Profane n°17

Profane n°17 – We’ve decided to take animals seriously. Cats, dogs, cows and insects appear, or rather have crept into these pages, showing us that there can be other ways of embracing reality, grasping it or inhabiting it. To be sensitive to its beauty. Theirs seems to guide them, so let’s pay attention. To the peregrine falcons, swallows, night birds and many other grateful species in Jacques and Mariek’s home. Their host tells us that there have never been so many of them, as if their presence and return confirmed the importance of a space worthy of preservation, recognizing its power, its soul. They feel at home here.

Animals are there, even when they’re not, always present in the imaginations of humans (those who still dream) who like to represent them: cement animals in spontaneous gardens, pigment animals in paintings that celebrate the ephemeral nature of life, and even glass trinkets in a living room… Elsewhere, sturdy cows and spirited horses have joined the creative journey of another human: they patiently lend their flanks to Lionel who, by sculpting on their coats, brings new worlds to life. Emil, a shaggy dog, has kindly let his furry tail be used as a paintbrush to illustrate a text about the possibility of animal artists. At Profane, we stop at nothing, and by giving animals a different status, if only briefly, by deciphering their signals, we somewhat challenge the idea of the creative gesture, which then becomes within everyone’s reach.