Unity in diversity, the local that becomes an expression of the global are principles found in the research and artistic practice of Jean-Christophe Norman. Ulysses: A Long Way refers to the work of James Joyce, which represents the universality of aspirations and the human soul. In the streets of Trieste, an emblematic city for the writer’s biography, Norman rewrites Joyce’s Ulysses with chalk in a single continuous line; after Marseilles, Tokyo, Phnom Penh, Gdansk and Paris, Norman presents his work in the Italian city that hosted the Irish writer for 11 years.
The pavements of the city become the parchment for a performance that seems to translate physically the flow of consciousness. According to Norman, in fact, writing is never definitive but is constituted by a vital flux that crosses us in a neverending progress.
Jean-Christophe Norman (1964, born in Besançon, lives and works in Marseille). Performer and visual artist, he has been making works based on repetition, walking and writing for more than 10 years, interested in creating spaces and enhancing its experience. He exhibited and realized performances at Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands; FRAC PACA, Marseille, MAC/VAL, Vitry, France; Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel, Switzerland.