ANTHROPISED LANDSCAPES
Future Rust, Future Dust (2016 - )Modern Nasca (2021)
Frontière (In)visible (2023 - )
Le Canal des Possibles (2023 - 203X)
ARISO (2023 - )
STANDARDISED LANDSCAPES
Age of Kitsch (2019 - 2022)A l’orée des champs (2020 - 2024)
A volonté (2021 - )
Heterotopia (2021)
Same Same But Different (2023 - )
HORS-SERIES
Graphic Architecture (2012 - 2016)Varosha (2022)
PRINTS
ABOUT
A Volonté
2021 - ongoing
Who hasn't bitten into a shrimp chip before filling
their plate abundantly at the huge buffet. Nems, sushi, spring rolls, pink
shrimp, fried squid, caramel chicken, Thai beef, Cantonese rice, fries, tarts,
and other ice creams jostle elbows next to the wok stand, now an essential part
of "Asian" or "Chinese" all-you-can-eat buffets. As popular
as they are criticized, they are the choice of many French people, whether it's
for a work lunch break or with family during shopping weekend.
Sometimes going up to disproportionate sizes of 400 seats or more, and mainly
located on the outskirts of cities, along highways, in commercial and
industrial areas, these restaurants are part of these landscapes of "shoe
boxes", dubbed "ugly France".
Alongside other major brands such as McDonald's, Courtepaille, Buffalo Grill,
Léon de Bruxelles, La Criée, whose visual identity is immediately - and from a
distance - recognizable, they stand out with an "orientalist"
decorative touch, bordering on kitsch, the use of neon lights of all colors,
and names that evoke travel, dreams, and exoticism.
Calling themselves "Asian" or "Chinese", they mainly offer
a mixture of Asian cuisines (China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam...), often
fused with Western products, in order to best meet the expectations of French
customers. In this way, these all-you-can-eat buffets themselves contribute to
maintaining stereotypes and ignorance of French people towards the cuisine of
the continent. Can you imagine saying one day that you would go to eat in a
"European" restaurant?!
Thus, almost imperceptibly, they perpetuate certain clichés, which are opposed
by restaurants in large urban centers, each of which offers a facet of the
culinary diversity of the continent. The reviews left on these restaurants also
convey prejudices and stereotypes, which go beyond the simple sphere of food.
Travelling through the Paris region, dotted with countless all-you-can-eat
buffets, this photographic work takes a neutral look at these restaurants,
revealing a certain uniqueness of form and symbolism that almost gives them a
place of their own alongside the famous brands.