![]() “Sub Rosa”, the ambiguous title the French artist has given his work, alludes not only to the evening light, but also to the rose as a symbol of secrecy. Here at this traffic junction, they have found a haven far away from the supervision of adults, and far away from their everyday lives. Surrounded by the constant noise of traffic and passing cars, the clusters of young men and women appear to have sought refuge on a remote island. In his two-channel video installation and his images, French photographer Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques shows how the adolescents have taken over this space. Today, however, this public square fulfils a completely different function – as a meeting place for young people. Inaugurated in 1956, the monument commemorates fascist dictator Franco’s victory in a battle of the Spanish Civil War, and thus a dark chapter in Spain’s history. It punctuates the steady flow of traffic and at the same time marks the entrance to the university district in the Spanish capital. ![]() By engaging with a specific social group, Sub Rosa creates an enlarged space for experience where photography expands into film, documentation into illusion, and distanced observation into the real experience.On a roundabout in the north of Madrid, a 45-metre-high neoclassical triumphal arch rises above the city, dominating its silhouette. At the same time, he unmasks this image as a commercial tool used by the world’s biggest fashion empires to market their products. Couzinet-Jacques translates this everyday scene into an abstract picture of youth: extending his perspective beyond the young people of the Spanish capital, he portrays adolescence as a phase of inner turmoil, superficiality, narcissism, loneliness, and contradiction. Close-ups of the teenagers are combined with images of the triumphal arch and the car and bus traffic around it in the red-orange-violet glow of the setting sun. They wear baseball caps and hoodies, t-shirts, sneakers, and socks bearing brand names like Adidas, Puma, and Nike. They talk, laugh, stare off disinterestedly into the distance, smoke and skate, flirt, chat, and surf on their smartphones. Every visitor to the exhibition will experience a different, individual sequence of the work. ![]() The length of the video corresponds precisely to C/O Berlin’s hours, and thus blends into the real daily routine of the place. In collaboration with the musician Matthias Puech a self-generative sound scapes was composed. Dispersed across a number of independently edited film tracks, Sub Rosa breaks with all semblance of linear narrative. His large-scale video-sound installation extends a documentary approach into the conceptual realm: Couzinet-Jacques’ extremely slow-motion video oscillates between moving and still images, between film and photography. In his most recent project, Sub Rosa (2017–2019), French artist Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques makes the arch the setting for his work. And like many of the city’s plazas and public squares, it is a meeting point for teenagers. ![]() Lying outside the usual tourist areas in the middle of a multi-lane traffic circle on highway A6, it has long been among the city’s forgotten monuments, and is now more a ruin than a historic landmark. The over 40-meter-high arch stands to this day as a symbol of Spanish fascism. It was built in the 1950s at the behest of Francisco Franco to commemorate his victory over Republican troops in the Spanish Civil War. The Arco de la Victoria is a triumphal arch in the northwest part of Madrid.
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