After Service de Stéphane Barbier Bouvet

A selection of projects

Stéphane Barbier Bouvet’s way of approaching his subjects bears a resemblance to the methodology of the critic, the curator, the designer, and the sculptor. His work unfolds, simultaneously, as an application (of techniques and principles), a form of knowledge (of the history of design, art, and exhibitions), and a commentary (on our relation to the production, dissemination, and circulation of objects). Barbier Bouvet’s projects, whether they are the result of specific commissions or of propositions offered willingly to the purpose of a show, have a skillful tendency to oscillate between dilution and diffusion. They facilitate, unsettle, displace, or modify existing objects, conditions, and spaces, and more often than not they do so by relying on intuitive and organic principles rather than on conceptual protocols. Stéphane Barbier Bouvet’s services are regularly solicited by museums of art and design, galleries, and artists, as well as by schools, businesses, and the public sector. It is somewhat more unusual, however, for his work to be shown and treated like a full-blown language in its own right.