ORLAN is a French artist, born May 30, 1947 in Saint-Étienne, Loire. She lives and works in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. She was invited to be a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, for the 2006-2007 academic year. She sits on the board of administrators for the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and is a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Cergy.
Although ORLAN is best known for her work with plastic surgery in the early-to-mid 1990s, she has not limited her work to a particular medium.
In 1964, while in her home town of Saint-Étienne, she started the "Marches au ralenti" ("Slow motion walks"), in which she would walk as slowly as possible between two central parts of the city.
From 1965 to 1983, she performed the "MesuRages", in which she would use her own body as a measuring instrument, called the "Orlan-body". In this performance, she would measure how many people could fit within a given architectural space, using her "Orlan-body" as a unit of measurement.
This is our campaigne.
we will destroy fear.
and all my friends are gone.
they packed their lives and they disappered on that great big ship,
and i sank was i watched it go down.
I hear the boots marching in line
through the trenches through my mind.
we'll bury them where they fall and
remember how they faught for our last breath.
we're not coming back,
because all our friends are gone.
they crossed the line and they're one man
short of a pleasure cruise
as we sink please remember a
hero's day will come. a hero's day will come soon
i hear boots marching in line
through the trenches through my mind.
we'll bury them where they fall
and remember how they fight.
as they fall, so do we.
bury us here where we fall.
fight the good fight for all.
bury them where they fall with the mud in their eyes
and shrapnel in their mouths.
i hear the boots marching in lin
through the trenches through my mind
we'll bury them where they fall
these streets are cold,
and some things just cant be told
as i wait alone, but you know how that goes.
when everything becomes a blur to me,
chiors sing the street songs that i've come to know.
and the world is turning into the city today.
i spend my days traveling underground
in bright subways until the sun goes down.
i spend my nights growing flowers by candlelight
in dark hotels until the sun comes up and we go for a walk.so we can talk,
or we can say nothing at all.
lets go for a drive. they'll never find us alive if we say nothing,
cause the world is turning into the city
sometimes i wonder if i will ever leave the city.
sometimes the air is very hard to breathe in the city.
while all the ghosts are marching in the streets,
i make the same mistakes. please forgive me.
your simple toys remind my of the noise
that i once heard of motor cars and crashing birds.
i stand alone remembering my home
and where we'll go when all these buildings turn to stone.
I've found peace here
alone by your side,
but where is real love?
grey is the sky,
searching for bright eyes,
and a voice in the sea is whispering,
"no, thats not for you"
there's a flame in the night,
but is it for real this time?
and the waves are lost from sight,
so will we set sail tonight?
the wind is breathing a sigh,
answering, "no, thats not for you"
i awoke from a dream to the sound of fluttering wings.
a flock of ghosts on the lawn,
travelling south for the winter i suppose.
they're lost trying to leave this icy winterland frost,
but there's no way to escape everything.
there's an angel up in a tree,
and she won't come down.
she's afraid that she might fall
into the arms of a fireman
and she will lose her soul.
sometimes they don't know when to let go,
stop the car,
cause i want to get out before we reach the mountains ahead.
and how does it feel to sleep at the wheel
when we're headed straight for the lake
and i'm drowning in dangerous scenery?
i hear you calling me,
so release me,
cause my temper is growing.
and i see through you
and all that you do,
cunning and cruel.
you breath in my ear,
this is how it begins.
so gently we ride,
burning inside,
and miles away i still see city lights
calling me home again.
this is how its going to end,
lost in these hills and
surrounded by nothing but dangerous scenery?
i hear you calling me,
so release me,
cause my temper is growing strong
and i dont belong down here.
you never disappear.
you're always waiting here for me.
you can cross my mind,
but you'll never get away
you can leave me for dead,
but you'll never get away.
and i close my eyes,
but you never go away.
if i dont let you go,
then i'll never get away from here.
i'll run from you
we live what we show
and falling is just a game that we know.
but i'll be counting on these angels
to gather up and catch me before i'm scattered below.
and you're the one who opens my eyes.
you're the one who falls in disguise.
you're the one who empties my mind
when i feel like i will fall,
and you will let go.
I'm falling
dont let go until i'm flying
this is a moment of truth
falling back the sky is all you see,
but looking back is always tempting me.
the groun is real or so it seems,
and ghosts below are forming teams
this is not a game.
and you're the one who opens my eyes.
you're the one who falls in disquise.
you're the one who empties my mind
when i feel like i will fall
and you will let go.
Goodbye love,
I'll miss you.
I'm thinking of you as I watch the world go by, outside my windows,
You're hiding, so I'll stop fighting and stay inside today
[Chorus]
And sleep until I find you awake, cause you like a shady place.
in this room,
I'll search forever in vain until I find a Shady Place
floating down like water, the moon is my sign.
i'm coming under to hold what i cant find,
outside my windows,
stars are falling so i close my door softly cause you wont
hear me calling in my sleep.
[Chorus]
how will I ever find you again when you sleep in the ocean?
you're swirling under the current again,
while you sleep in the ocean I drown in my bed,
and you swim in my head.
I've got you now.
Goodbye love,
I'll miss you
[Chorus]
Floating down like water
I've got you now.
Goodbye love,
What have i done?
you call and i come
crawling back home to give back these bones.
choking myself like a dog on a chain,
i wanna get to you, before you get to me
but there's something about the way that you say,
"dong be afraid.
no dont be afraid when this comes"
if love is a long kiss goodnight then sweet dreams.
they'll turn out the lights
when they are sure we're asleep.
but i still hear the voices that call from below,
and i want to let them know
that i'm never letting go,
but there's something about the way that they say,
"dont be afraid, no, dont be afraid when we call."
come and rest your bones
beneath this field of stones
this place will become your home someday
drifting above rows of houses and cars there's a feeling here
that anyone can fly.
but like all theones who have fallen before,
we are letting go, but they wont let us die.
and i hear them say,
"dont talk about what its all about
its just enough to know.
forget about what you've heard about,
its all what you see."
far below here there's a quaint little town
where i sued to live and others used to die.
and everyone talked about people like these who were just like birds
and watched us from the sky.
and i heard them say
"dont talk about what its all about,
its just enough to know.
forget about what you've heard about,
its only what you see
let it go, there's nothing to know.
keep your eyes on the gound,
and forget about what you've heard about,
its all what you see"
breathe and we'll float away.
breathe and we'll float away so slow.