The jumper shop

A gender opera by Fabienne Audéoud

Komplot, Brussels : 18th-19th June 2021 (3 to 9pm)

4 rue Pierre Semard, Sète : 3rd July – 25th August 2021 (opening from 3 to 9pm on the 3rd)

Art-o-rama, Marseille : 27th- 29th August 2021 (preview from 2pm on the 27th, check conditions online)

The Jumper Shop (‘le magasin de pulls’) is an exhibition, a shop and an opera.

The plot is based on Baudelaire’s flaneur turning into a woman doing her shopping.

The shop’s soundtrack is written by Fabienne Audéoud. It turns the space into a stage, while viewers become actors and/or clients.

The garments on sale are navy blue and brown jumpers. They are basics or classics representing quality and a timeless ‘bourgeois’ good taste. Navy blue is one of the colours of power (police, gendarmerie, marine and business) and therefore looks good on everybody. Brown jumpers require a brand and its narrative to become trendy. The lighter the colour, the more bourgeois it becomes : the nude has its nuances.

The cardigans, jumpers and sweaters on display are (more or less) pre-loved, worn out, shrunk by the washing machine, with large and small holes and of different qualities. Most of them come from les Puces de Montreuil, a flea market in the suburb of Paris soon to be taken down for Olympic sport competitions.

They operate as performative markers, like the French verb  porter’ taking on different meanings depending on context: ‘porter un message’ (to convey a message), ‘porter le nom de son père ou de son mari’ (to take one’s father or husband name), ‘porter une charge’ (to carry a burden), ‘porter sa croix’ (to bear one’s cross), ‘porter un personnage à l’écran’ (to perform, to embody) ‘porter un coup’ (to strike). ‘Une voix qui porte’ is a voice that carries well.

You will be able to buy one (or more) and take a polaroïd selfie (as documentation).

‘Art is a matter of choice’ as André Gide* had it. *cynical French literary reference Productions, theoretical practices, critical statements, calls for projects, catalogues of proposals for juries to choose from… Aren’t we spoiled for choice? An embarrassment of riches faced by other cultural and social practices, such as online meetings and/or outrage.

At Komplot, for the closing of their Andelecht space (Belgium), the shop will be reduced to an exhibition format. In Sète (South of France), it’s hot in the summer, but don’t let it put you off, come and have a browse. It is advised to check opening times online as everybody is either at the beach or having a nap during the day.

At the Art-o-rama art fair in Marseille (publishing section with Komplot), it will sell like hot cakes (or not).

This project was made possible by a grant from Mécènes du Sud (Montpellier-Sète) and from CNAP and a recording residency at Confort Moderne (Poitiers).

info/contact: fabienneaudeoud.com and Instagram.