Do Artists Dance? (2023)
© Théo Dufloo With Do Artists Dance? I'm extending my questioning of collectivity as a practice of resistance, and of the hierarchies between knowledge and forms of artistic expression. I posed these themes at the opening of the exhibition All My Loved Ones Like To Fight, held at CALM - Centre d'Art de La Meute, from 1 September to 29 October 2023, with an installation that predicted my performance. 'Nobody has a solo career', 'Individuality is a myth', 'Music is my life'.
Here I used the medium of music to reflect on the dominance of the visual, and to reposition the collective within art spaces. For the occasion, I produced 8 tracks on which I sang slogans, taking the audience with me on a journey of questioning and storytelling, trying to find ways together not to confuse ego and self-confidence within a framework of cultural production. The performance was powered by VLF Soundsystem, a small soundsystem for free and political parties that I helped to build.
Lyrics
DO ARTISTS DANCE?
1. SHADOWS
Les ombres. La nuit.
Les premiers pas de danses. Les premiers mots.
Les premiers moments, où la ligne dépasse la ligne.
La première bassline. La première vibe partagée.
Et après quoi? Une fois que t’as ça, quoi?
Tu continues, encore, et encore, et encore,
et encore, et encore, jusqu’à ce que tu deviennes ce que tu as toujours été.
Un être fait de son.
2. MYSTERY
To me, it’s always been a mystery
What does it mean to be an artist in collectivity?
3. EMO-SONS
Pas d’intellect sans émotions
Pas d’émotions sans sons
Ne regarde pas ta réflexion
Regarde autour de toi
4. MIROIREX
Miroirex, mon joli miroir,
Pourquoi me causes-tu cette dysmorphie
À cause de toi je ne vois plus que moi
Pourtant les autres ont un reflet aussi
5. DO ARTISTS DANCE?
Do Artists Dance?
6. ARTISTS DON'T DANCE
Do Artists Dance?
Artists Don’t Dance
Dis-moi, comment tu fais toi?
Pour ne pas entrer en combat
Pendant tous ces vernissages
Comment tu fais pour croire en toi
I sometimes feel like I’m against the world
But then I remember
7. BBLIBRE
Ooohhh bébééééé
Je suis enfin libre
La collectivité
M’a permis de vivre
8. ODYSSEY
Music's the oddyssey
It's here for you, for me
Just listen for the magic key
© Théo Dufloo 
© Théo Dufloo
© Théo Dufloo
© Théo Dufloo
© Théo Dufloo Do Artists Dance? (2023)
With Do Artists Dance? I'm extending my questioning of collectivity as a practice of resistance, and of the hierarchies between knowledge and forms of artistic expression. I posed these themes at the opening of the exhibition All My Loved Ones Like To Fight, held at CALM - Centre d'Art de La Meute, from 1 September to 29 October 2023, with an installation that predicted my performance. 'Nobody has a solo career', 'Individuality is a myth', 'Music is my life'.
Here I used the medium of music to reflect on the dominance of the visual, and to reposition the collective within art spaces. For the occasion, I produced 8 tracks on which I sang slogans, taking the audience with me on a journey of questioning and storytelling, trying to find ways together not to confuse ego and self-confidence within a framework of cultural production. The performance was powered by VLF Soundsystem, a small soundsystem for free and political parties that I helped to build.
Lyrics
DO ARTISTS DANCE?
1. SHADOWS
Les ombres. La nuit.
Les premiers pas de danses. Les premiers mots.
Les premiers moments, où la ligne dépasse la ligne.
La première bassline. La première vibe partagée.
Et après quoi? Une fois que t’as ça, quoi?
Tu continues, encore, et encore, et encore,
et encore, et encore, jusqu’à ce que tu deviennes ce que tu as toujours été.
Un être fait de son.
2. MYSTERY
To me, it’s always been a mystery
What does it mean to be an artist in collectivity?
3. EMO-SONS
Pas d’intellect sans émotions
Pas d’émotions sans sons
Ne regarde pas ta réflexion
Regarde autour de toi
4. MIROIREX
Miroirex, mon joli miroir,
Pourquoi me causes-tu cette dysmorphie
À cause de toi je ne vois plus que moi
Pourtant les autres ont un reflet aussi
5. DO ARTISTS DANCE?
Do Artists Dance?
6. ARTISTS DON'T DANCE
Do Artists Dance?
Artists Don’t Dance
Dis-moi, comment tu fais toi?
Pour ne pas entrer en combat
Pendant tous ces vernissages
Comment tu fais pour croire en toi
I sometimes feel like I’m against the world
But then I remember
7. BBLIBRE
Ooohhh bébééééé
Je suis enfin libre
La collectivité
M’a permis de vivre
8. ODYSSEY
Music's the oddyssey
It's here for you, for me
Just listen for the magic key