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Conceived as a form of research, a project dedicated to defining exactly what makes the Stone Island community so distinct, the narrative is further brought to life by unique questions set for each of the twelve-strong cohort.

1.Who are the artists who inspire you? 

“I don't practice inspiration. It's too close to copying.”

2.Is there an exhibition that inspired you? 

“Exhibiting and exhibitions generate admiration, which belittles human.”

3.Are there any quotes you live by? 

“Sky is not the limit.” 

4.Who do you admire most in history? 

“I avoid admiring the dead.”

5.Who or what else would you have liked to be? 

« Any gigolo. »

6.What couldn't you live without? 

“Love and the object of love: my wife.”

7.What is your unrealized project? 

“Peace.”

8.Do you have rituals? 

“Almost everything is ritual, because all rituals helps concentration.”

9.What music are you listening to? 

“Anything, as long as it is moving.”

10.What is your favourite movie? 

“Dodeskaden by Akira Kurosawa.” 

11.What ought to change? 

“From time to time, the sense of time.”

12.What is energy? 

“The idea that it is better to get up than to stay in bed.”

13.What have you forgotten? 

“Everything, and I am happy about it.”

14.The future is...? 

“In the long term, the future is light. In the short term, it is shadow.”

15.What is time? 

“The nightmare of my life. Every minute of mine has always been counted.”

16.What achievements of yours are you especially proud of? 

“For remaining naive and honest. And for believing in Us.”

17.What is the first thing you do when you wake up? 

“Smile at my wife. Take a burning-hot then ice-cold shower. Go to my office. Blow my head off.”

18.What is the last thing you do before you go to sleep? 

“Read some really good literature. Then smile at my wife.”

19.What are you reading? 

“Anything that's very well written, what we call literature.”

20.Who are your inspirations? 

“Neither god nor master.”

21.What do you collect?

“Collecting is morbidly pointless.”

22.What thoughts are on your mind right now? 

« Sounding smart. »

23.What is still a mystery to you? 

“Is the living really better than the dead?”

24.What do you want to be remembered for? 

“A guy who tried to be helpful.”

25.What do you belong to? 

“Evolution.”

26.What do you want to sustain?

What I would like to remember. Human values.

27.What are you growing? 

“Wasabi.”

28.What is your favourite season? 

“Spring because plants are in rut.”

29.What is your favourite time of day? 

“Sunrise. Sunset.”

30.What is your favourite temperature? 

“37,5°C.”

31.What is your preferred mode of transport? 

“The Spirit.”

32.What’s the most remote place you have visited? 

“My subconscious.”

33.Do you prefer words or images? 

"Or both? They are necessary to communicate."

34.Which maps do you use? 

“Imagination.”

35.What sports do you play? 

“Life.” 

36.What is your favourite city in the world? 

“I don't like cities.”

37.What’s your favourite colour?

“White, because it's the combination of all colors.”

38.Do you prefer the desert, forest, mountain or beach?

“The sea.”

39.What advice would you give your younger self? 

“Stay naive.” 

40.What’s the best advice you ever received?

“Alas, I don't hear advices.” 

41.What’s the most impressive landscape you’ve ever seen?

“The small of my wife’s back.”

42.Which building would you like to live in? 

“The Einstein Tower, in Potsdam, Germany.” 

43.What’s your favourite night train?

“None.”

44.What is your favourite music?

“Brian Eno. Laurie Anderson. Lou Reed.”

45.Would you rather rise early or stay up late? Or both?

“I love the obligation of waking up early with the brain in good condition.”

46.Which languages can you understand? 

“The unsaid and the between-the-lines.”

47.What’s the best question to ask to get to know a person? 

“What are you doing?”

48.What’s the most recent thing you made?

« Answer 47 questions. »

49.What’s more essential, together time or alone time? Or both? 

“Shared time has no value.”

50.How do you clear your mind?

“A bicycle ride in the mountains.”

51.What’s something you recently discovered about yourself?

“When I was younger, I was not that bad finally.”

52.Have you ever experimented with making clothes?

“Yes, because everything to do with the body is fascinating.”

53.Do you have any skills that might surprise people?

“I say everything I think.”

54.Name a book, film, podcast, or video game that changed your life?

“The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin.” 

55.Who is the smartest person you know?

“The infinite number of people smarter than me.”

56.What’s the best way to go beyond fear?

“Jumping into the void without a parachute.”

57.Are you organised or spontaneous? Or both? 

“Hyper-organized.”

58.Do you find it easy to embrace change? 

“Yes, when it is necessary.”

59.Describe, in brief, your perfect day?

“Anywhere, dreaming.” 

60.Which colour makes you feel energised? 

“Lemon yellow and neon orange.”

61.Do you have a favourite textile? 

“Alpaca.”

62.What materials are you drawn towards?

“All the materials invented by human genius.”

63.Would you go into space if given the opportunity? 

“My mind has already navigated a lot in the International Space Station simulator. Alas, I can't do any more because I'm claustrophobic.”

64.How many meals do you eat per day?

“Three, like everyone else.”

65.When you need inspiration, where do you go?

“I don't need inspiration. My mental illness is enough for me.”

66.What is freedom?

Something terrible when you loose it.

67.How willing are you to compromise?

“Compromise is the opposite of every atom in my DNA.”

68.What did you learn from your grandparents and/or parents?

“Creation is the only profession that doesn’t exploit anyone.”

69.What have you learned from your friends? 

“The gratuity of true friendship.”

70.What type of movies do you like? 

“Any film that shows me worlds or ways of thinking that I don’t know.”

71.What is on your walls at home? 

“Nothing, or memories.”

72.Are you a city or country person? Or both? 

“I'm a naked savage in the wild.”

73.Where do you do your best work? 

“On a small table, facing the waves.”

74.What time do you wake up? 

« More or less 7 am. »

75.Classic or modern or both? 

“Definitely modern, knowing that there is no modern without classic.”

76 What do you eat for breakfast? 

“One avocado. Two eggs. Apple and pomegranate.”

77. What you water goat subject when making? 

“Alas, I don't know how to do small-talk. Pity. It must be fun.”

78. How do you heal and recover? 

“Sleeping.” 

79. Describe your earliest memory? 

“Question 78.”

80. What are you grateful for? 

“Being loved.”

81. What gives you hope? 

“Human genius.”

82. Were you an only child? 

“More or less."

83. What is your most cherished possession? 

“My playlist, my paper pad and my pencil. Alas, because you can't own your wife.”

84. When were you last surprised? 

“I am never surprised. I try to understand.” 

85. What is the technology that has most improved your life? 

“Anything that lets you work from home.”

86. If you could relive one moment of your life what would it be? 

“My death. Thank you very much. Much appreciated.”

87. Do you have any hobbies?

“Life.”

88. Who or what do you turn to in a crisis? 

“The steady beauty of evolution.”

89. What is the most attractive quality in a partner?

“Humor, of course.”

90. What is a bad habit of yours that you’d like to change?

“Being snappish.”

91.Describe a smell you would recognise with your eyes closed.

“This is too intimate.”

92. What is self-care to you? 

“Following my biorhythm.”

93. What historical moment would you like to have seen? 

« The first second of the universe, the last second of this Earth.”

94. Do you collect anything?

“I keep all my sketches for my children.”

95. Do you play a musical instrument?

“I whistle, very well.”

96. Are you a good listener?  

“I don't have this software.”

97. Do you have a favourite word?

“Yes, of course.”

98. What do you think of AI?

“I think what we will make of it.”

99. Three words that describe your values?

“Fight, fight, fight.” 

100. How do you celebrate your birthday?

“I subcontract it.”