Marc Etienne
Residency at Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GB-SCT), as part of a cross-residency program.
Marc Etienne was born in 1987 in Annonay (FR), and he lives and works in Marseille.
Depending on the situation it finds itself in, the hermit crab assigns different meanings to the sea anemone. At times, it views it as protective, residential, or nutritional. Marc Etienne creates works that are simultaneously verbose and laconic, absurd and logical, evident and ambiguous, undecided and decisive. He takes pleasure in not crystallizing their contours, altering their texture, dimensions, or meaning depending on the context. Perhaps this is his way of avoiding making hasty decisions. However, a constant emerges from this “chosen indecision”: the posture of a fan, which he adopts and integrates into his methodology. There are different ways of being a fan, varying degrees of devotion. Marc Etienne likes to say that he “gets into it” when he creates the forms he calls “stories.” Like a fan, with his own economy and timeline, he painstakingly reproduces by hand details from a singer’s outfit that catch his eye. A film score, a line from a rap song, the voluptuous curves of an R&B singer—all serve as pretexts for him to create monumental wooden, concrete, or metal sculptures, as well as meticulous models or ink wash drawings. These productions all bear (sometimes ostentatiously, but always intentionally) traces of the artist’s gestures. “Traces of working time, labor, or traces of pleasure.” Just as the hermit crab assigns the sea anemone multiple roles in its perceptual field and evolution, Marc Etienne draws forms that he imbues with a different past and present while leaving them open to enriching future events. (text by Jean Colin)
Immediately after earning his DNSEP (Master’s Degree in Fine Arts) from the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon in 2010, Marc decided it was time to work 30 hours a week to earn money to finance his future projects and pay his rent. He quickly found a job as a dishwasher in a small restaurant. For eight months, he washed plates and pressure cookers. While he wasn’t passionate about the work, it allowed him to reflect and think while working. He often told himself that he hadn’t gone to school to “end up here.” On his way to and from work, he listened to Booba on his Walkman, who in one song says, “I wasn’t born to wash dishes.” This line amused Marc, even as it saddened him. He felt he was wasting his life trying to make a living. At the same time, this manual, solitary, and repetitive activity fed his dreamy spirit. Every day after work, he would draw and develop ideas for future artworks with his pruned fingers, worn out by dishwater.
After eight months as a dishwasher, Marc was accepted for a residency with Stephan Balkenhol, allowing him to work with materials other than dishes: wood. This was followed by residencies at Astérides, Fugitif in Leipzig, and Moly Sabata. Since he stopped washing dishes, he has been creating objects and drawings while reflecting on the dishes he once cleaned.
In 2022, Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS) and Triangle-Astérides celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Residency Exchange programme.
Established in 2012, the residency exchange is designed for artists at a pivotal point in their career who have not had major institutional support or the opportunity to develop work abroad. The programme enables Glasgow-based artists and creative practitioners to work, share practice, and learn new skills in France, while facilitating the reciprocal experience for artists based in Marseille to travel to Glasgow and experience the cultural landscape of Scotland.
The partnership between GSS and Triangle-Astérides developed from Glasgow and Marseille’s designation as twin cities in 2006. Both organisations have a history of making culture a centrepiece of life within their cities. Based in former industrial hubs, GSS and Triangle-Astérides share similar objectives, challenges, and working contexts. Both organisations underpin the creative communities of their respective cities through nurturing a supportive and diverse artistic community and providing access to access to artist studios, high-quality production facilities, and cultural networks.
As we continue into another decade of the Residency Exchange Programme, we have formalised the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) as partners in the project. The CCA team have long been supporters of this programme in a variety of ways; through studio visits, in-kind support, and working with the incoming artists from Marseille to present public outcomes from their residency as part of CCA’s Open Source Programme, we are excited to continue to acknowledge and embed this support in our exchange programme.
As organisations, GSS and CCA complement each other well; with GSS able to offer the space and resources to make work, and CCA offering the space and means to share work in addition to offering their Artist Flat as accommodation. Through working in partnership and combining our skills, resources, and expertise as organisations we’re able to provide an enhanced offer to artists from Marseille that will ensure they are well positioned to make the most of creative ecology of Glasgow.
