Rebecca Bournigault's '644 mm' Explores Distance and Intimacy at Galerie Frédéric Giroux

At Galerie Frédéric Giroux in Paris, Rebecca Bournigault's exhibition '644 mm' (January 6 to February 24, 2007) investigates interpersonal distance through video, installation, and watercolor. The title references the 1.20 meters of 'personal space' maintained by a couple in the opening video as they traverse hostile environments—forest, highway, parking lot, street, beach—without eye contact. Bournigault critiques the societal illusion of fusion with a soulmate, calling it 'destructive' and advocating for new ways to be 'alone and with others.' In a second work, the artist presents herself in high heels and a dress, creating a 'type portrait' of a city girl displaced into an incongruous setting, with viewers held at 3.60 meters. A watercolor depicts a couple kissing at less than 40 cm, their bodies and clothing cropped to strip away social markers, leaving only raw intimacy. The exhibition also includes a gallery of portraits—women, couples, rioters, porn actors—extracted from their original contexts and arranged at least 644 mm apart, echoing Bukowski's 'gallery of portraits' from his 'Journal of a Dirty Old Man.'