Jordane Saget in the front lines in Monaco

What were you feeling that day?

Jordane Saget: The lines first appeared on paper. They came from my background, from my weaknesses. I found myself drawing lines to try and recover from a difficult stage in my life. But the artistic act itself was born on the streets. It happens just as we start to kind of “disrupt” the world around us. The life trajectories of passers-by are changed in one way or another. Stopping in the street, even for a few seconds, is unexpected. It is this intervention in people’s daily lives that interests me. No matter how fleeting the exchange. Drawing in the street is clearly not the same as drawing in my studio. In the street, you question the way people look at you, you question the very idea of what a city and a public space are. In the workshop, the approach is much more self-centred. In 2015, I realised how much good it did me to take to the streets.

Why chalk?

Jordane Saget: Initially, I drew my lines on paper at home... Then came the need for a change of scenery, of environment, of life. So I went out, but without really knowing what I was going to do there. For me, the outside meant going from point A to point B, the straight line, the Metro... I hadn’t yet learnt to ‘look’. So what could I do? What if I did the same thing as I did at home? But I’m rather reserved and I don’t like disturbing people too much by ‘shaking up’ their daily lives with my drawings. That’s where chalk came into its own. As I wasn’t sure of myself, I knew that if I drew on the ground with chalk, it would be easy to erase. But very quickly I realised that I had found the ideal tool: chalk, synonymous with poetry and childhood... That’s how I learned to look at the outside world differently, to move away from the straight lines of the Metro and see things ‘as curves’. The lines and my life overlapped more and more. Just like my ‘figure’ in the loop.

There’s something almost primitive about your work...

Jordane Saget: People have spoken to me about Celtic and Aboriginal art, but it’s not an artistic endeavour on my part. I think it comes more from my self-taught side, in how I tend towards simplicity, whether with chalk or my finger. It’s a technique that came to me after finding one of my frescoes ‘toyed’ (tagged over - Ed.) by some graffiti artists. They didn’t have their stuff on them, so they ‘stretched’ the chalk with their fingers to add their tag. It hurt at the time, because I’d always forbidden myself from going over someone else’s work. But in the end, it was thanks to them that I started drawing with my finger, not just on walls and floors, but also on advertising windows, surfaces that are just as “urban” and increasingly present!

How do you see your relationship with Monaco as a space?

Jordane Saget: I really fell in love with it. There was an immediate sense of ‘never seen, never felt’. It was a very different feeling to anything I’d ever experienced before. It’s a city without holes (laughs), with everything high up. The spaces are clearly different. And the fact that I was invited allowed me to give free rein to all the possibilities. Otherwise, I wouldn’t necessarily have dared. There’s the sky, the sea, blue everywhere, a blue that I can’t find in Paris. This horizon opens up incredible possibilities. It inevitably comes up against mine in one way or another.

Why did you agree to work with us?

Jordane Saget: The fact that Monaco and Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer came looking for me means a lot. It’s something that hasn’t happened to me that much in Paris, even though I think I’ve established a real identity there through my lines. This collaboration is perhaps the start of something even bigger. In any case, I can see myself getting more involved, beyond just the spring in Monaco. I very much appreciate the trust that has been placed in me. There can’t be that many street artists who have drawn in Monaco. I see working in this city as a great opportunity and a great gift.

What places have particularly inspired you?

Jordane Saget: The lines will be installed along the One Monte-Carlo walkways, near the Monte-Carlo Casino and on the Monte-Carlo Beach pontoon. My lines plunging into the sea... brilliant! I’m also working on the sun terraces behind the Monte-Carlo Casino. While I was in Monaco, I took the opportunity to paint a few lines on the windows of my hotel room. With the sea as a backdrop! It’s this kind of thing that fuels my deep love for this project in Monaco. A project driven by a shared desire to do something new, something different. To move forward smoothly, to respect the serenity of places and their people. Something subtle and delicate. After that, if I could see myself taking to the legendary Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monaco, that would be so crazy! For example, in front of the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, where the cars pass, or the curves of the Loews hairpin bend... that would be incredible! Monaco is a city on a human scale that’s constantly on the move, and that’s very exciting!