The octopus / my neighbour

From one octopus to another

The octopus had always haunted her. Among the many animal documentaries to be found on the web there are some that describe this animal as one of the most intelligent of marine life. In the human imagination, it is a very disturbing animal. Moreover she had sketched and then sculpted her into a somewhat bigoted woman, as if blocked: a somewhat elderly woman with legs pressed tightly together, in a long dress, sitting as if at mass, clinging to her handbag. She then had in mind the portrait of the wife of a President, maybe our neighbour, maybe also a heroine of Mauriac or even a Folcoche.… She seemed burdened by the weight of life, sad, not knowing how to smile, without tenderness or without love. So worrying. The production of a play (in collaboration with the Théâtre de l’orage) was the opportunity to create an actress on tour appearing as far as the Massif of the Grande Chartreuse. Finally, she found her rightful place on the Côte d’Opale in Northern France, 200m from the sea (acquisition of the Museum of Berck 2015). The last portrayal of this animal « Sur la plage de Berck », sculpture created for the exhibition « Bêtes à Musée », reversed the case. She has become the friend of a little girl: in bronze she sits on a throne on a terrace looking towards Antwerp. From animal to human, then from human to animal: from one octopus to another, from fear to encounter.