[Equality]
This work transforms the Evian bottled water brand, replacing its name with the word égalité, French for “equality,” while the text underneath is changed from “Natural Mineral Water” to “A Natural Condition.” The artist manages to access our everyday visual references to transform their meanings and relate them to France’s multicultural society. An additional reading emphasizes the contradiction between water’s condition as a public good that is necessary for all of humanity and the market strategies to privatize it and turn it into a product, which has even become a luxury in some places.
Le Grand Café – Centre d’art contemporain, Saint Nazaire, 2007