CODE LÉON (cola, citron)

CODE LÉON (cola, citron) is a stage in the materialization of the artist’s research around the French war heritage and more precisely the colonial heritage and French wars of independence.

Unintendedly heiress of these historical facts and the movements of art history that accompanied them, more precisely orientalism, Camille Bleu-Valentin tracks, through the construction of an interactive library, the influences of oriental culture on western culture, observes its absorption and participates in the creation of a common culture.

This installation invites us to celebrate a multi-cultural, rich and complex society that gets decoded by analyzing itself:

“cola, citron” refers to the flavors of the shisha perfume “Code Léon”. The shisha is a festive item that is conducive to sharing.

The word “code” corresponds to the QR-codes that are silkscreen-printed on the tiles. A real scannable library, each tile features several references: from photos of kebabs to art history theses. The traditional motif has turned into a digital motif.

“Léon” is a reference to the 19th century orientalist painter Jean-Léon Gérôme. This controversial French painter is known for his paintings depicting fantasized Turkish bath scenes.

The different elements of the installation are functional, designed to be made available to the public to create a “relational aesthetic” and produce human relationships.