Monumentu

Monumentu is a neologism, a portmanteau that combines “monument" and "tu"—"you".

"tu" like the pronoun and 'tu" as the past participle of the verb "se taire" - "to remain silent".

Behind this idea of Monumentu, Philémon Vanorlé collects amateur photographs—small postwar silver-gelatin prints—depicting men, women, and children striking poses in public spaces. What makes these images unique is the isolated object that the subjects choose, celebrating it to the point of straddling or climbing on it. It is precisely this object that the artist calls Monumentu .

« The “monumentu” is an everyday object, an anonymous monument that is recognized as such. It is the monument “you” choose to reveal for the duration of a single shot—a monument seen and seen often enough to be appreciated, to justify a moment of complicity, a shared instant, a pose, a photograph. 

For the “monumentu” to come into being, the photographer must have carefully composed the shot and—no matter how ordinary the object may be—revealed its stature and sculptural quality. Standing before it, the model, through her indispensable presence, highlights the relationship between form, scale, and function. 

"Monumentu" documents reinterpretations that, with the passage of time, echo public art, scenography, and design. Whether the photographers and models intended it or not, the collection presented here offers delightful scenes of everyday life and poses. They lend the “monumentu”—this ordinary subject captured in a photograph—the luster of the extraordinary, if only for a fleeting moment. »

Philémon Vanorlé

↘︎ Check out Philémon Vanorlé’s exhibition at the Espace Le Carré in Lille from September 10 to November 1, 2020

↘︎ Production: Institut pour la photographie

↘︎ Mentions: Exhibition presented as part of Lille, World Design Capital