Hello. I'm Cédric Taling.
I'm in lock down in Alfortville, France.
I'm going to talk to you about Thoreau And Me
while colouring a drawing made for this interview.
Cédric Taling, people know you
as a painter and graphic artist.
Why did you choose the medium of the graphic novel
for Thoreau and Me?
For me, comics are the ultimate artform.
It's an artform that combines everything in the arts.
It involves writing, character development,
directing, framing, photography,
colorization and drawing, of course.
After having been a painter for over 15 years
I wanted a career change,
to move away from contemporary art.
I wasn't happy in that world anymore.
And right now I'm really enjoying working in comics.
It's a medium that allows you to tell a story over time,
to use every graphic innovation
and communicate every idea.
What inspires you about the American philosopher
and advocate of civil disobedience?
In what ways does he seem modern in today's society,
maybe even in the situation
we are currently going through?
So, in terms of civil disobedience,
I think that when a system is not working,
it's simply common sense
to resort to civil disobedience.
About 200 years ago, Thoreau was already warning us
about the emergence of this modern, ultra-capitalist world
based on economics to the detriment of society.
So, I think that... Thoreau was an example
of a way of thinking
like, for example, Etienne de La Boétie
or William Reich among others.
And I think that... right now we're all in lock down.
We have time to spend with our families,
we have concerns, we have...
lots of things are happening because of
the immobility caused by the lock down.
And maybe... maybe... I must admit that I hope
it leads to a certain form of civil disobedience,
a demand for more environmentalism,
more social mindedness, more feminism,
more mutual support and empathy.
At any rate, that is the utopia I hope for us all.
You say you are influenced by both Asia and America.
What about your relationship to
the European fine art tradition?
Well, for me, European fine art is full of influences
taken from everywhere:
from the East, the West, the South, and the North.
So, for example, I grew up in the 1980s and,
in terms of comics,
I had access to American superhero comics
and other comics like Watchmen and Sin City.
I was also lucky enough to be part of that first generation
to grow up in France with Manga culture.
When you look at the history of art,
it's quite interesting to see that the Cubists, for example,
were kind of inspired by African art,
and the Impressionists were inspired by Japanese art.
So, for me, European art is that too.
It's this openness to cultures from outside Europe.
Did you create your Twitter account at the start
of the lock down as a way of escaping it?
No, not at all. To be honest, I've only rarely used
my Twitter account since setting it up.
Twitter's not really my thing.
I opened an account to take part in the #coronamaison
hashtag that Pénélope Bagieu launched,
which allowed me to create three small drawings,
to pass the time,
and also turn this into a kind of
idealized and slightly poetic lock down
a family lock down that all four of us would enjoy.
As for escaping the lock down,
I must admit I don't really want to escape it.
It's quite an extraordinary experience, one that is new
for me and I'm appreciating it for what it is.
That's it. But then, in my case, no one
is sick and everything's fine,
so it's actually quite easy and enjoyable, in a way.
Have a lovely day and best of luck for the future.
Be outraged!
I hope you enjoy Thoreau and Me.
I look forward to seeing you in person someday soon.
