Debrief of her journey on her royal enfiel
One of OLOW's historic artistic collabs is Camille de Cussac. We've lost track of how many of her illustrations have graced our clothes over the years. Based in Paris, she reigns over a colourful, funny, falsely naive world, always on a white background.
Today, we discover another side of her world: that of motorised two-wheelers. A travel enthusiast, she took her motorbike licence to set off to conquer the asphalt, panniers firmly attached to the luggage rack of her Royal Enfield, helmet screwed on her head and felt-tip pens in her hand (when she wasn't holding the handlebars). We took the time to meet her so that she could tell us about her journey, between her taste for adventure and her travel anecdotes, we let you board with her on the back of her bike.
What is the ideal bike for you?
Even if I find big bikes very beautiful, it still has to be my size, I would be too scared to lift it up if it fell... So mine, a Royal Enfield, interceptor model (they always have quite venerable names), is kind of the ideal model for the moment. It's not very big and the tank is orange, I think it's very pretty. It's easy to ride, and there are hooks for bags, so for summer and road trips it's handy. It's the first time I've really owned something, and I think it's a bit of an escape route every time, for weekends or further afield.
How does it feel to be a girl on a big bike, in a rather male world?
It's so cool, I love it! I have 3 brothers, so at home there wasn't really any boy or girl stuff, I did the same activities as them. In fact, when someone says to me "that's not a girl thing", it makes me so mad, that it makes me want to do it even more. And as far as motorbikes are concerned, there are more and more girls riding them, and they have huge motorbikes, which I think is really cool.
In your work, there are many representations of motorized or non-motorized vehicles, or references to travel. Where does this passion for the road come from? And by extension, that of the motorbike?
First of all, it comes from travelling, from going on the road. It's something I've always loved, taking the bus, the plane, the train, the car... but also in backpacking mode, a bit of an adventure. As for the motorbike, the object itself has always fascinated me. My father, my brothers and my boyfriend have motorbikes. I loved riding in the back, but I had never tried it. Some time ago, we started talking about road trips, travelling light, the idea of leaving on a motorbike made me want to do it, so I took my licence, with this aim, my idea was really to ride.
By the way, this taste for two wheels makes me think of this masterful t-shirt "Don't want a baby, just need a moto", that we launched with you during your last exhibition at the Slow Gallery. Can you tell me more about this big punchline?
It's not an angry thing at all, it's more of a funny thing. I was getting my motorbike licence at the time, and actually, apart from the motorbike, my parents love babies, and I think they're quite keen for us to have kids. Except that I don't want to at all, or at least not at the moment. It was a joke to say to them "my concern at the moment is the motorbike, it gives me more pleasure than the idea of having a baby". In the context of this exhibition, I was laughing to make a t-shirt with OLOW. By the way, it's funny, I got a picture on Instagram of a girl with the t-shirt and her big belly who said "I chose both" or "the bike will wait" (I don't know what exactly) and I thought that was cool.
Can you tell us more about this road-trip? How many of you were there? What was the itinerary?
We started by talking about the idea amongst ourselves, then talking to one person, then two, then three, then everyone around us, like when you make plans on the comet on the terrace, so we talked about it so much that in the end we had to do it. So we prepared an itinerary just before, but we hadn't booked anything in advance, except for the first night, so we wouldn't have to sleep outside right away. We wanted to be free to go everywhere, to squat on the right and on the left, not to depend on anybody, and that nobody should depend on us either.
We always had the plan B of the tent, because sometimes you have to improvise a bit. I really like that, to think that if you like a place, you can stay there a bit longer.
WE WENT FOR 15 DAYS, AND OUR ITINERARY WAS :
Paris - Troyes we passed not far from the Nigloland park but to my great sadness we had no time to stop.
Vesoul, on the Alsatian roads, with the passage of the Schultz pass and a small blueberry pie on the way.
Colmar - Switzerland, a small fondue, then Gruyère and gruyère, Chamonix and a tartiflette.
The Grandes Alpes route with a raclette and the Lac D'amour, without eating because we had forgotten to buy dinner on the way and everything was closed.
Orange - Drome we stayed with friends, and in Ardèche with the grandparents. We went through Lyon (and its quenelles), Auxerre...
...and finally Paris
During your trip you created a whole bunch of characters with crazy positions, which you have brilliantly staged. When and how did you come up with the idea of integrating your own artistic universe into this journey?
I had done them before, as part of my exhibition at the Slow Gallery. I was afraid there wouldn't be enough stuff, or not enough links, so at the last minute I made some characters, in different positions, a bit like a Tetris, and I thought I could put them between the frames, to complete. Except that on the day, I forgot about them, so I thought I would use them for something else. In the end, I'm not sure why I brought them along, but during the trip I thought it would be fun to take pictures with them. In the end, it allowed me to take pictures of the road trip and to keep my relatives informed, without being on the pictures but keeping a more lively side. Otherwise, I still had my notebook and my markers to draw as I went along.
What are your best and worst memories?
A funny memory is the first time we pitched our tent. It was in the Alps, we were very happy, it was hot, and we ran towards the place where we were going to sleep, thinking that we would find a supermarket or a grocery shop to have a picnic. But it was Sunday, everything was closed. We kept on going, kept on going, passed by a dirt road, and finally reached our drop-off point, without food and with a bottom of a water bottle. We laughed a lot as we realised how unorganised we were. But it was very cool, stranded in the mountains by the water. We didn't have a network either. But it's actually a great memory. Even the bad ones are funny in the end. There are bound to be more stressful and less comfortable moments, but as long as it doesn't matter, everything becomes fun.
What is your next road trip?
We're going to set off again this year, once again we've only planned the beginning. We're going to go down to Marseille, and after that we'll head for the Pyrenees and why not go to the Spanish side, I hear it's very beautiful, but we'll stay in France. There are lots of nice places we'd like to visit, maybe we'll also go through the Cévennes and the Auvergne. It will be a surprise! I'll know more when we get back!
If you had to remember only one song from your playlist, what would it be?
This playlist goes back to the time when I did an exhibition in Japan called "on the road again". I put in all the songs that could be related to the theme. The one that comes to me first is the one that opens it, On the road again, by Bernard Lavilliers. It may be a bit "old-fashioned", but I love it, he has a great voice, there is perhaps a bit of nostalgia in it.
