This insightful online interview is a perfect introduction to the research, obsessions, concerns and curiosity of Stephen Brandes at work.
A superlative draughtsman who has exhibited internationally, Stephen Brandes explores the interplay of word and visual language as a vehicle for storytelling with particular reference to travel fiction, absurdism and satire. The exhibition "La Place des Grands Abysses" at CCI is the culmination of ten years of research, observation and invention. A monumental, highly-detailed drawing combines with traditional collages and an animated slideshow to allow a multiplicity of readings. The main narrative takes us from the last few months of a certain Albert Sitzfleisch’s life in 2069, as he travels and starts writing a book on optimism, to his after-life as an unwitting tour-guide of the ruins of the Place des Vosges a century later. La Place des Grands Abysses offers both a meditation on the legacy of the Enlightenment and a speculative portrait of Europe.
This event took place on 18 September 2020.
