Study for a soap
Emmanuel Tussore (FR)
installation, 2017
The process of soap-making was developed in the earliest antiquity in the Levant region near the city of Aleppo. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, soap was reintroduced and spread in the West by 12th century Crusaders.
Tussore uses this fragile and malleable organic matter as a medium in a series of sculptures, installations, photographs and films. In his hands, Aleppo Soap – the oldest soap in the world – shifts from the refined gesture of the civilized man to become the symbol of a destructive and brutal force. His ruins suggest the characters of a mysterious alphabet telling of absence, loss, exile, thus questioning the fundamental notions of humanism. Highlighting the remains of an intimate story as part of the collective memory, they allow all hopes for a possible reconstruction.
Emmanuel Tussore (FR), born in 1984, combines in his practise photography, video, sculpture, and installation, drawing on history and current events. Taking a critical view of social and cultural issues, he proposes a symbolic and imaginary vision of a tragic world in which the notion of disappearance predominates.
His work has been shown in various national and international exhibitions such as: Danse Elargie at Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Berlinale Berlin International Film Festival, Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary Art at Atiss gallery in Senegal, Parcours Privé FIAC, Nuit Blanche Paris, Hors les murs Palais de Tokyo, Nuit Blanche Brussels, LagosPhoto in Nigeria, Athens Photo Festival, Young European Photographers: Paris Circulation(s) Festival, New York Photo Festival.
