{"id":174,"date":"2019-10-01T08:57:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T08:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/?p=174"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:57:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:57:29","slug":"treize-bis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/treize-bis\/","title":{"rendered":"THIRTEEN BIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

THIRTEEN BIS \u2013 IN YOUR EYES, THE REFLECTION OF ANOTHER WORLD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 2019 \u2013 1855 words <\/p>\n\n\n\n

COURSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you start working on the street?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before becoming Treize Bis, I was a visual artist. I started working in the street because I could no longer afford the rent on my studio in Montreuil. Meeting my neighbor at the time, who lived at number 13bis, was a turning point. We talked a lot before gradually getting into collage. Since I was already very interested in engravings, anatomical drawings, and cabinets of curiosities, we immediately gravitated towards those themes. The street offered me the opportunity to resume my creative work without the constraints of space, except for the cutting, which we did with our neighbors, without any pretension, guided by desire and the desire to have fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was this use of old images also part of your work as a visual artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. As a visual artist, I created light boxes and worked extensively on human anatomy, but always through drawing, washes (diluted India ink), and painting\u2014very rarely collage. It couldn't really be exhibited anymore because it has a very different identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You describe your interventions as poetic acts? Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting art in the street is a reprehensible and therefore political act, but I emphasize the idea of the gesture, the performance. It is the act of pasting visual poetry on walls that becomes a poetic act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why choose anonymity?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my early days, people quickly started taking my picture and asking me questions that bothered me. They didn't talk to me about my work, or what I had done, but about who I was and what I represented. But that's not why I wanted to be noticed. I also absolutely wanted to control what was happening on Facebook. Today, I tell people who take my picture that I'm anonymous, that I don't want to be recognized. I emphasize that my work is enigmatic and surreal. Anonymity then becomes an extension of the mystery, preventing any interpretation or framework from being imposed. For a long time, I also didn't want to say why my artist name was Treize Bis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE CHOICE OF COLLAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why choose collage as the medium?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I'm working on a project involving the recovery of images, which I find incredibly inspiring: enlarging them, removing them from the context of the book, is already part of the process. Paper is a humble material that has always appealed to me because of its fragility. It was also a practical solution: we did the printing in my neighbor's office when everyone else had left, so we didn't need another workspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How important is it to you to act like a vandal?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like putting up posters in legal places, but the illegal aspect gives it a slightly punk, wild feel, a sense of power and freedom. It creates strong emotions. I'm an extremely sensitive person, so these moments are very emotionally intense for me. It's certain that if it were legal, the effect wouldn't be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you find a wall to place your collages on, or do you already have an image ready when you go to paste it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I measure a wall and take photos to plan a specific room. But for smaller jobs, I go out into the street and search, which can take time before I finally find a good spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you approach the ephemeral nature of your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poetically speaking, it's very powerful. At first, I thought the collage wouldn't damage the walls, which unfortunately isn't the case. The fact that my pieces disappear gives my work even more strength, because not everyone will be able to see them, and that makes them more precious, because they're rarer. Furthermore, it also reminds us of our own ephemeral nature. As a visual artist, I worked with traces and memory, and my collages are thus linked to this previous work, to these reflections on silhouette, support\/surface, or interior\/exterior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started by discovering the work of L\u00e9o & Pipo. When one of their silhouettes disappears, vestiges remain\u2014traces of paper and glue\u2014and the outlines lingering on certain walls evoke a ghostly presence, retaining a very strong emotional charge. Torn posters are also a source of inspiration. When you're familiar with Jacques Villegl\u00e9, you end up seeing his work everywhere. There are many of his pieces in the metro corridors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, even though it adds strength to the collages, it's still upsetting to see them torn down the very next morning. So we had to learn to manage this emotional aspect, as well as the risks of them being torn down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OLD PHOTOGRAPHS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you search for your images based on the theme you wish to address, or do you create them from a pre-existing photo library?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My work is similar to using a sampler: I search for images, which become my palette. I'm starting to build up a nice collection of images, and I usually work this way, using pre-existing materials. When I have commissions, I buy high-resolution images. However, most of the time I find them in books or hunt for old photos at flea markets. I then undertake a lengthy scanning process, which is the most tedious part. I sort them on the computer, dividing them into different categories: nudes, plants, anatomy, landscapes, etc. Finally, I look for an image that inspires me and try to compose with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you doing this scanning work for reasons of scale or to have the possibility of reusing the images thus found?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both. Scanning is essential for archiving my source material, which I sometimes use in its entirety or just to extract a portion of the image. I often reuse engravings that wouldn't serve the same purpose in other contexts. I rarely use the original images, although I have for a few gallery pieces, but it's quite difficult for me because I don't want to damage the original book. Furthermore, the question of scale is crucial for my street art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By recomposing a new image, you will transform its meaning: it is indeed your creations \u2013 and not the original images \u2013 that give off a surreal atmosphere.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That's right. Max Ernst's collages are an inspiration that I see reflected in my work, even though he used the original images. Like him, I don't seek beauty, but rather the strange. I like to disturb, to disrupt the eye and the flow of perception in order to create unease and provoke questions in people. I don't work exclusively in a morbid or trashy register, even though I do a lot of work with death and eroticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question of multiples is always present in the work of street artists. What is your perspective on the possibility of reproducing the same images multiple times in the street?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I'm not into the idea of stickers. Except for the Woman with butterflies<\/em>, as well as the Blind song of the moths<\/em>, I don't often paste my work multiple times. Indeed, collage is an in situ practice, and the creation takes on its full meaning in the street, carried by the visual impact of the chosen wall. Since I work with Photoshop, I can reuse my images, but I'm careful not to become a trademark, a "product" of street art. I'm not trying to invade the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I make a point of creating something new each time. But I have images that are a shame to use only once, because they can work in several pieces by changing their orientation. What's great about collage is that, in a way, everything works. Mixing images always yields something, but does the result reflect who I am? I search for what resonates most with me, which sometimes comes together in a few seconds, sometimes in a day. Besides, an image can look great in one place and not in another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The "eyes" are an exception in this discourse, as they've become a kind of trademark, which I even allow people to download on Facebook. They can reclaim them and allow Treize Bis to travel the world. It's a game of glances between the public, the street, and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTOGRAPHY AND MEMORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography occupies a very special place in your work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like using a filter, which has become a kind of gimmick, and it's allowed me to develop a visual identity, but it happened somewhat by chance, like my choice of anonymity. The collage is finished once it's in the street, and the photograph becomes a work of art in its own right. It's not a testimony because it doesn't seek to provide an objective account. In fact, I embellish it through the use of black and white, which adds an extra layer of poetry to which I'm attached. This work with the image is unique to each artist, and I've sometimes discussed it with Philippe H\u00e9rard, who prefers documentary photography to artistic photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are also interested in collective memory.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I work with both collective memory and the memory of a photographic image. While not necessarily "collective," these old black and white photographs already refer to the past, evoking a certain nostalgia and creating a sense of romanticism. When I use images of women, men, or children, these are people who existed, to whom I, in a way, bring back to life. The notion of collective memory also finds its place through the use of old engravings or works by great masters. It's interesting to revive these figures, sometimes forgotten by the public. Indeed, only a portion of the population normally has access to this memory. So I try to create a good sample by recomposing a work, and not simply by reproducing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disappearance of these collages raises questions about memory in the absence of images.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remnants of Leo & Pipo perfectly reflect this. Collage leads to memory, to remembrance, to the ephemeral, but it is then a vanished image. I can also deliberately remove an element, like a face, to evoke the idea of the absent image. I like broken Greek sculptures, missing a limb. This creates a poetry of time gone by, a fragility that deeply moves me. For a work to be powerful, it's not necessary to say everything: in this respect, I appreciate the effect of sketches.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TREIZE BIS – DANS TES YEUX, LE REFLET D\u2019UN AUTRE MONDE octobre 2019 – 1855 mots  PARCOURS Comment as-tu commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 travailler dans la rue ? Avant d\u2019\u00eatre Treize Bis j\u2019\u00e9tais artiste plasticien. Je me suis mis \u00e0 travailler dans la rue car je ne pouvais plus payer le loyer de mon atelier de Montreuil. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}