Armand Yerly - Elles se rendent pas comtes – Ausstellung in Zürich

This exhibition focuses on the series of photos
“Elles se rendent pas compte“ with its eclectic,
kinetic/motorized, selfcreated machines -
alongside another series of works which goes by
the title of “Objects“.

The artist’s sculptures imitate, in a tactile way,
specific intimate interpersonal interactions such as
beating, caressing, congratulating and other
activities that need two people or the above-
mentioned kind of machine to be enacted.

The title simultaneously explains and underscores
the functional and poetic value of any and every
installation. With its use of fabrics and its structure,
“Petting Machine“, for instance, puts the viewer in
the mood for cuddling, whilst just looking at its
many feathers make viewers of the sculpture
“Cheering up device for the most frustrated“ burst
out laughing. This imbues the artist‘s creations with
an ironic and sometimes humorous component,
inviting viewers to consider the subject of “human”
emotions and contact.
Another peculiarity of these works is the fact that
after construction they are photographed once -
and then destroyed. This means that in each case
only the photography or the original sculpture
exists.

„Objects“ - With this series of works, consisting of
black-and-white photographs of individual objects
from the Swiss countryside, Yerly invites us to go in
search of the strange beauty that has developed
from the unintentional clash between natural
evolution and industrial production. His
photographs present “quasi-objects” that have been
created neither completely naturally nor entirely by
human hand. The artist’s use of black and white
and the frontal view underscore their sculptural
quality. Here, the artist presents to us a wonderful
set of photographs containing a symbiosis of man
and nature, joined together to produce a new
experience of meaning.

Armand Yerly (*1984, CH) studied at ECAL/École
cantonale d´art de Lausanne. Winner of the 16. vfg
Young talents photography award 2012. Exhibition
„Seleciton 2012“ at the Photoforum PasquArt, Biel.
He lives and works in Switzerland.