They are all there, with their little bellies pushed forward, mouths silent on hairless faces, elbows tucked in or hands in pockets… and always those round eyes, most often glassy, like oculi in their sockets. They went to war… and then, here they are, with a wooden leg, a medal, and a rifle from the 1870 war: the famous Chassepot!
All these little men do is perpetually display their almost magnetic presence. It is up to each person to discover their role as either an observed spectator or voyeur, depending on whether they are participative or passive…
This experience offers a reflection on the way we look at a work of art, the position of the viewer in front of it, and more broadly on the meaning of gaze in a Museum.
