Street Safari: Hunting Trophies of Dubai by Vincent Fichard

I don’t know much about Vincent Fichard, AKA Vincent Who, but I believe in the work he’s doing. From what I gather from his bio, he is thoughtful and heartfelt – two qualities that are indispensable to an artist who makes it his mission to enlighten through narrative and inspire with strong ideas. Vincent is a traveler. He’s lived in places that I can only dream of visiting – South Africa and the Middle East – and now lives and works in Paris, France. Where he’s lived is important to note because, unlike the average globetrotter who’s passport stamps and dusty collection of souvenirs are the only record of said travels, Vincent created bodies of work that reflect upon his experience and time spent in the places he visited. In 2007, he created the lovely short film “Go Around Twice if You’re Happy”, which has received over 1 Million hits on Youtube and is one of the most discussed short films on the site. Check it out:

Vincent Who’s latest project is this Street Safari series, inspired by his experience in Dubai. Rather than glorifying the superficiality of wealth and mega-tropolis trappings that Dubai embodies, Vincent reflects on the wasteful exuberance of a culture that is not considering its impact. These days, it’s difficult to make a political statement without scaring people away. I believe Vincent Who manages to hold his audience’s attention through clever story-telling and a non-judgemental depiction of the subject matter at hand. I really enjoyed this body of work and hope you do too. Continue reading for more images and info on the work in the artist’s own words.

Here’s what Vincent Who writes about Street Safari:

2010, Dubai UAE

Welcome to the Jungle: Dubai, a permanent work in progress, capitalistic to the bone, worst carbon foot print on the planet.

What had me tick is not what Dubai creates, but what Dubai throws away in the process: thousands of cranes left for dead once the bubble burst, temporary road signs left permanently on the streets, hundreds of dead trees which simply can’t take the heat.

Straight from the streets or from abandoned villas, I collected these revealing pieces born from the over speculative construction industry.

After assembling them together to create hunting trophies, I applied a thin layer of gold on each of them, in typical Dubai Fashion.

In other words, I didn’t go hunting grizzly bears, but giant grey buildings that swallow us without us knowing it.

Vincent