Posted yesterday at 6:30 a.m.
Even if the idea for this book comes from current events, misconduct and attacks in the artistic world, Jérémie McEwen wanted to broaden the reflection without minimizing the suffering caused by reprehensible acts. To do this, the philosophy teacher, essayist and columnist brought together eight people he admires from different backgrounds: host Rebecca Makonnen, singer Safia Nolin and actors Alexandre Goyette and Marie-Ève Trudel, in particular.
“I like to choose a debate and invent different fields of reflection. There is a unity of purpose without the book being redundant. I am happy with the result. I like to work while thinking in pleasure. I have the impression that the book touches on certain truths. »
Before receiving the texts from his collaborators, Jérémie McEwen had written his own chapter entitled The art of timewhere he talks about both Michèle Richard and Dany Laferrière, about the distance between private life and public life.
PHOTO MORGANE SHOCK, THE PRESS
Jeremiah McEwen
We always want to see what is hidden behind the facade of the artists. Idealized stars replace religious figures. But beyond their beatification, it’s really the media-arts encounter that interests me. Since the 1970s, the identity of the person and his art have been made into a media whole.
Jeremiah McEwen
The young McEwen saw his father, Jean, work and paint as a hermit. It’s a pattern he doesn’t want to repeat. Art for art’s sake, very little for him. He prefers to spread ideas to as many people as possible.
“I embarked on the production since I’m leaving books, but I’m starting to question myself. It seems that if you don’t follow the rhythm, even in the artistic world, it doesn’t work in the long term. I’m betting that it’s possible to work on both counts. »
Intimate points of view
“I really liked the fact that Rebecca Makonnen didn’t fall into the cancel culture in his text. She’s not against Michael Jackson songs playing in a public place, but at the same time, she can’t help but think about his problematic behaviors either. »
The Radio-Canada host writes: “I want to live in a society in which we believe in rehabilitation, but in which actions and reproachful words have consequences. »
Jérémie McEwen wanted to delve into the complexity of the subject with texts going in several directions. Moreover, he wants the public to read the words of Safia Nolin with an open mind. The singer delivers a moving text on her personal fight towards artistic recognition.
She tells us how we can be torn by what we project externally and live internally, how she ends up separating the various aspects of her life. She puts her heart on the table.
Jérémie McEwen on Safia Nolin
Ditto for Alexandre Goyette’s text on the course of his only play, King Dave, which was a huge success. Jérémie McEwen sees in it an important document that describes from the inside a particular creative path.
Identify
The essayist also conducted an interview with visual artist and filmmaker Caroline Monnet about Aboriginal identity and art.
“When we talk about her, we always think of her mixed identity. She claims it. But at the same time, she likes to be approached for something other than that. Identity is not the end point of an artistic production. Art is an exploration, not just of the self. »
The actress Marie-Ève Trudel signs an amusing dialogue between an artist and his unborn work on the subject of the funnel that has blocked theatrical programming for several years due to the pandemic. “It’s the long artistic COVID,” notes Jérémie McEwen.
The text by writer Gabriel Cholette addresses the vagueness of desire and sexual orientation in a text that is part personal story, part essay.
“Gabriel demonstrates such passion for getting to the bottom of things and adding color to his thoughts. When you take the trouble to read it, you notice the depth, the subtlety, the sincerity. »
Literature professor Eftihia Mihelakis, for her part, has written a text which has nothing theoretical about it. “I talk like I spit,” she says. “I was shaken because she’s a friend and I learned things about her,” says Jérémie McEwen. It also raises questions of identity and the expectations that this provokes. »
Speaking of aggression and abuse from a literary point of view, the poet Laurie Bédard “brings the book down,” Jérémie McEwen finally believes, echoing Rebecca’s text. His point of view is important”.
We will therefore leave the last word to this author: “When we reduce an artist to his production or, conversely, a production to the image we have of the artist, we deprive ourselves of understanding the complexity. »
The artist and his work
Collective under the direction of Jérémie McEwen
X Y Z
184 pages