Süddeutsche Zeitung München 2000

No. 172

Zoom in on the Cell

Parisian artist Christian Havet bathes the All Saints’ Court Church in red light

By Andrea Surkus

In front of the opera, there’s a stylish hustle and bustle in tails, while on the Königsplatz, the open-air cinema audience, stressed by « Big Brother » and other TV excesses, wonders on Wednesday evening: Is Ridley Scott trying to tell us something with his « Gladiator » opus?

Scenario

That we’re already as advanced in terms of entertainment as the ancient Romans, who throw a man like Russell Crowe to the lions? But no sooner has the partygoer found the All Saints’ Court Church later that evening, barely stepped over the threshold, than a magical calm overcomes him. A world bathed in red light opens up, where time stands still: people at the entrance swirl glasses of shimmering red wine before you are sucked in, along the red carpet that runs straight through the almost empty church, up the altar steps, and from there rises in an arrow-like shape high into the apse. Around the carpet, round glass objects called « Birth » or « Passion » glow.

Then a lonely female voice rises from the gallery with fragments of « Carmen »: « L’amour. » Welcome to Christian Havet’s world.

« All religions are based on the idea of ​​love as a source of energy, » says the 40-year-old Parisian artist, who—as his exhibition space demonstrates—was an architect until ten years ago and has lived in Munich since 1999. He watches in delight as the opening night guests kneel next to the red glass panes depicting energy, blood, magma, giant human cells. « It’s one with the universe, » he says. And that’s how it feels when thunder and revelry break out outside, turning the long-since unconsecrated church into a safe haven once again. Only no one dares go into the apse with its carpet arrow, even though the church’s rose window (Havet: « a mandala ») is best seen from there. « Probably the Catholic upbringing is having an impact, » speculates Antoine Grassin, the new French Consul General. A waiter, devoutly balancing a plate of quiche so as not to disturb the ensemble, steps onto the object « Harmony. » Immediately the artist jumps out from a remote corner and switches the light back on. Grassin smiles: « You can see that energy is indestructible » (until August 13, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

Photo: Stephan Rumpf

The energy source of love: Christian Havet explains his luminous glass object « Harmony » to visitors at the opening