AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FILMMAKER ON HIS LONG-STANDING COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH ARTIST FRANCIS ALŸS
After a long and rainy day in New York City, while waiting for the 1 train to arrive, one of Julien Devaux’s Instagram posts makes me laugh and confirms my desire to interview him for IMMATERIAL. The photograph shows a woman in Mexico City walking a chihuahua on leash and a man next to her walking a cabbage down the street, also on a leash. I find this image humorous, but mostly, it makes me wonder about the instant Devaux decided to capture it. Later, when I meet Julien in person, I mention this image to him. He explains to me that walking a cabbage on a leash is a remedy for depression in China. Researching this ritual, I encounter an article on The Huffington Post covering a collective performance art piece that took place in Beijing on May 10th, in which dozens of teenagers walked around the city with cabbages on leashes.