Collaborations

ORLAN has long used the representation of her body to question current social phenomena from a critical distance. When we designate handbags and backpacks, we’re referring to the body. The bag is carried by the hand, but its name could lead us to believe that it contains hands, hence the idea of inscribing parts of the artist’s body on the bags, whether they are hand-held, back-held or other (impressions of the face, eye, ear, ear, hand…). The bag is like a prosthesis that allows us to carry the things we need. It is the development, the continuation of our pockets.

On this occasion, ORLAN creates “L’éléphant de la forêt d’Afrique en voie de disparition et nouveaux robots en objets et matériaux recyclés”. This work is a continuation of the artist’s questioning of endangered animals, with the particularity that the elephant is hybridized with the skin of a leopard and lizard.

“Leather goods take us back to what we call “the beautiful hand”, but also to bags made of leather or animal skins (lizard, crocodile…). Today, we’re looking at all the materials we use, both natural and man-made, and their carbon footprint. My work questions the disappearance of certain animals and birds. I present these animals, which I hybridize with other animals in their natural environment, surrounded by robots. The robots are made from recycled objects. They are there to question the new technologies that can either destroy or build a more responsible world. “ORLAN

ORLAN collaborates with Say Who to photograph the Grand Jury Prize. Laurent de Cernet, director of Olympia, opened the doors of his historic billiard room to ORLAN for this major event. Ruinart teamed up with ORLAN to make the evening even more sparkling, and the artist herself offered her iconic recipe for Lait de Vierge, guaranteed impure, with no colorants or preservatives. She proposed a listening session commented and performed by Beñat Moreno, so that an exceptional jury could vote for the three best slows on the album. The jury included President Michèle Lamy, Diane Pernet, Christophe Mecca, Sophie Rosemont, Sophie Duplaix, Elisabeth Couturier, Laurent Goumarre, Florence Tredez, Leïla Voight, François Renard, Raphaël Fontang and Léonard Lasry. A few VIPs joined us for the event, which was followed by an after-party at the Silencio Club. Her costume was designed by Beñat Moreno, and featured a lycra dress and chiffon cape. He created a textile print using the slogans on the signs, all in black and white. With this costume, ORLAN becomes a manifesto, visually embodying her concept.

She realized that many of her assistants had never slow-danced before, and decided that she couldn’t go on like this – she had to do something for young people! With this project, she hopes to help people discover and revive this dance as a therapeutic treatment in this still difficult period of reconstruction.

ORLAN wrote the lyrics for each slow dance song, which she then shared with musicians so they could compose the melodies and sing her lyrics. She then added her voice to the music, in collaboration with the guest artist.

This album brings together twenty extraordinary slow songs created by Orlan in perfect harmony with some fantastic artists: Sir Alice, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Terrenoire, Les Tetines Noires, Les Chicks On Speed, Mimosa, Yael Naim, Tentative, Régis Campo, Myope, Blue Carmen, Les Sans Pattes, La Femme, Romain Brau, Charlie Morrow, Demi Mondaine, Charlemagne Palestine, Kat May, and Iury Lech.

The vinyl is on sale at FNAC and on all platforms. Several clips have been produced to visually illustrate ORLAN’s message: she made “Je suis slowsexuel.le” with Sir Alice and “Les corps de métiers m’excitent” with Tentative. A book will be published with texts written by the artist. ORLAN  has performed on several occasions with musicians including Demi Mondaine on Culture Box.

Empress Eugenie was very protective of the poor, women and artists. She supported writer George Sand’s candidacy for the Académie Française and the work of Education Minister Victor Duruy in favor of education for girls. She is also against the censorship of Baudelaire’s “Fleurs du mal”.

The gesture of hybridization allows ORLAN to make two times, two visual universes, two women coexist. Without these two entities meeting and mingling, the work could not have existed. It exists only through this encounter that breaks down the ice walls between eras, arts and genres…

ORLAN says “I allow myself to resemble her, I allow her to resemble me. We meet despite the mists of time that separate us. An imprint of me in the memory of others.”