French Artist Gilbert1 Recently shared with us some amazing pictures of what he has now titled “Broken Project” due to the lack of funding and support to complete the project. We are always amazed by projects like this. The scale and scope of painting something for 2 years and not being able to finish is a tragedy. Luckily he was able to paint and document 2 years worth of work. Here is only a fraction of the story in pictures as well as a brief summary of the project.
GF
“This project is the story of the meeting between an artist and an abandoned place, the story of 4 years in a huge studio.
Every day since the summer of 2008, Gilbert1 has walked to this old teacher school and its park to go for a walk away, to get fresh ideas, and to plan creative frenzies. Little by little, he took over the place. He started securing rooms for his artistical needs, and ended up getting in touch with the local authorities that own the place, to submit an open-air museum project where 4000m2 of walls would be utilized by artists and which could help the enclosed neighborhood to regain life with cultural events, artists residencies, but also with participative workshops for locals, notably for the population of a home for marginalized people.
From 2009 to 2011, Gilbert1 first conceived and directed “Inside“, a stop-motion film that came out last year, along with a few paintings. He also invited artists to collaborate.
Then, after September 2011, he tried stubbornly to lead alone a global and coherent project in this place (The Hidden Project), a project which needed a team and equipment such as a cherry picker…
While grants disappeared, the city hall pressured him not to paint the visible walls and made him responsible for the accumulation of graffiti in the street. His equipment was stolen, some of the most complete works were tagged over, some of the walls suffered from bad weather, guests called out, and organization went disorganized…
Tired of that adversity, he is now presenting a first version of this partial project (re-named for this occasion ‘The Broken Project’), achieved with a twisted extension stick and a broken ladder. Tomorrow, early in the morning, he will leave the place, his head full of stories and ideas. He may never come back again.
A part of this open-air museum will be destroyed next January, the rest will remain until 2014.
It is now visible from Marcelle Dorr street in Nancy (FR). The section located in the park is strictly closed to the public, but the place is open and everyone could enter.”
