In the 'Norms' series, Vethan Sautour's aim has been to remove the classical structure of a painting to have the audience only focus on the habitually hidden and buried messages by putting the latter on the absolute forefront. Thereby, the concept is not only expressed in the visuals, the title of the work and its context, but it is the artwork itself.

 

Further, to strip the work from any visual details that could distract the viewers from the conveyed information, only the words remain inside the frame. In that vein, the frame has been assembled by the artist and the material used comes from rolled cotton canvas that had never been mounted. The idea was to employ basic materials before they had ever been used, so as to create works from the simplest and purest means and strengthen the fact that the art only lies within the displayed information - the concept.

 

The true purpose of the frame is to bring structure to the works and generate in the audience an automatic response to look at what is inside it, wherein the words are the only items that can be beheld. Henceforward, the onlookers have no other choice than to become aware of what is written and focus on nothing else in that very moment of discovery.

 

Emotional impact has been an important component of art, which here only lies in the bare sentences showcasing strong stories exhibited for the viewers' eyes and minds. In this series, art puts reality and truth in its simplest form before all other considerations, so as to provoke a strong reaction.

 

With social media, internet and propaganda, a plethora of information often prevents us to know and access the truly important events happening around the globe, this series' inherent aim is to give them a voice and share these with the world in the shape of its oldest manifestation: physical art.