"Lille Fantastic" part 2

[Deleted]

As I had already announced, I needed to return to Lille to see some of things that I had missed from my first "Fantastic" excursion last month. As Christmas approaches, it is more difficult to find the best train fares and reasonable accommodations, but I did the best I could. However, I had to leave for Lille at 6:47 yesterday morning, which is the sort of thing that removes a bit of the fun from a trip somewhere. I still have vivid memories of childhood and being dragged out of bed at some godawful time, because the family had to be somewhere at the proper time. Now that I have started to grow up, I do it to myself. Nevertheless, I slept for most of the one hour train ride, and in any case it was still totally dark outside. Since most of the route is through sugarbeet fields, it was somewhat similar to spending the entire trip in a black tunnel.

Nevertheless, upon arrival, there was no doubt that I was in the land of "Lille Fantastic" because one of the things that I had looked for and not seen during last month's trip was now properly installed in the Lille-Europe international train station.

I walked down through the Lille-Flandres (old) station towards the city centre and saw my old friend the flying saucer, but it was still asleep.

The very first light was beginning to appear in the sky as I walked out of the station and pounced on a café crème to warm me up. The temperature was about -3° and it was not expected to rise much as the day progressed.

Once I had warmed up for about an hour reading the three free newspapers that are distributed in all of the cities of France to the rush hour crowds (20 Minutes, Metro and Direct Matin), it was time to walk around for awhile and see what there was to see. I knew that I couldn't see any of the exhibitions before 10 a.m.

I walked in an unknown direction -- "la citadelle" -- just for the hell of it. There was a big park surrounding it, and the actual Vauban fort itself is still a military installation -- as big as the whole section of central Lille itself. I'm not sure what the fort is supposed to be protecting Lille from.

This striking monument to firing squad victims rapidly appeared.



Nearby, there was a monument to carrier pigeons, which were important military personnel in olden times.



I was soon blocked by "do not enter" military signs, so I walked along the canal.





Gosh, it was cold!

[Deleted]

After wandering for some time, I took the metro to get to Saint Sauveur, one of my destinations.

I was impressed by this old factory, from the time that factories were works of art, even though working conditions were rotten.





Oops, Saint Sauveur wasn't opening until noon! I never read my documentation thoroughly.



I admired this chocolatier, although the prices were far beyond what I would ever pay.

Imagine receiving a box of chocolates made out of chocolate itself!



Or a portrait of Père Noël also made out of chocolate... or the stuff surrounding it.

What to do? Well, I was near the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) and its famous belfry. What about going to see the view, even though it wasn't the clearest of days? So I went there. Just after the door, there was a desk with a young woman, who determined that I was eligible for a discount and gave me a little coupon. "They'll give you the ticket when you pay upstairs."

So I went up one flight of stairs... and another... and another. The ticket office was six flights up already! I'm sure this helps some visitors to decide that they don't really want to visit the belfry after all. But I was determined. I paid my fee and received my ticket. Then things became more complicated.

What the ticket seller said: "You have two ways of getting to the top. You can take the lift which goes straight to the top, or you can climb the stairs which lets you stop along the way and see the view as you go."

What I heard: "Do you want to go the sissy way or are you a real man?"

So I suddenly found myself climbing the stairs for some reason.



The nasty elevator shaft lurked in the middle of the void.





Yes (puff puff), I did stop to peer out the windows from time to time.





Finally there was the main enclosed viewing station, and then a couple of more flights to get to the outdoor platform.



Lille is not Paris, so there are not many fabulous monuments to see, but it is a good view anyway.





Thank god the end of the climb was not really at the absolute top of the belfry.







The city hall offices have clearly been expanded.





You know what? If it is possible to visit the belfry of the Chamber of Commerce, I'm not climbing up there.



Both the Lille-Flandres and the Lille-Europe train stations are visible here.



The lift had just taken some people to the top when I was ready to leave -- so I took it down.

[Deleted]

Obviously, the city hall was honour-bound to expose something from Lille Fantastic inside, so I went to see what there was to see.



They were also exposing (probably permanently) some of the 'géants' from carnival season.





The items exposed for 'Fantastic' were whimsical dinosaur bones.





In the background are people applying for ID cards or registering births.



Some of the dinosaur joints were a bit odd.





I suppose the artworks in the staircase are permanent as well.



There is where municipal council meetings are held in public.

An elephant from 'Bombaysers de Lille' -- the 2009 event! That's the year that the Bombay videos were invented -- and still going strong! These elephants lined rue Faidherbe, just like the magical electric canopy covers it this year.

But now it was time to get down to business and see the real stuff...

[Deleted]

The Tripostal pulled me in as it always does.

There is always one striking work as you enter, and this time it is the spaghetti man.









The first artist in the main section was very much involved in cigarettes and cigarette smoke. And ghosts. And other things.































But there were so many other areas to explore...

[bixaorellana]

Oh ~~ fantastic is definitely the right word! What wonderful art pieces, even if some of them are disturbing. I'm really enjoying your narrative and pictures, even though the sight of those webbed feeties on the ice (or cold, cold ground) had me shivering. More! More!

[Deleted]

One floor up in the old postal sorting centre was a completely new universe.

























My nightmares seem rather poor compared to this artist.











In the next room, a tiny train chugged along in the dark making huge shadows. You'll see it a little better in the video later.

[Deleted]

The next few rooms were by Nick Cave.





















Ah, but the costumes! The costumes!

[Deleted]

Some of the carnival cultures could definitely get some ideas for rejuvenation here.

[Deleted]

You could see some films of some of the more flexible costumes in action.













really a remarkable collection

[mossie]

What can I say Magnificent, I congratulate you, you really suffered for your art and to bring it to us.
The spaghetti man looked so sad, but a lot of the other stuff was the stuff of nightmares, but there are so many other high points that I am overwhelmed. Thank you.

[tod2]

Thank you so much for taking the time (and expenditure) to go back and bring us this most unusual exhibition Kerouac! Not even in a wild dream would I see anything close to the imaginations these artists have created. The themes, complicated patterns, and surreal appearance of the figurines is wonderful.
I commend you on two things - 1) walking up those stairs and 2) going for a walk in -3C ;D

[Deleted]

Another level up was Medusa's dinner party council, based on Géricault's Raft of the Medusa.





















There were six lifts to nowhere.

[Deleted]

A rat and an owl were frozen in their interaction.











And there is always that which cannot be explained.

























Time to start leaving this universe behind...





I will miss the end of the world party.



"Dress code: dare anything, you have nothing left to lose!"

I saw that another party is scheduled at the Tripostal on January 11th. It's called "Not even dead!"

[Deleted]

You'd think that I would be better organised in Lille but actually I just know the central core of the city and am totally lost when I go looking for anything out of the way. You'd also think that Lille would publish a very precise guide to show you how to get to each venue in their 100 page programme to Fantastic. Well, both Lille and I have problems. I decided I would go to expo #5 at "Maison Folie Wazemmes" or expo #10 at "La Malterie" -- whichever of the two I might manage to find first. The programme does not give the address of either place and the small map only lists about 10 street names in the city and all of the rest is just little black nameless lines. So I went to a nearby metro station -- both places were near the Wazemmes station -- and followed my nose, along the lines of "the map makes it look like it's about 6 streets north and then somewhere over to the left."

The Wazemmes neighbourhood was not at all like central Lille. I felt more like I was in Casablanca or something and not the nicest part of it either. I didn't even snap any pictures because I felt that I have enough photos of halal butchers in Paris already.

Then I finally arrived at this unexpected intersection...



... and I saw this sign.

So I was apparently making some progress. One question kept bothering me, though: what on earth is a Maison Folie? The programme is full of them -- Maison Folie Moulins, Maison Folie Mons-en-Baroeul, Maison Folie Roubaix, etc. They seemed to be all over the place, so it was a super common name. How come I had never heard of such a thing before? I knew that a folie (folly) in terms of architecture is an unexpected little structure built for amusement. In the Parc de la Villette in Paris, for example, the various little red geometric structures scattered through the park are called folies. But this term "Maison Folie" made it sound like some sort of regional institution.

Well, I finally looked it up, and now I am not so ignorant. The whole "Maison Folie" network was created specifically for the year 2004 when Lille was the designated European Capital of Culture (along with Genoa). Cities are chosen 6 years in advance and have that period to get ready for the event. The idea for the "Maison Folie" network was devised in 2000 and the definition was: a place for artistic encounters and exchanges, creation and socialising, an interface between the world of art and the local neighbourhood. Those fancy bureaucrats just love descriptions like that. People like me call the thing a local cultural centre.

What made these particular places more exceptional was the concept of "Capital of Culture" -- so they had to be more ambitious than simple community centres. Twelve of them were created or which 7 are in Lille itself and the others are spread through the metropolitan area, including one in Belgium. It was decided -- quite commendably -- to put these places in the areas that needed them the most -- industrial wastelands, depressed communities...

So anyway, with a bit of wandering, I got closer and closer to the Maison Folie of Wazemmes.







And I found it. It is a very striking building -- a former textile factory in two buildings, and the new design was by a Dutch architectural bureau.

The exhibition was about the various forms that science fiction has taken over the years. Photography was absolutely and totally forbidden, so my rebellious criminal nature was obliged to take control of me to get a few photos anyway.

Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet (and Lost in Space)



ET, phone home...

Naturally, there was much much more, but a zillion horrid little schoolchildren and their teachers thwarted me around every corner my law-abiding side won out.

[Deleted]

I really had no idea where I was coming out of the Maison Folie, so I just started walking at random until I could recognize something.

This is a middle school.











The local covered market had just closed for the day.

I arrived at Place de la République, which is currently hosting a temporary coffee shop. While Starbucks has about 40 locations in Paris, Lille has been spared the scourge so far does not yet benefit from this advance in civilisation. The first establishment will open in Lille in 2013, but people found that they could not wait, so a solution has been found.

[Deleted]

I returned to Saint Sauveur to get a look at what I had not been able to see in the morning. The old freight station is used more and more for special events, because it is really quite huge inside and you can do just about anything with the empty spaces.

I was happy to see one of the demon babies from a previous year displayed outside.





















endless school groups everywhere





The was a reproduction of the first Meliès cinematograph.











I have seen the cardboard maze in Paris before -- at the Cent Quatre.



And then there was the cavern made out of adhesive tape.







People are allowed to wriggle around inside.

[Deleted]

Okay, here's the little video of some of the stuff already seen.



Meanwhile, Saint Sauveur also had a free ghost train, restricted to age 18 and above.



What the hell... who cares if I make a fool of myself?

Actually, there wasn't anything the least bit scary in there, only some stuff that could be found to be "disturbing," such as a dead horse with its guts in full display or a baby in a crib having its face eaten off by a giant cockroach. When you think that the fun fairs show you skeletons and decapitated heads and witches with huge green warts on their nose, was this really any worse? I think not.

What was amusing was coming out and being mobbed by school kids. "Mister! Mister! What did you see? Why won't they let us in?"

I stopped into the Saint Sauveur bar for a quick beer.



They were having tango lessons.



Time to walk back to central Lille. Night had fallen.





















I did not visit the Christmas market this time.









The ferris wheel really draws in the photographers.





Wet streets are great for night pictures.

[Deleted]

On the last stretch back to the hotel, rue Faidherbe once again proved to be irresistible.

Rendezvous in 2 years for the next "Lille 3000" event.

[Deleted]

Not at all part of "Fantastic" but I was very intrigued by a news item from Lille about a mummified corpse being discovered in its bed -- slippers still waiting on the side -- after perhaps 20 years.

Alberto Rodriguez lived in this lovely brick house in a chic neighbourhood.

The last mail delivered to the address dated from 1997. Mr. Rodriguez was quite rich and owned a number of properties in the area -- how can it be possible that nothing was done during all this time to see what had become of him?

[Deleted]

Back in Lille last week. I was a bit disappointed that there was nothing happening at the Tri Postal, but I saw that "Monsieur Chat" had made a visit. Usually he lives in my neighbourhood in Paris.



However, I knew that Saint Sauveur had a bunch of stuff, particularly from the Singapour-France Festival which is happening everywhere in France this year.



This incongruous bunny generally appears in unusual places in Singapore.





The Singaporean display was a delightful riot of sensations and sounds.





















This all needs to be seen in motion to really understand it. No, there is nothing to understand...

[Deleted]

The Hôtel Europa installation has become Motel Europa. People can actually reserve the two main rooms for a one-hour private party. No charge.





The Lego city is still available for all changes and rebuilding that anybody wants to do.





And of course the Demon Baby still guards the Gare Saint Sauveur.



To recover from the experience, I returned to my very nice hotel room... I'm sure I'll be back in Lille before the end of the year.

[htmb]

Your video is almost completely devoid of people. Was there hardly anyone else in there with you? That, combined with the low lighting, would have felt a bit eerie, I would think.

[Deleted]

I did have the place to myself; most people go there after work.

[htmb]

I've been really close to Lille, but never quite made it to the city. Maybe one day I'll get there.

[whatagain]

My dog came from Lille... (well Bethune).
Your report made me understand that the only thing in art I understand are ... legos.
:-)

[gabriele]

My first time visiting 'here'....('here' being lille-fantastic-2) and it was a much needed vacation from mundane reality. It has been so long since there has been anything in Los Angeles which does not bore or provoke apathy. I stopped being a member of a couple of museums because rather than investing in art they're (LACMA, at least) more concenred with a 'world class' museum campus which requires millions and millions (this ia a municipal museum, so fund raising required) and what has been offered has cost millions just to consider designs...the current one makes me wish the LaBrea Tar Pits would open up and start devouring the buildings...slowly, so the art could be saved but the area lost completely to the past...bad architecture to take its place with bones of sabre-tooth tigers and such.
There is a new museum (a billionaire decided he wanted his own museum for his own collection) is opening soon downtown and it reminds me of a boxy cheese grater.

But this collection from Lille...it provokes so many responses, intellectual, emotional, physical. I don't know if you planned ahead for an esthetically pleasing but neutral hotel room (rather than an individualistic decorated older hotel) but it seemed both a balm and a balance...

Now I shall go back and explore lille-fantastic 1...

thank you so much. much needed cultural therapy.

[Deleted]

Thanks, Gabriele. "Lille 3000" is one of my favourite cultural events in France. The next edition unfortunately did not take place in 2014 as I had hoped, but it is beginning at the end of this month, titled "Renaissance." I will be planning another trip to Lille in late autumn for sure (even though I was just there in July).

If you liked the "Lille Fantastic" threads, you might also want to take a look at the Saatchi Gallery expo at the Tri Postal.

Here is the Lille 3000 website: www.lille3000.fr/

[Deleted]

The next edition of Lille 3000 starts this weekend with the huge Renaissance parade on Saturday. I really screwed up, because I have been receiving emails for the last year advertising the opening event but I kept thinking, "oh, I don't need to see the parade on the first day." I changed my mind a couple of weeks ago but never managed to decide on a way to wangle a train to Lille on Saturday evening with a night of accommodation and then a return on Sunday morning. Each hesitation was a disaster because 2 days ago, I could get a ticket for 10 euros and now a ticket would cost 42 euros one way... But I have learned my lesson for next time.



As for Lille 3000 Renaissance, I have already scheduled my 'normal' trip and booked my hotel in November. Five 'Renaissance' cities will be celebrated: Rio de Janeiro, Detroit, Eindhoven, Phnom Penh and Seoul.

As a little aside for the oldtimers here, the year of 'Bombaysers de Lille' saw the creation of the Bombay videos, which have had a certain success on this site.

[fumobici]

That video certainly makes it look worth splashing out a bit for.

[Deleted]

Even today, I was still looking for a reasonable way to get there tomorrow evening. I found that I was willing to pay a bit less than 100€ for a round trip ticket to go there (while I would normally pay no more than 40€), but now there are no hotels available, but maybe I should check again.

Uh-oh.