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Photo: S. Mahinsha

Facing emotions Remi Boinot’s installations highlight the most expressive features: the mouth and the eyes

And for the last couple of months, it has been easy to spot him in the city, in his signature waistcoat, whizzing around, working on his latest project.

Starting out as a painter, Remi has come a long way since, discovering the delights of multimedia and fusing it with his own characteristic imagination. However, though painting was his medium for a long time, he always worked with sound.

So was this transition from a painter to an installation artist an easy one?

“It was simple. The web and the Internet made an appearance. My friends told me we must create a web site for artists. That’s when I realised I could do lots of things with the technology – put my painting side by side with music and other multimedia,” explains Remi.

Sound is very important to Remi and he draws interesting parallels between a musician and a painter: “The painter speaks like a musician and the musician wants to become a painter. The music and the canvas become a space… We can’t see if we have no ears.”

It’s this beautiful harmony between different media that Remi recreates each time through his art.

Last year, for instance, his exhibition in the city showcased two works – ‘The Nephew of the Oarsman’ and ‘Weddings and Banquets’ – that impressed the audiences with an unusual and refreshing play of sounds, voices, objects.

This time, back in the city on an ‘Artist-in Residence’ programme sponsored by the French Embassy, Remi’s work was a lot more intimate.

Called, ‘ME – Mouth + Eyes,’ the video installation was set up at the Museum auditorium from February 26 to February 28.

Throwing light on the two most expressive human features, ‘Me’ constitutes two films that showcase the mouth and the eyes of ordinary men and women. Shooting in different parts of the city, Remi’s work also included the words of these “ordinary people.” And simple words like ‘amma’ and ‘curiosity’ ceased to be ordinary, as they spilled out of Remi’s surrealistic presentation.

But what is fascinating is the arresting juxtaposition of the ‘ordinary’ eyes and mouths with those of Kathakali artistes. It is an attempt at self-discovery through the eyes and mouths of the city.

Kathakali has always been an inescapable influence ever since Remi watched his first performance in Paris more than 20 years ago.

“I’m crazy about it. Language and not knowing the story doesn’t matter, it is such an expressive art.” Perhaps it’s this openness that has allowed Remi to create installations that communicate across cultures and languages.

Words are important, no doubt. But his work always strives to create a reality that comes alive in its own unique way, depending on where it has been set up.

“My work isn’t culturally limited to Europe. Its human emotion and it’s the same everywhere.”

Looking at glimpses of his various installations, one realises that like John Cage – Remi’s inspiration and influence – he is a man of experience and immediate realities.

“The immediate reality is very important for me. I like to intellectualise things but ultimately it’s the moment one needs to plunge into.”

So at the moment, he is immersed in Kerala, in Kathakali and the ‘navarasas.’ That’s the reality he knows and revels in.

Still, he finds times to indulge in Carnatic Music, biriyani (a dish he can eat anytime of the day!) or very simply, ‘thali meals’. This is part of the Kerala experience he is savouring at the moment.

No wonder that he has no future plans. It is in the now that this vivacious artist lives. For that reason he so beautifully fits into Peter Brook’s definition he quotes so often: ‘The artist is an experienced child.’

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