Sebastien Bonin. Kledze Hatal

About

Following his intervention at Wiels Contemporary Art Centre (Brussels) on the occasion of the exhibition called Un-Scene III, Bonin continues to explore the limitless levels of reading related to the stories associated with the Navajo society, the Native Americans from the South-western United States. Borrowed from various movies and old American comics the artist skilfully reinterprets the design of their unique clothing. Taking them out of their original context his main interest solely focuses on their physical aspect. Through a complex photographic process he shows to the viewer the essence of these patterns – the colours and the structure – and creates a thoroughly new fiction. Hence, Bonin’s practice reveals complex compositions produced with help of gelatine filters used in the theatre and the movie industry and leaves obvious details that remind the very manual aspect of the process that involves collages. Consequently, just like painting is applied onto a canvas, the artist uses the technique of photogram to project luminous rays onto paper and showcases realities where light itself becomes subject. The newly created images resemble to its referent but gain different presence by definition. With its obvious aesthetical strength the work of Sebastien Bonin emphases on the process of simulacra intrinsic to photographic process and further questions the sense of existence of an image itself. Also, like many other artists, Bonin explores the possibilities of photographic technology and material it employs in order to explore the very confines of abstraction.