Bagarres #03 – La Pièce Montée

Gilles Barbier says it well (p. 120), the Pièce Montée evokes balance, elevation, fragility. It's joyful too, especially when things go downhill. Let's can add that it speaks of overflow, excess and the inability to stop—creating as well as consuming. It's a classic of French gastronomy—the central piece of the wedding banquet, a tad old France, which we love to knock out, especially when the chou come from Mamiche (a great pastry shop at my corner)... In short, it's different things piled up depending on where we're at and how we approcha it. It allows us to talk about everything we love; Art of course; in all its forms.
So, here's what you'll find in this issue. A slew of ultra-talented artists, too many to name here; young and old, who played the game of varied protocols. We've mixed, stacked, loved them, in a format closer now to a magazine. Illustrators and authors chosen from a catalog, uh no, not at all, chosen for their talentand their sense of à-propos. A photo series that puts colored tights in fashion again; an iodized architectural madness series, a predictive art-stroscope, a delicious mayo-dog recipe to try at home, oulipic games created by zealous cruciverbists, and of course, the centerpiece of this issue the greatest accumulation of Pièce Montée ever shown!