Point, ligne, particules

The video « Point, ligne, particules » shows a performance in which the artist revisits the principles of formal composition, outlined by Wassily Kandinsky in his work entitled « Point and Line to Plane » (1926). In this book Kandinsky defines the line as the result of a combination of: a point in movement and the expression of the force of an action. Fayçal Baghriche illustrates Kandinsky’s concept by choosing a train as a surface. At the moment the train departs, the artist begins to spray a point on the wagon’s surface by simply pressing down on the spray-can’s valve. The resulting point becomes a line as soon as the train accelerates. Finally, the line disappears as the train reaches a speed at which the paint can no longer adhere to its surface. Herewith the artist’s meagre intervention reduces the train to its simple form and its elementary speed.