“Der Betrunkene.

Kunstverein, Freiburg. 2004

In 2004, Gilles Barbier began one of his most prolific Production Machines: the “Black Drawings”. He has only been working on this series for a few years, but already has a sufficient number of them to be able to consider their mode of display. For “Der Betrunkene”, at the Kunstverein Freiburg (curated by Dorothea Strauss), he proposed arranging them in two rows facing each other. The diptychs fit naturally into this order, which recalls the narrative form, particularly that of the comic strip, that he wishes to invoke. The idea of the “Black Box” was not yet born, but Gilles Barbier was already looking towards combinatorial devices allowing multiple arrangements within a given unit.

The “Drunkard”, which gives the exhibition its title, had only been exhibited once, four years earlier, at the Centre Georges Pompidou for Jour de Fête (Festive Day). In the meantime, Gilles Barbier has reworked it, “boosted” it! He replaced the dummy crows and rats with stuffed animals. He added a large number of objects, increased its height and added the rain of feathers (the same white feathers found in Le Pied Tendre – Tenderfoot)… In the former swimming pool of the German Art Centre, at the bottom of the hole, Der Betrunkene finds a choice setting.