Public Art

Chance and anti-chance, Yi Jing, inspired this artistic project for the new French Embassy in Beijing; the work of Jean-Bernard Metais, which focuses on the expressions "CREATE YOURSELF IN THE WORLD, RECREATE THE WORLD". After having written these words seven times on a sheet of paper, the artist repositioned each letter in the room's oval space in accordance with the sequence it was drawn in Yi Jing. The apparently random order of the letters here forms "Chance and Anti-chance". The letters become activated from time to time by light, giving a magnetic and poetic reading of the work. As with any divinatory system, the task of "Yi Jing" is to reassure the human being facing their future while keeping all possibilities in mind; it is an open system yet one that operates within strict, perpetually repeatable constraints. Other relationships, like the die in Mallarmé's famous poem "A throw of the die will never abolish chance" - also animate the spirit of this work for the French chancellery in Beijing. This artistic reflection also highlights two concepts known to the Eastern and Western worlds, dual and unitary thought, the diversity and universality of human thought, as well as the quite prosaic question "who is at the origin of whom". (Skimao 2010)

The letters given by the Yi Jing have been placed in a specific order of appearance on the screen; the number of the Yi Jing card drawn indicates which letter to take. The Chinese Yi Jing game comprises 64 cards, the cards being numbered from 1 to 64 each with its own hexagram. Drawing the cards stops as soon as there are no more letters to be placed on the screen of the work. (JB Métais 2010)

The new French Embassy in Beijing was designed by the architect Alain Sarfati.

The artwork "CREATE YOURSELF IN THE WORLD, RECREATE THE WORLD" by Jean-Bernard Métais will be inaugurated on March 2011.

More information, please visit:

http://www.jbmetais.com