Andreï Molodkin — Immigrant Blood — Patricia Dorfmann Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: November 23 → December 28, 2013

The work Immigrant blood pumped inside Marianne 2013 will be shown for the first time. As the project’s central element, the artist will be inviting asylum seekers to donate their blood on site, pouring it directly inside of this active installation.

Andrei Molodkin’s work examines the ongoing corruption imbued in social, political and religious constructs. For this exhibition he engages with escalating social tensions currently at the forefront of media reportage in Paris: rising levels of illegal immigration, denied asylum and, as a result, controversial deportations.

Hollowed within a block of transparent acrylic the principal large-scale work is comprised of a direct re-appropriation of Marianne, the celebrated icon of the French Republic and the symbol of the country’s democratic values. Seen here, the allegorical figure is symbolically turned on its head as a clear comment on the change of the nation’s moral and ethical disposition.

Via a system of tubes the acrylic Marianne connects to a series of medical pumps, which are regulated by industrial compressors. The clinically designed, yet factory produced, sculpture simulates the configuration of the body; the pipes become the vessels through which the blood circulates. This cyclical activity is magnified through a continual real-time streaming directly behind the installation via a series of cameras and projectors, creating an inescapable re-presentation of the original installation.

For the duration of the exhibition, a qualified nurse will be present on site. Situated within the gallery itself, she will be on hand to take donations of blood from asylum seekers who are actively fighting for their legal right to domicile. Once supplied the blood is pumped directly through the entire body of the work and retained in adjacent pharmaceutical fridges.

At once the donors themselves become an active part of the circular process. Not only do they bear witness to their amalgamated blood flow within the autonomous mechanical body, they also physically manifest the sensitivity around the topical issues of identity, nationalism and the fight for basic human rights.

By adopting the Governmental symbol of Marianne, Andrei Molodkin uses a national figure to explore deeply contentious local, and global, issues. As the red blood pumps inside the work, both audience and participants are reminded that while capital continuously circulates internationally without impediment, the working class cannot move as freely.

Curated by Stéphane Chatry.