2014 : BRAND, FRUIT AND FLOWER DELI, STOCKHOLM

—The Oracle said: “respect the source.”

Fruit and Flower Deli is pleased to announce “Brand,” a project by Lucie Fontaine. This is the second project Lucie Fontaine presents at the gallery space in Stockholm and it is conceived especially for the space and for the Swedish context, although not exclusively. The starting point of the show is its title – “brand” – which is a word that has multiple meanings : in English it defines the paradoxical situation in which something mass-produced claims to be unique and authentic; it is also employed to define a signature, a logo, and to describe something {brand} new but also familiar and established (branding); in Swedish the same exact word means “fire,” “light” or “torch.” Brand is also the name of the famous Swedish anarchist magazine, which first issue, published in 1898, had the following headline: “Brand – May 1st Newspaper – to Sweden’s workers = youth.”

Following these premises, Lucie Fontaine decided to use this double-edged sword-word as the creative force generating a group of objects to be presented at Fruit and Flower Deli. There are many reasons for the selection: from the connections between the words brand, fire and light – which brings to the etymology of the name Lucie, from the Latin lux [light] – to the fact that Sweden has corporations like Ikea and H&M which founded their success on appropriative branding.

Aiming to become a brand that is completely free from any copyright or intellectual property, Lucie Fontaine decided to open this project on Walpurgis Night, which is a traditional Spring festival celebrated on the night between April 30 and May 1, which is Labor Day in most of Europe. Walpurgis Night is celebrated in large parts of Central and Northern Europe with dancing and bonfires. While the name Walpurgis is taken from the 8th-century English missionary Saint Walburga, “Valborg,” as it is called in Swedish, has very little to do with religion and everything to do with the arrival of Spring. In the Middle Age the administrative year ended on April 30 and therefore this was a day of festivity among the merchants and craftsmen of the town, with trick-or-treating, dancing, and singing in preparation for the forthcoming celebration of Spring. Walpurgis bonfires are part of a Swedish tradition since the early 18th century.

To celebrate this event Lucie Fontaine invited Israeli artist Alexandra Zuckerman to create an artwork especially conceived for this project to be inserted in the gallery space alongside her own creations.

Lucie Fontaine is an art employer that lives and works in Colmar, France, once the hometown of sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty (officially titled, Liberty Enlightening the World). The city is renowned for its well-preserved old town and charm, its numerous museums and architectural landmarks, including a 12-meter high replica of Liberty Enlightening the World.

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1) Alexandra Zuckerman, Witch Girl, 2014. Pencil on paper, 56 x 76 cm. 1.1) Commissioned especially for this project, produced in the same iaspis studio occupied by Lucie Fontaine in 2012 and inspired by medieval works and the imagery related to Valborg, this image depicts a gigantic fireplace. Appearing in the scene are two characters : a witch with a broom between her legs standing next to a black goat – the traditional representation of Satan. Echoing Lucie Fontaine’s affection for the double – “L’Anti-Oedipe was written by the two of us, and since each of us was several, we were already quite a crowd” (Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari) – the image is in fact a diptych, which has been turned into an animation to be presented on www.luciefontaine.com.

2) Lucie Fontaine, Brand, 2014. Print on PVC, 28 x 21 cm.

3) Alexandra Zuckerman, Witch House, 2014. Pencil on paper, 76 x 56 cm.

4) Lucie Fontaine, D&G, 2014. Print on paper, 30 x 40 cm (unframed). 4.1) A map of Sicily, which was conquered and occupied by the Normans (successors of the Vikings) during most of the 11th and 12th centuries involving many battles and many independent players conquering territories of their own. On top of the map – which shows areas threatened by desertification – 12 images, which are part of Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring-Summer 2014 campaign, which is inspired by Sicily. The logo has been changed, from “D&G – Dolce & Gabbana” to “D&G – Deleuze & Guattari.” 4.2) Sicily : the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy. 4.3) Vikings : Norse seafarers, speaking the Old Norse language, who from their homelands in Scandinavia raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands, from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries. 4.4) Desertification : from desert, which can also mean tabula rasa.

5) Lucie Fontaine, Liberty Enlightening the World, 2014. Resin, golden powder, alcohol and spray paint, 75 x 7.5 x 7.5 cm. 5.1) A souvenir – one of the last to be actually produced in the United States – modeled after the upper part of the Statue of Liberty, it goes from the belly to the tip, which is the torch raised up by the right hand. The statuette’s golden powder has been carefully removed with alcohol and its original color, which mocked the green patina that forms naturally on rusted copper and bronze, has been covered with silk-matt carmine red spray paint, a homage to artist Gaylen Gerber. 5.2) Souvenir : it comes from French “for a remembrance or memory” and it means memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance; it is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. “Souvenir” was the title of a project conceived by Lucie Fontaine for Galerie Perrotin in Paris in 2013. 5.3) Torch : Torch Browser is a freeware Chromium-based web browser and Internet suite developed by Torch Media. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying websites, sharing websites via social networks, downloading torrents, accelerating downloads and grabbing online media, all directly from the browser. Torch Browser is commercial freeware. Early versions of the browser have received mixed reviews, with some praising its interesting feature combination while others decrying its lack of add-on support (an issue which has been resolved in the newer version). Torch is based on the Chromium source code. Torch’s most recent version 29.0.0.6508 uses Chromium version 29, making it compatible with all add-ons and extensions available in the Chrome store. On June 18, 2013, Torch announced that it had surpassed 10 million active users. 5.4) Patina : In geology and geomorphology, the term “patina” is used to refer to discolored film or thin outer layer produced either on or within the surface of a rock or other material by either the development of a weathering rind, the formation of desert varnish, or a combination of both.

6) Lucie Fontaine, Fire, 2014. Print on PVC, 61 x 33 x 25 cm.

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Above : Alexandra Zuckerman, Witch Girl, 2014. Animation, variable dimensions.