PEPPONE
Peppone is a 50-year-old artist living near Aix-en-Provence. His parents were teachers and taught him that sharing was the most beautiful gift in life. His studio is located in a small industrial area at the foot of the Luberon. It is there, amidst an incredible assortment of a thousand and one recycled pieces, just a stone's throw from the Durance River, that he creates his artworks.
Among his treasures are nearly 500 albums of Tintin adventures, some of which have only a few dusty pages left. He adds to his collection by finding them at flea markets, through sales from municipal libraries, or simply from friends or strangers who bring them to him. Thus, from a bond of dreams and travels, Tintin's adventures have also become a connection point for Peppone with others.
But this treasure is above all his Proustian madeleine, as his first copies of Tintin came from his father, after his father's death.
The day I first met Peppone, he explained to me that humans are the only living beings aware of their impending death, and that to escape this condition, they reproduce, communicate, and dream—a sort of cyclical link between the past, present, and future. The character of Tintin has become a pillar of his balance, allowing him to cultivate the bond with his father and project himself into a form of "artistic situation."
