Alain Séchas

The work of Alain Séchas is enormously varied, comprising drawings, sculptures, installations, neon pieces and animation films. A fixed element is a human figure, usually a man, with the head of a cat. He is a sort of anti-hero, doing his best to the point of absurdity to adapt to the modern world. The world appears to be celebrating total freedom, but, in the bewildered eyes of the cat, is dependent in every area imaginable on codes and regulations. Politics, religion, sex, the media, contact between people and even art seem to be subject to unspoken, mutual agreements. Séchas uses cheerful colours and the style of cartoons to represent this strange world in often tragicomic images.

For Sonsbeek 2008 Séchas has designed a white figure lying relaxed on its side. Three pointed shapes form a little crown on his head. This four metre long Lazy King lies on a hill near the White Villa, sprawled on a bed of white daisies. He is taking a break, since, says Séchas, before we can think about Grandeur, we first have to step outside the hecticness of daily life. He is referring here to the book Le Droit à la Paresse (The Right to Laziness) from 1880. The writer, Paul Lafarque, was opposed to capitalism and the unremitting pressure to produce and consume, and argued in favor of relaxation and spiritual calm.

The Lazy King was borne during the Procession by readers of the newspaper De Gelderlander and members of the Public Library.