Jérôme Combier

Rust

Rust refers to the material rust and subsequently implies the metal that it covers. Rust is mineral, but develops from a mineral that has deteriorated over time and due to successive layers, rust ends up resembling an almost vegetal incrustation. In my mind, Rust cannot be distinguished from grasses, lichens or flowers. I am reminded of the beautiful painting by Anselm Kiefer that I saw at the Museo delle Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome several years ago, made from leaves of lead, with dense blue colours, rust and dried flowers. Rust is heavy like lead (Jean-René Huguenin writes 'It must be heavy. It must be some sort of elephant in a virgin forest'), it sinks into the lower register and can only extirpate itself through inserts, through metallic rips. Rust makes use of a little numerology of my own that sets up a series of proportions17semiquavers 17crotchets 17dotted crotchets 17semibreves / 7semiquavers 7crotchets 7dotted crotchets 7semibrevesSeveral proportional tempi (semibreve=47 semibreve=59 semibreve=71 semibreve=95) define the various writing styles (choral, contrapuntal, rhythmical). An alternation, more or less rapid, more or less jerky, fragments the discourse, but also ends up giving the impression of a polyphony of forms.