david mesguich presents sculpted woman amidst riots in nantes, france

ex-vandal, david mesguich — supported by backside gallery — created PRESSURE 1.2 in the hopes of self-analyzing past practices with his new life as a contemporary artist. despite success, user 79 holds true to his controversial, virtue-questioning style. this piece, a sculpted woman, debates concepts of control, beings, and spaces; throughout its creation he took artistically-necessary micro-vacations in the streets of nantes, filming riots.

all images courtesy of david mesguich / user79

after two weeks of construction and chaos and careful development of his hand-carved woman, mesguich abandoned her, thus, perhaps, giving birth to a living piece of art. the moment was fleeting; later that evening, mesguich returned, painted ‘user’ on the wall of a freight car, facing the sculpture; by the morning the car had left, and some days later, a storm put the 4 meter woman to rest.