Casina

From the Occitan word cahute, a distant relative of casino, Casina is the meeting point of their shared interest in games and the aesthetics of playful objects, their history, their handling and use. They present a collection of installations, volumes, texts and drawings created by two or four hands, addressing different aspects of games, such as models, decor, storage systems and social exchanges. Their worlds meet and combine, opening up a horizon of infinite forms and reflections on play, a process whose outcome is unpredictable.

The Casina exhibition is a place for interaction and exchange where the public is invited to play with their eyes, hands and words. Weekly play sessions are organised where artists are present to accompany the public and play. Life will take hold, to the rhythm of the movements of the pieces being moved, played with, arranged and disturbed. The potential for movement is not limited to the objects themselves, but also encompasses the viewer by constantly challenging their gaze. The gaze and action converge between sequences of perceptions, thoughts, feelings, interactions, imagined or executed movements. It is the possible relationships between the top view and the side view that establish spaces of possibility between the players, the different elements and the playing field. […]

Renaud Héléna presents recent works in which formal exploration is pushed beyond the framework of the chessboard into the realm of abstraction, treating the medium as sculptural material. They will propose a set of rules of play in order to multiply the possibilities of perspective and experience around their works. Unlike a casino, this is not about gambling, competition or the vanity of a reward, but rather a project of co-construction, relationships of trust, care and responsibility around works that have become social objects.


Translated extract from the press release for the duo show