❣️We are "Dwarves on the shoulders of giants."
In Latin, "Nanos gigantum humeris insidentes"❣️
This metaphor, attributed to Bernard of Chartres, a 12th-century master, quickly came to me when I came up with the idea of representing the importance of artistic and cultural heritage in the development of humanity.
➡️ Thus, to see far ahead, we need the heights of our ancestors: the legacy of scholars, great thinkers, artists, architects, and authors allows us to better understand the world. It is in this sense that the past is necessary for the future, because knowledge is cumulative. ➡️ We can consider ourselves small, "dwarves," but that thanks to ancestral knowledge, we
have the capacity to become great, allowing our gaze to go even further, on the shoulders of these "giants" who carry us.
➡️ Between heritage and modernity, this sculpture unites the past and the future. It illustrates the direction that Man takes when he knows how to benefit from his learning and shows gratitude for the past. Thanks to this, he grows.
This is why my sculpture can be reminiscent of a spring of water, in motion, taking root in books and gushing towards the sky.
➡️ These are the enduring things that bear witness to our past and provide a link between our future and
our history, just as art, literature, architecture, and music do. For they remain, when
everything dies. ❣️Details of the different elements that make up my sculpture❣️
↩️ The base represents books, placed one on top of the other, because they are a tangible mark and a means of transmitting the past.
↩️ The small figure (dwarf) at the top of the giants' heads has a real face, unlike the other
little climbers. For after having climbed hard, he holds the knowledge and wisdom that enlighten us.
↩️ First Giant
In my project, there is a genuine desire to recall the Greco-Roman mythological imprint in the features of the old bearded giant. For what would we be without mythology? Would culture have this face today if great artists had not always relied on myths? It is unimaginable to strip art of its Greek and Roman gods. As a token of respect and gratitude, my character is inspired by this mental representation, with my own modern twist.
↩️ The second Giant
is a man, who could just as easily represent the scientist, the statesman, the architect, the artist, the composer, the poet, the builder, the musician, the thinker, the athlete, the painter, etc., but also the unknown hero, the man who contributes to making his future a legacy for future generations and his past a story to tell.
↩️ Finally, a woman for my last Giant, because they are often the forgotten ones in museums. Sometimes artists, other times muses, then great surgeons, poets, professors, scientists, sculptors... simply capable women. And who, like Camille Claudel, have sometimes been hated, besmirched, banished, for their art and for the audacity
they had in facing judgment.
But also because they are wives, daughters, and mothers, without whom man has neither future nor past.
