BIB (I-VI) 
Framed chomogenic prints
35 x 26 cm each
2021

The Bib series is based on the importance of the French tire manufacturer Michelin for the pro-natalist currents prevalent during World War II.¹ Michelin funded natalist groups such as the Alliance Nationale pour l’Accroissement de la Population Française. The character, Bibendum, perhaps better known as the Michelin Man, served as a megaphone for the government’s aggressive population policy. This historical narrative is incorporated in composite images, featuring photographs taken by the artist, combined with 3D-renderings of the Bib character. Captions suggestively spoken or thought by the figures, invoke self-reflective ruminations around reproduction, life and mortality.

¹ Natalism, understood as a doctrine that advocates political measures to achieve a higher birth rate.

Sources

Harp, S.L. (2001). Marketing Michelin: advertising and cultural identity in twentieth-century France. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.