Description
Clémence Seilles conducted her first residency as part of a visual arts program at the Louis Pasteur High School in Besançon with students in their first year of the visual arts track. Over the course of a week, the artist invited the high school students to create installations using recycled materials that she had either created or collected herself. The students then designed and built furniture and installations using these materials.
The designs were conceived for public spaces with the aim of complementing existing uses—whether or not they were originally planned as part of the development of the space in question. This project allowed the students to envision the entire creative process: from design to the transformation of a space—the Esplanade des Droits de l’Homme.
Action
These workshops were conducted as part of the “Visual Artists in High Schools” program offered by the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region. Through this program—and in partnership with the DRAC and the DRAAF—the Franche-Comté Regional Council aims to spark curiosity and encourage high school students’ initiatives by bringing them into contact with artists and introducing them to places where art is created and exhibited.
The residency focuses on three approaches: engaging with a work of art through the discovery of the creative process, artistic and cultural practice, and the development of aesthetic judgment. Beginning with a visit to Bien Urbain, the goal is to help students explore the field of urban arts, both through appreciation and hands-on experience.
Biographie
Clémence Seilles was born and raised in Besançon. After studying product and interior design in Reims and then at the Royal College of Art in London, she moved to Berlin to start her own studio. She continues to work in many countries, including Amsterdam, Italy, and Mexico.
Her work lies at the intersection of art and design; she is interested in the role and function of materials, and in the ways in which they embody our contemporary behaviors and scenarios (including our relationship with the environment, our living spaces, and so on).
Clémence Seilles recently returned to the region and continues to work with reused materials to design sets and furniture.
Crédits
Paul Kalinsky et Juste Ici