Antoine Donzeaud at Rupert

Artist: Antoine Donzeaud

Exhibition title: A thousand friends

Venue: Rupert, Vilnius, Lithuania

Date: January 27 – February 23, 2016

Photography: images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Rupert

I had no expectations about my time in Vilnius. I wasn’t sure what would come out of it or if I’d be able to produce anything. All I brought was a video camera. I knew about the cold and the snow. I found a building lost in the woods by a river that was frozen most of the time so you could actually go accross it by foot. The space acted like some sort of huge screen on the white landscape. Occasionally you’d see people passing by – skiing, walking their dogs or going to feed the ducks. Sometimes the place was full of life and agitation. Other times it was awfully quiet. All around there were a lot of buildings in construction. Domestic spaces in the becoming waiting to be inhabited. Panels, windows, covers, ruins. I kept contact with my friends in Paris. Skype calls or Facebook conversations. I met incredible people here. There were long heartful discussions, dinners, parties, walks, drinks at the kitchen table. All that making me wish I could see all of them again soon. My stay went too quickly. I wanted to reflect on these feelings in the installations, see how I could use the given space and model it towards a materialization of these physical and virtual interactions. Here is the result.

Antoine Donzeaud

‘On the first day the snow fell,
I went taking pictures,
Not to miss the chance of capturing the moments,
While the trees are still holding the fresh snow.
No matter how cold it was, I enjoyed the winter,
The very end of December and early January,
Brought stronger cold to Lithuania,
No matter of this, I kept on flying.
I have always loved looking from above,
It allows me to see so many things that would otherwise be unnoticed’.

Romuald Demidenko quoting Karolis Janulis