions when seen from the top of the Belfry, through the motif created and the double function of surveillance and defence of the building.
John Cornu’s installation also relates to the body since visitors are invited to move in between the elements. It isn’t sufficient to look at the work. The artist seeks to create a new mental environment that is suggestive in a different way, and wants to ‘make the experience available’ to viewers who play an active role by reinterpreting what they see.
