If you see a cloud piled up with white balloons, it must be the work of artist Charles Pétillon. White balloons of different sizes are like bubbles, like clouds, that is, indoors, like touching the sky.

Charles Pétillon (1973) is a French photographer and installation artist. He is famous for his public installation works of a large number of white balloons. In 2015, the large public art installation in the building of Covent Garden market in London attracted worldwide attention. In London, 100000 white balloons are used to create a frightening large-scale installation art 'heartbeat', in addition to the metaphor that this is the center of London; It also symbolizes the shocked and unspeakable visual feeling of everyone close to art. Every heartbeat is an admiration for art.

These temporary artistic 'intervention' and 'invasion' look like huge and fragile clouds, which have changed the way people look at space. Full of white balloons is his symbol. He often arranges his works of art in unexpected places. He hopes to use white balloons to remind people to really pay attention to things that "they see every day but don't pay much attention to".

As a photographer, Charles Pétillon has worked with many well-known fashion brands in the past, such as commercial photography of new brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Cartier, chanel and Armani. Compared with the flashy dignity of the fashion industry, Charles Pétillon's works of art are more loyal to the subjective ideology. He has also published a series of installation art photography works "invasions" in China. Charles Pétillon uses hundreds of white balloons to fill the abandoned and dilapidated old space and old cars, or on the basketball frame and slide. At first glance, the scene of dense and clustered balloons of different sizes "squeezing" out of windows and frames is mysterious and treacherous, but the pure white tone has a little childlike innocence and romance, forming an extremely strong and sharp visual contrast with the space.

"This series of artistic creation is a metaphor." Charles Pétillon said that different from the appearance spirit of fashion photography, what he wanted to convey was emotional fluctuations and poetic review“ I try to use these balloons to draw people's attention to these ordinary things that have no sense of existence; Because they do exist, but we turn a blind eye. "

"Time" is a major element behind creation. Charles Pétillon stacked white balloons in the old and decadent buildings and named them "Souvenirs de family", symbolizing the passing years and the lingering memories of childhood Carbon dioxide (CO2) implies severe global warming《 Invasions expresses his review of the past by means of illusory and abstract transformation. Maybe sensibility and even criticism are a way of looking at the world. The artist overlooks the contemporary society with his eyes. In addition to full of emotion, he is also a low cry of worry about the future. Both invasions and heartbeat show Charles's caring eyes on the natural environment, history, humanities and collective memories.

**"In any case, what is interesting is not the answer, but the way we question ourselves and the thinking process of answering questions."**

Q&A

theFOUND & Charles Pétillon

Q1:

Could you share with us why you choose white balloons as your main creative element ?

“The use of balloons is interesting because it contrasts delicacy and fragility of this medium with the roughness of the places of the installations. The balloon is a universal object, it is simple, accessible and we know its dimensions and proportions. The color white was essential from the start because it is neither rich nor poor and evokes rest and a form of tranquility. The whiteness reinforces the opposition, the contrast and the absurdity with the materials of the place of shooting. I consider the balloons a bit like my finger pointing at a detail or an element of the landscape, of the architecture that I photograph. ”

Q2：

Could you share with us where the inspiration comes from at the beginning of each project ?

“My inspiration comes mainly from everyday life, current events or developments in our society. I really like to highlight details of our daily environment that we no longer see thanks to a few white balloons. ”

Q3:

Do you think it is influenced by French romanticism and French freedom ?

“Your question is very interesting and it is very complicated to answer it. It's interesting, because it's your vision of my work, but I don't have that perception, especially for the romanticism that emerges from it. (and you're not the first person to tell me, so I guess my work must have a bit of romance in it) In the facts, I transcribe my ideas is instinctively, so it's complicated to answer this question objectively. What I am sure of is that it is very difficult to totally escape the culture of the region or country in which you live. ”

Q4:

What kind of emotional communication, experience or resonance do you want to produce with visitor or society through your works ?

“I am only asking questions about our existence, our way of life, our society and these evolutions. These questions are the function of my photographs. I do not seek and do not want to provide some form of response through my photographs, I wish to remain neutral. (even if I am not neutral by the simple fact of asking the question) But I want the viewer to experience the multiple possible answers. In any case, it is not the answers that are interesting, but the way in which we question ourselves and the thought process to answer them that is interesting. ”

Q5:

Could you share with us the origin and inspiration of this project ?

“Covent Garden’s market has been for a long time, the heart of this neighborhood. We have now forgotten (as a tourist) how much this district has influenced London on different aspects. It is for this reason that I wanted to create this methaphora with a huge heartbeat. ”

Q6:

Could you share with us the artists or enlighteners who have exerted the most influence on you ?

“Land art is certainly the art form that has had the most influence on my work with artists like Robert Smithson, Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt. Other artists have also had a lot of influence, such as Christo and Jeanne Claude etc….”

Q7:

In the future,What else do you want to try or explore?

“I am not talking about future projects or projects in progress when they are not fully realized. All I can tell you is I'm preparing new photographs which take up a lot of my time as well as new public installations which seem simple and yet very complex to achieve. ”