Michel François - Le monde et les bras
In: Photobook Belge 1854 - now, Hannibal/FOMU, 2019, pp. 266-267.
Le monde et les bras by visual artist Michel François is dedicated 'to children and to Africa'. The book is a poetic ode to the diversity of our world and to the art of play. François portrays ordinary life at home and abroad: people at work, the back of a horse, an open trouser pocket, African dancers, turned-over soil, a toddler's torso imprinted with ink stamps, holes in the elbows of a sweater, children playing, a round belly, a falling chair... And hands, lots of hands. Pinching, grabbing, caressing and rubbing.
François' photographs are a stimulus to the senses, so tactile that they seem to invite us to take part in them. This physical experience confirms François' unusual view of the everyday. Through his eye, trivial objects and actions are lifted to a different level of meaning. A rope or a balloon takes on the value of temporary sculpture. Man is portrayed as a source of energy, plastic and in motion. When the body does not dance, jump or work of itself, it is literally and figuratively moulded or framed by François. Materials without solid form — soap, water and clay — feature regularly in the book, in addition to concave and convex volumes. Everything underlines his fascination for transformation and transition into the most diverse forms and motifs.
When talking about his practice, François sometimes refers to the rhizome: like a proliferating plant root, his photographs (and sculptural works) branch in different directions simultaneously. This idea also underlines Le monde et les bras: things are organically interlinked, and starting from this connection we have to embrace the world. Paying attention to the interaction between people and the environment in François' way of engaging as an individual and as an artist. In this publication, blank pages and visual jumps between the subjects leave plenty of space for attentive observation. Titles and context are omitted, creating a freedom of thought and interpretation for the viewer. The riddle (of life, of the image) can never completely unravelled. 'Le mystère existe et persiste,' according to François.
