Events
Events
Almost three quarters of a century. It is little under stars, but it is a lot on the soles of the old shoes I like. Nevertheless it is not enough to embrace the world as we embrace a well cut bundle of sticks. It is so little as my shade under a moon sky. But it is enough to have learnt the fates of the animals of my quality. To have lived so little time, exactly now, it was just rather short to have had the impression to be happy and just too long to avoid crossing the hatred. It found me. As she found other ones. I mean I crossed the hatred of an other one. Accidentally, in the bend of a road, a building. Hate is said to be contagious. Fortunately I was well vaccinated. These three quarters of a century were short enough to make me avoid the terrors of war. They were long enough to bring me the unbearable stench of wars elsewhere. They have been too short for me to drink history to my heart's content. They were long enough for me to read long snippets. History. History is the story of others. The ones that look like me. A little, a lot or not really. That's the mystery. Those who have gone elsewhere by chance, as I remain here. Those who change the world with a word, with a snap of the finger, with a signature. Those who decide on the work of others. The work of millions of people. But who are attached to their own singular freedom. Strange paradox. Those who decide on the death of others but who are terribly attached to their own life. Another strange paradox. But what fascinations. So many questions arise from the difficulty of leading men. To lead them where? Where? I have met too few drivers to dwell on this theme. These few decades have also allowed me to meet other individuals who fight to protect their lives and preserve their freedom. For it must be said, the freedom of the modest human is under surveillance, under morphine. Perhaps the freedom of others, those in charge, is in no better condition. But it is experienced differently. At least it seems to me. In fact, the picture of freedom is different in everyone's head. Those who lead the world have understood this. Freedom without control is disorder. And this potential disorder is detrimental to megalo-affairism, ego-personal, commercial or military. Our various Drivers are therefore striving, in a great concern for order, to constantly redraw the contours of the freedom of those who do not drive. There is resistance. Struggles. With or without brutality, brutality being reserved by law for those who drive. The balance of the violence of individuals who break down added to that of the crowds who do not let themselves be driven is not comparable. All the more so as the tool of repression, technical, regulatory and mental, is constantly being perfected. Thus, over time, disappearances, tortures, crimes, murders, massacres, destruction of entire landscapes, pollution of the seas have become the almost exclusive domain of today's leaders. But let us not dream, the participation of the ordinary inhabitant in this disorder is far from being null. Certainly, his individual presence in the statistics is insignificant, but when he is moved or manipulated in mass, it is another matter. The volcano of this injustice, violence, unnecessary suffering and premature death, resurfaces again and again here and there, awakened by leaders, big or small, old-timers or newcomers, who manipulate myths or are manipulated by them. Myths which are undoubtedly the property of the whole of humanity. It is enough to observe, to hear and to guess. The following drawings evoke events that touched me. I learned about the oldest ones from my father's neighbors who left for Indochina, from cousins who left for Algeria, from my father himself, who miraculously came back from the bombings in Hamburg, and from my mother, whose family home had been transformed into a local Wehrmacht headquarters. My drawings also evoke facts heard on the radio in my childhood, then read in the newspaper, then learned at school, then "lived" on television and today come to me through the web. I have added some tiny personal or ordinary events which, in my mind, are not the least. For each of these facts I ask myself the question of my responsibility, the responsibility of the actors, the responsibility of the witnesses and the immense responsibility of those who know. Three quarters of a century was enough for this question to become haunting and it was too short to have a clear answer. In any case, it was too short to see, from my miraculously protected garden during all this time, the clement sky rising and pushing away from the Earth this deluge of ferocity of the human species and of those who lead it. T. M.
1899, London, (GB), Publishing a good book is also an "event",
image 2150, Heart of the darkness,
original format 900 x 675 mm, T.M. 2020.
On my mantelpiece, small black lead figurines, perhaps Malian, remind me of this book by Joseph Conrad. Do not forget, they say. Joseph Conrad's text, divided into three parts, was first published in London in Blackwood's Magazine in February, March and April 1899.
!
1944, Arromanches (Calvados, France),
image 1226, Old harbor,
original format 1000 x 500 mm, T.M. 2017-2018.
The day after June 6, 1944, the allies began the construction of two artificial ports, including this one in front of Arromanches. We can still see the "blockships", the boats voluntarily sunk to serve as breakwaters.
image 3160, Jetty towards the memorial of the people raid at Dec,14,1943 in Nantua.
150 men are deported, including college students arrested in their school.
original format 500 x 300 mm, photograph T.M. 2017,01,26.
1949, Nantua (Ain, France),
image 1218, About the war once more,
original format 1200 x 750 mm, T.M. 2015-18-20.
In the background, a moving monument to 1939-45 deportees of Louis Leygue, inaugurated on November 6, 1949 in Nantua (Ain).
1949, Nantua (Ain, France),
image 1221, Deep sleep,
original format 1000 x 900 mm, T.M. 2017-2018.
Nantua, every time I pass by here, I take the time for a moment of silence for the memory of the unfortunate people evoked by your impressive monument
1968, Mexico (Mexico),
image 1227, Olympic parade in my kitchen,
original format 1000 x 700 mm, T.M. 2018.
Spectacular protest by athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos on October 16, 1968 on the podium at the Olympic Summer Games in Mexico City.
1987, Everywhere in France,
image 1276, Remember these Events, magazines 1987,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2018.
Interesting long-term information is well hidden in this hundred of magazines of the year 1987.
1989, Berlin (Germany),
image 1222, Die verschwundene Mauer, 1989-11-09,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2017-2018.
Today a roller race crosses the tracks of this wall symbol of the "Cold War".
1995, Tel-Aviv (Israel),
image 2233, Twenty years after Tel Aviv, Nov-04 1995,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2016-2020.
The Oslo Accords signed at the White House (Washington, Sept 09 1993) between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in the presence of Bill Clinton triggered the anger of Israeli Jewish extremists. One of them committed the murder after a long period of premeditation.
2001, Khvajeh Baha od Din (Afghanistan),
image 1229, Unpunished murder,
original format 900 x 900 mm, T.M. 2016-2018.
Tajik Ahmed Shah Massoud, also known as "Commander" Massoud, who was resisting Russian attacks on Afghanistan, was the victim of a suicide bombing on September 9, 2001 as he became a credible figure to exercise power in Kabul. The perpetrators of the murder, Al Qaeda or Talibans, considered him to be the bearer of American domination in Afghanistan. The explosion that killed him was triggered by a camera bomb wielded by two fake journalists.
2001, Khvajeh Baha od Din (Afghanistan),
image 1369, Unpunished murder, detail of image 1229, event of Sept 9 2001 in Afghanistan,
original format 450 x 300 mm, T.M. 2018.
2003, Evian-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie, France) and Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France),
1220, ATTAC as it is written,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2016.
Demonstration in Lons-le-Saunier on the occasion of the G8 in Evian-les-Bains on 1-3 June 2003 (very heckled).
2006, London (GB),
image 1251, State crime in 2006 CY,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M 2018.
Alexandre Litvinenko, a former member of the Russian Special Services (FSB) died on 23 November 2006, poisoned with polonium 210 by two FSB agents. The assassins, perfectly identified, Andreï LugovoÏ and Dmitri Kovtoun, protected by Vladimir Putin, have never been condemned. Having left Russia and then working for the British services, Litvinenko was considered by the Kremlin to be a dangerous traitor because he was informed.
2012, Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France),
image 3243, Foolled contractor, unexpected protestor, Oct-04 2012,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
A man standing in front of his bank was protesting against banking methods that have damaged his business. His staging was theatrical. An unexpected "one man show" in the street.
2013, Istanbul (Turkey),
image 1228, People against power,
original format 900 x 900 mm, T.M. 2018.
Massive demonstration on Taksim Square in Istanbul on July 3, 2013 against a project of denaturation of this sector of the city.
2016, Briod (Jura, France),
image 1547, Knowledge transmission, March 13 2016,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2019.
In the icy wind, an archaeologist explains the landscape to an attentive audience that imagines summers of yesteryear. Every lesson that a teacher gives to a student for the sole knowledge is an event.
2016, Dijon (Côte-d'Or, France),
image 1219, Agreement of criminals,
original format 700 x 700 mm, T.M. 2017.
Allusion to tourist projects that are destructive and contemptuous of the surrounding populations. In Poligny (Jura), inhabitants are fighting a captive tourism project initiated by the Pierre-et-Vacances firm, based on the disguised misappropriation of public money and the passive corruption of elected officials
2016, Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France),
image 1316, People_s anger,
original format 900 x 900 mm, T.M 2018-2020.
In France, on November 16, 2016, a long protest against the government began. In every city, thousands of people occupied squares and traffic circles to explain that they they wanted to be fully respected by the authorities. These demonstrations were repeated almost every weekend for 3 years. In March 2020, the alert at Covid 19, which emptied the streets and squares by authoritarian decree of the central government, brought this popular demonstration to a halt.
2016, Dijon (Côte-d'Or, France),
image 3242, Protestors against a harmful project, Jun-19 2016,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
Mass tourism is built at the expense of the modest neighborhood. Over time, the modest inhabitants are irrevocably displaced. The history of their families is also erased. They know it. They also know other things about the economic world that exploits them, keeps them in consumer survival and crushes them. They protest.
2016, Nice (Alpes-Maritimes, France),
image 1225, Murder on the Promenade, Nice July-14 2016,
original format 1200 x 900 mm, T.M. 2018-2020.
Bouquet to the victims of this almost unstoppable murderous attack.
2017, Clairvaux-les-Lacs (Jura, France),
image 1223, Discontented crowd, Feb-18 2017,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2017-2018.
Contested passage of the French political leader Marine Le Pen to Clairvaux-les-Lacs (Jura) during the presidential campaign.
2017, Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France),
image 1318, Local discussion, Sept 25, 2017,
original format 2000 x 2000 mm, T.M. 2020.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the central government has been promoting the installation of thousands of wind turbines on French territory. That day, in Lons-le-Saunier, experts had come to explain the impact of wind turbines on their environment to an audience half convinced.
2017, Beijing (China),
image 1224, Human rules, Polit Buro China Oct-18 2017,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2017-2018.
Bolting of the launch ramp of the China rocket in Beijing. Will the others have enough fuel?
2018, Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France),
image 1217, A philosoph is speaking to the city,
original format 900 x 400 mm, T.M. 2018.
The experimental and pacifist philosopher Pierre Rabhi gave a lecture in the beautiful hall of the 19th theater of the city.
2019, Paris (France),
image 1765, Iron Crown for Our Lady,
original format 1200 x 900 mm, T.M. 2019.
Inertie of main cities, those who run them and those who administer them! On that day (April 15, 2019), the first proper fire hose took a long time to arrive. I won't say anything about the time it took for the next one to arrive, nor about what happened afterwards.
2019, UNHCR Geneva (Swiss),
image 1397, Roaming emigrants,
original format 1200 x 900 mm, T.M. 2016-2019.
Approximately 1% of the world's population, or nearly 80 million people, is brutally displaced due to famine or war. 35 million of them emigrate outside their country. More than 16 million come from only 5 countries: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar (ex Burma). Source: UNHCR (The UN refugee Agency) 2020, figures for 2019.
2020, Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France),
image 3241, Protestors against a liberticidal project, Dec-12 2020,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
The French-style centralization, the caste-fabricating electoral system and the unbridled information spilled by the invisible media, wear down the credibility of the central Parisian power. People no longer believe in their leaders. Not thinking for a second of questioning these harmful mechanisms, the rulers try to regain control over information that is beyond them. Here, challenging a law article that limits the right to report in protest demonstrations.
2021, Washington (USA),
image 3244, Out of a nightmare, (Jan-21 2021),
original format 900 x 450 mm, T.M. 2021.
If Donald, the outgoing US President, were the only dangerous egomaniac at the head of a government, we could devote ourselves to some reckless recovery. Alas, there are others. After this nightmare, there are still those to come, all in purple.
(Tomorrow), Coldre cemetery (Briod, Jura, France),
image 1543, The last event, (tomorrow),
original format 900 x 900 mm, T.M. 2019.
I suspect that the last event in my life will be my demise. For you I do not know.
2647, Israel-Gaza,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
Without comments (useless), see too the serie 2607-2646 "The war today".
2648, Mortal chess game,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
In the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Turkey played a key military role while Russia kept score by preparing its return for a long time.
2649, Worldwide panic,
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
The outbreak of the SARS-2-Covid 19 Corona virus was accompanied by an unprecedented mobilization of governments. This caused a mental panic in all developed countries and a mobilization of pharmaceutical laboratories. The city of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, which hosts a high-level laboratory specialized in the study of corona viruses, seems to have been at the origin of this pandemic. However, neither the laboratory nor the Chinese authorities have agreed to provide background information to the World Health Organization.
3159, Memorial 1914-1918, Laussonne (Haute-Loire, France)
original format 500 x 350 mm, T.M. 2010.
Plaque in the church of Laussonne (Haute-Loire, France) to soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918). The portraits of the men are lined up in medallions, most of which are well preserved. Moving object. Photograph of August 20, 2010. Note that the 8th medallion of the fourth row is falling. In 2016 another photographer (Mossot, in Wikimedia) posted a complete photograph of this plaque (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laussonne_-_Monument_auxmorts-2.JPG). We notice that the medal has disappeared.
2650, Apocalypse, chapitre 1
original format 900 x 600 mm, T.M. 2021.
Image built from a) a magnificent bronze whose reference I have lost, b) the plaque to the soldiers of the village of Laussonne (Haute-Loire, image 3159) and c) the lists at the entrance of the Interallied Memorial in Liège (Belgium, at the start of the monumental staircase that leads to the top of the hill of Cointe, architect of the ensemble: Jozef Smolderen). Wars do not really have borders, neither in space nor in time.
Events end.
