Jean-Baptiste Farkas

Jean-Baptiste Farkas was born in 1970, he lives and works in Paris (FR)

Jean-Baptiste Farkas defines himself as a service provider artist. Under various titles organized into collections, he has created “instruction manuals” that maintain a close relationship with disruption, vandalism, and diversion in order to generate action in the real world. These protocols for individual or collective actions function as “rituals” whose purpose is not to produce an object, but rather to generate a state or a shift in the perception of reality. Harsh and often imperceptible, these actions aim to question our habits as well as our relationship to objects. Rooted in a non-productive, often subtractive logic, these “acts” confront the question of value in art, frequently challenging the viewer through latent tendencies toward destruction, constraint, or frustration, all while retaining a hint of humor. These action protocols can be freely performed, with or without the artist’s participation, or acquired in the form of instruction manuals. Jean-Baptiste Farkas is currently pursuing a PhD at Rennes 2 University (PTAC). He is also an occasional contributor to the journal Switch (on Paper). His work has been activated in numerous exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo, the Musée d’Art Moderne (MAM), and the Frac Poitou-Charentes. Some of his protocols have been put into practice in New York, Los Angeles, Oslo, and Montreal.

Text from Galerie du Granit

Jean-Baptiste Farkas’ work in on display during the exhibitions Authentiques Résidents, 2001 and Trabendo, 2003.