Fun Forever is a story drawn between France and the US.
But one that’s set in the future. In the sense of a cultural evolution
seemingly detached from any geographical or historical logic.
It wanders between these two worlds, distant yet so close, which are
stitched together only by the stark contrast of black and white.
This collection? It’s a witness to a pre-Instagram era that dives
into a globalized underground. Before that underground would
eventually erode itself within the very same network.
But Fun Forever also sounds like the manifesto of a time
nourished by the ephemeral. A consuming passion that today reaches
its peak in the whirlwind of social networks, but which, in Charles
Serre’s project, stammers out the inaugural scene of our digital
addictions. Unmatched creative power or insatiable demon?
It’s hard to say.
Yet, Fun Forever stands out for its black and white shots
captured on point-and-shoot cameras, giving them that lightness of
being «caught in the moment» and at the same time... At the same time,
something about the construction of the gaze also emerges from Charles
Serre’s aesthetics. A gaze shaped by bodies that’s reminiscent of
his illustrious contemporary, Nan Goldin. A relentless chronicler of
nightlife and fleeting icons of the alternative scene.
Yes, a multitude of stars, and not-so-stars, line up in front of
the discreet lens of the artist. But then, who’s who in this book?
Who’s performing and who’s posing? Who’s fighting? Who’s fucking?
There’s no need to find out. The beauty of the gesture is enough in
itself and transcends the overly explicit captions that fill most of
our Instagram feeds. The poetry of anonymity – that’s the essence of
the poetics of this collection. Grainy snapshots of a story now told
in the future perfect tense.