La Demeure du Chaos, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône (69)

When we arrived in Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, just half an hour after La Demeure du Chaos opened, it was impossible to find a regular parking space in this village of just 1200 inhabitants. Quite clearly La Demeure du Chaos is by an extremely long shot the main attraction, and yet I can't find a single mention of it on the village's official website: the mayor is the problem, as she is absolutely against this Musée d'Art Contemporain. Thierry Ehrmann, the creator of the highly influential Artprice, which catalogues enormous numbers of works of art dating from the 18th century, is the creator of La Demeure du Chaos, the English translation of which seems to have been suggested by The New York Times: 'The Adobe of Chaos'. Personally I find 'abode' too old-fashioned a translation of 'demeure', but there we have it. The work on Artprice takes place in the building next to the musée, and this houses a huge number of documents on works of art.

The reason for La Demeure du Chaos's success? Well, social media have certainly helped, and to date its Facebook group has 3.8 million subscribers. It's also free of charge, and entrance includes a free 148-page book about the musée. But its success is obviously also due to the fact that it is a feast for the eyes, with over six thousand art exhibits on open outdoor display over 7000 square metres: this is the site of a former postal relay station. Thierry (who seems to prefer using his first name in the lower case) describes La Demeure du Chaos as 'a media and dadaist war machine which will never end'. He calls himself 'the Facteur Cheval of the 21st century', and certainly among the sculptures – many of which are by Thierry himself – there are tributes to Le Facteur Cheval and a number of other outsider artists. One of the sentences written in the book states that it would be an act of barbarity to destroy La Demeure du Chaos (which the mayor would love to see), and this echoes André Malraux's comment on those who wanted to destroy Le Palais Idéal, saying that it would be 'infantile' to do so.

Below I let the photos speak for themselves, very occasionally translating a sentence. Suffice to say that the comments written on the artwork are anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-fascist, essentially left-wing anarchist.

'It's a big crime to seek to destroy thousands of works of art...isn't it Madame le maire!

'Everything is forbidden apart from paying'.

Josef Hofer was the quintessence of an outsider artist.

'Reading Charlie Hebdo is forbidden'.

'

'Reading L'Huma [French communist daily] is forbidden'.

'Meditation is forbidden'.

'Taking speed is forbidden'.

'Travelling is forbidden'.

The outline of Le Facteur Cheval.

Jérôme Rodrigues, a gilet jaune blinded in one eye after a police assault.

'If our planet is warming it's because we're getting closer to hell'.

'The cops grill us to find out what's cooking'.

André Malraux, Charles de Gaulle, Simone Veil, Alain Finkelkraut and, er, Klaus Kinski.

'No to reactionaries'.

'All things considered, the only truth is to lead a passionate life, even if it rebels and hits you in the face!'

Finally, a glimpse through a window to one of the offices inside La Demeure du Chaos.

Art brut (Outsider Art) and associated:
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Rémy Callot, Carvin (Nord)
Carine Fol (ed.): L'Art brut en question | Outsider Art in Question
Kevin Duffy, Ashton-in-Makerfield
The Art Brut of Léopold Truc, Cabrières d'Avignon (34)
Le Musée Extraordinaire de Georges Mazoyer, Ansouis (34)
Le Facteur Cheval's Palais Idéal, Hauterives (26)
The Little Chapel, Guernsey
Museum of Appalachia, Norris, Clinton, Tennessee
Ed Leedskalnin in Homestead, Florida
La Fabuloserie, Dicy, Yonne (89)
Street Art City, Lurcy-Lévis, Allier (03)
The Outsider Art of Jean Linard, Neuvy-deux-Clochers (18)
Jean Bertholle, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Jean-Pierre Schetz, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Jules Damloup, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Camille Vidal, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
Pascal Verbena, La Fabuloserie, Yonne (89)
The Art of Theodore Major
Edward Gorey's Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod, MA
Marcel Vinsard in Pontcharra, Isère (38)
Vincent Capt: Écrivainer : La langue morcelée de Samuel Daiber
The Amazing World of Danielle Jacqui, Roquevaire (13)
Alphonse Gurlie, Maisonneuve (07)
Univers du poète ferrailleur, Lizio, Morbihan
Les Rochers sculptés de L'Abbé Fouré, Rothéneuf, Saint-Malo
Robert Tatin in Cossé-le-Vivien, Mayenne
La Demeure du Chaos, Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, Rhône (69)
René Raoul's Jardin de pierre in Pléhédel, Côtes d'Armor
Emmanuel Arredondo in Varennes Vauzelles, Nièvre (58)
Musée de la Luna Rossa (revisited), Caen, Calvados (14)
La Fontaine de Château-Chinon, Nièvre (58)