Plein Sud: How old is MORE Projects and how does it work?
Davide Bertocchi: Almost seven years, I think. MORE Projects is a collective, a platform, bringing together artists and curators who pool their energy, resources and networks to do things together. It's made up of 6 members: Camila Farina, Margaux Bonopera, Anna Piroska Tóth, Elisabeth Vollman, Sergio Verastegui and myself.
PS: Why was this collective project necessary alongside your own artistic work?
DB: The need comes from a desire to share energies, to collaborate, and to look further ahead. It's always a real team effort. We all share a common interest in conceptual forms, documents and archives. I joined MORE Projects in 2018 for a specific project, ToomanyrecordSs, conceived by me and Sergio [Verastegui] - which is still going on, by the way. It involves vinyl records customized by artists.
PS: Humor and entertainment seem to be at the heart of the approach. Every year More Projects comes up with new ideas, with the intention, it seems, of entertaining.
DB: MORE Projects publishes a variety of unique and multiple objects, and places collaboration at the heart of the process, in an expansive movement. We try to break away from the usual forms and above all to give visibility to the artists with whom we collaborate. The challenge is to do all this with a fairly limited economy of means, and also to have fun doing it.
PS: This year, your stand resembled a postal sorting room, with numbers and references stored in a binder. What was hidden in those mysterious sealed envelopes and boxes, and how did the public react?
DB: For this project, entitled Bien à Vous, we asked around a hundred artists to give us a work (single or multiple) that could be contained in an envelope (the format was not specified, but we had to bear in mind the possibility of sending the envelopes by post). The envelopes were all anonymous, but the contents were visible through an image or photo of the work stored in binders. So whoever looked at the binders could choose the work, but not the artist's name. Each work was sold at the same price: 150 euros. This price was deliberately low, because we wanted to appeal to everyone, not just collectors. For 150 euros, anyone could buy a work. The artist's name was revealed after the purchase.
"We try to break away from the usual forms and, above all, to give visibility to the artists with whom we collaborate. The challenge is to do all this with a limited economy of means and the desire to enjoy doing it."
Plein Sud: Confirmed and less confirmed artists... everyone is easily inclined to play the game?
DB: The artists all played along and entrusted us with some incredible works, considering the modest price tag. The idea was also to enable young artists to exhibit at a fair and sell their work for the first time. From Elsa Werth to Julie Beaufils, Elodie Seguin, Marie Bovo, Adélaïde Feriot, Nicolas Lamas, Mathieu Mercier, Ingrid Luche, Louidgi Beltrame, Claude Closky, Anita Molinero, Franck Scurti, Benoît Piéron, Olivier Millagou, Jean Claracq, Flora Moscovici, Vittorio Santoro, Gérald Petit, Josep Maynou, to name but a few of the more established, as well as very young artists such as Audrey Prédhumeau, Andréa Spartà, Rodrigue de Ferluc, Chalisée Naamani, David Horvath, Nathan Carême, Grégoire d'Ablon, Sol Cattino and others.
PS: As always, the public can purchase an artist's signed work at a very affordable price from among a multitude of proposals. Is the desacralization of art one of your objectives?
DB: More like the desacralization of the art market. The public's response has been extraordinary, and they've really appreciated the generosity of the project. The list of artists is impressive and very heterogeneous.
PS: You're a familiar face at Art-O-Rama. How many years have you been at the show? Which of your other projects have surprised you the most?
DB: I really like Art-O-Rama and Marseille. Strangely enough, I've had the opportunity to take part in almost every edition with different galleries. Given my "assiduity", Jérôme Pantalacci, the director, asked me to be part of the fair's first artistic committee, from 2012 to 2017. It was an extraordinary experience because, also thanks to the committee, the fair has become increasingly international and captivating.
Among my projects at Art-o-rama, one of the most special was that of 2020, when the fair was unable to open due to the pandemic: we then carried out an intangible project inspired by my "Top100" playlist projects, where each volume I invite 100 personalities from the international art world to select their favorite piece of music. With the help of the entire fair team, we created Art-O-Rama Juke Box by contacting all the galleries, collectors, curators and artists who have exhibited at the fair since its inception in 2007. This "oeuvre playlist" enabled us to celebrate Art-O-Rama without Art-O-Rama. You can still listen to it on Spotify.
PS: What are your next projects as an artist?
DB: I'm preparing sculptural works in marble for Artissima, the Turin fair, where I'll be taking part in early November, with a London-based project space, Cable Depot. It's really thanks to Art-O-Rama because I met Cable Depot last year when they were exhibiting works by Marseille-based British artist Charlie Warde. We'll be exhibiting together in Turin.
