MICHAËLLE
SERGILE

GESTURE : BODY MOVEMENTS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSES
2020 - 2024
Installation: Cotton, alpaca and acrylic tufting, jacquard weaving, wooden supports. Cathode-ray TV and flat-screen TV with videos.
Reflecting on the various leaders who have set a precedent for their communities, the installation work Gesture : Body movements in political discourses questions what constitutes a leader. Inspired by a short interview with James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show, Sergile invites the audience to not only listen to the leader's words, but also to pay attention to his different gestures, silences, posture, intonations, pauses and glances.
"A man who possesses a language therefore possesses the world expressed and implied by that language. What we arrive at becomes clear: mastery of language confers remarkable power". - Fanon
By language, I mean words, sounds, voice, intonation, gestures, sighs, silences and posture. I'm interested in the great leaders of the Afrodescendant and African communities and how they communicate with a majority when they're in a "minority" position.


