MAPPING SKI RESORTS/PLANS DE STATIONS DE SKI/

Pierre Novat was an artist who designed numerous maps of ski resorts for tourists, tracing the ski runs, sometimes cheating a bit on the representation. My attention was drawn to his work by Xavier de La Porte's broadcast on France Culture. His daily talks on the digital world are often the occasion for deeper reflections. This talk (in French) can be listened to here. It is entitled "The beautiful lies of ski runs". An exhibition paying tribute to Novat's work was organised in 2014 and a book including many of his plans has been published by Glénat. See here the site of the workshop that continues his work. And an interesting video featuring an interview with his two children during the 2014 exhibition is visible here. You see him at his desk drawing as well, and you discover some of his beautiful panoramas. Obviously, his attractive work highlights the complex questions surrounding representations, between realism and visibility.



Copyright Pierre Novat, image tirée du site de France Culture/ Copyright Pierre Novat, from the France Culture Website




















Pierre Novat était un artiste qui a créé de nombreux plans de stations de ski pour les touristes, y indiquant les pistes, mais parfois en trichant un peu sur la réalité. Mon attention a été attirée sur son travail par Xavier de La Porte, qui dans ses chroniques quotidiennes sur le numérique à France Culture donne souvent à penser. On peut écouter sa chronique "De la belle inexactitude des pistes de ski" ici. Une exposition-hommage au travail de Pierre Novat a été organisée en 2014, et un livre reproduisant certains de ses plans a été publié aux Editions Glénat. Voir le site de l'atelier qui poursuit son travail, ici. Et une intéressante vidéo avec interviews de ses deux enfants lors de l'exposition de 2014 est visible ici. On le voit aussi à sa table de dessin, et on découvre certains de ses beaux panoramas. Evidemment, son beau travail met en avant les questions complexes qui entourent les représentations, entre réalisme et visibilité.