Les Moulins through the eyes of Svet Chassol - Part 2: La Totale

Curated by Leo Orta, Iseult Perrault & Simon Sixou
PHOTOGRAPHY Svet Chassol
TEXT Svet Chassol & Alexa Van Abbema

www.galleriacontina.com / www.latotale.eu/fr

La Totale, which opened at Studio Orta – Les Moulins this past October, spans across disciplines with a unifying logic: it’s been dubbed a “cultural laboratory” to play with, and intervene in contemporary life. Inspired by Richard Wagner’s concept “total work of art,” La Totale re-imagines post-industrial life, spearheading the movement with innovation, independence, and collaboration at the forefront.

After a two times push back, intertwined with a five months confinement break and on the verge of second one, Leo Orta, one of the founders, and I discussed a way to work together on an eventual future Totale and how we could involve Novembre. I wanted to try to cover the whole day with both a film camera and a DV, not only to capture the curation he, Iseult Perrault and Simon Sixou had thought of, but also to document a day where time stopped, again. The opening finally took place on the 18th of October. That day, everyone got to forget about the pandemic and the lockdown at least for a day, for the first time in a while some were able to go outside Paris and enjoy not only an amazing art curation by both La Totale and the Galleria Continua, but also nature, missed friendships, laughs, all while being mesmerised by all and nothing. The feeling of a short innocent school trip with friends, family and strangers who still felt relatively close. So this is the second part of the reduced archive of one, if not the best, day of my 2020.

Anish Kapoor space, Miles Greenberg Performance, PT2.

The Stampers. Provided with a Totale map upon arrival, they would complete it for you with a Totale stamp.

Leo's hidden room.

A sanitary apology from Frederick Nystrup Larsen, Amanda Lydert and Oliver Sundqvist who couldn't make it.

The curators.

Fin.

Thank you Léo, Iseult, Simon, Léo's parents Lucy + Jorge Orta, for working so hard to give us this full day of freedom. Thank you JS and Florence for letting me do this. Infinite gratefulness and apologies to Baptiste for working so hard on giving life to that complicated video/picture lay out concept I thought of. SC.

Special thanks to Berlinde De Bruyckere / Hiroshi Sugimoto / Sislej Xhafa / Pascale Marthine Tayou / Michelangelo Pistoletto / Daniel Buren / Zhanna Kadyrova / Kader Attia / Louise Haya / Nedko Solakov / Lucy & Jorge Orta / Kourtrajme School / Thomas Jean-Louis / JR LADJ LY / Basile Pelletier / Willow Evann / Sarah Makharine / Élodie Tann / Karlton Seydi / Yaziame / Anish Kapoor / Flyest / Serena / Jamsy / Snake /Paula Adory / Eden Tinto Collins / Miles Greenberg / Salomé Chatriot / Samuel Fasse / Iseult Perrault / Leo Orta / Orta Miklos / Agata Ingarden / Léa De Cacqueray / Hugo Avigo / Shir Handelsman / Antoinette D'ansembourg / Basile Cordt Moller / Celian Dinbergs / Frederick Nystrup Larsen / Amanda Lydert / Oliver Sundqvist / Jesse Pollock / Leila White Vilmouth / Mao Tao / Léa De Cacqueray / Leo Luccioni / Alfredo Aceto / Misha Gurovich / Adrian Schachter / Shinuk Suh / Alex Foxton / Sean Mc Girr / Prosper Legault / Yarden Colsey / Pascal Galleria Continua / Contemporaines