The discovery

"I have always been torn apart by the desire to chose. So, I don't choose." A true leitmotif in the artistic life of CharlElie Couture, the multitude of his artistic experiences has always muddled up an image that the record companies would have liked...more defined. "The danger of an artist, is to find himself isolated by the media and those who define his image. At first you are yourself and than you find out how people perceive you, and that is very painful. You are caricatured by certain aspects of yourself."

But CharlElie Couture's bulimic creativity has slightly exploded the little categories of a full curriculum vitae. "What's difficult is to send the message of multiple disciplines. There is a big difference between enjoying yourself by doing something different than what people know of you and going deep within yourself for real artistic research. Every activity that I do generally doesn't interfere when I start a new job. In the graphics domain when I work on an album cover I don't necessarily consult the painter within me. That was the case for the album "Les Naïves" which wasn't at all my usual style but it was a style that the musician needed. I become enriched by these different experiences but it's a difficult and particular process."

"When Internet arrived, it was finally a chance to put together the pieces of the puzzle. When I started to understand the Internet system, thanks to my webmaster Mario Salis, I jumped in immediately."

The creation

As soon as CharlElie discovered Internet and its possibilities he immediately went to his record company, EMI. "When I wanted to create my website, I went to see them. I told them that they had to get on the Net, that it was the future, that they had to call upon Mario Salis and that it would be good for their artists. There were even three managing directors who came to the house. They were hard to convince. They didn't think that this would affect many people. But in the last two years it has boomed." If EMI hasn't really followed the movement, CharlElie has jumped into the adventure with delight. The web pages of Champs Paraboliques were born in '97, entirely created by Mario Salis. This former Italian singer who has lived in France since the 80's has dived into the virtual world of multimedia during the '90's. A fan of CharlElie's pretty vast universe, he contacted him quickly, the two men joined their passion for versatility and new technology.

CharlElie conceived, organized, and gave his instructions but didn't take part in the fabrication. It's Mario's domain. On the other hand, he found a new fully artistic medium with the Net. "I did things that I couldn't do elsewhere. I once sold a painting to someone who had seen it on the website but the image was accompanied by a specially composed piece of music. Once he had the painting at home he had the impression that the painting was mute. He had gotten used to hearing it, if you will. And that is practically impossible to reproduce elsewhere." Cyber catalogue, electronic gallery, CharlElie's website has thus allowed him to circulate his work on a large scale. "Knowing that I could refer people to the site who were kind enough to be interested in my graphic work was a great relief. For a long time I had to cart around notebooks and portfolios to show people my drawings. With Internet, I was able to organize myself more coherently".

Communication

But for CharlElie Couture, the real revelation linked to the Net is electronic mail. "The site is like a presence by which I receive hundreds of messages. And it's extremely stiumulating for an artist to hear what people with no real intentions think of you. By no intentions I mean well-intentioned. The criticisms are always specific and constructive."

In addition what's so pronounced in what CharlElie says, as well as other artists who have a website, is this discovery and this search for a less official, more frank and more tolerant view of their work. "The easiest thing for the marketing guys to do was to sell CharlElie as the CharlElie that worked. All of a sudden when I came into contact with people from Internet, it was no longer the same. Their understanding of me was more objective. It wasn't the hits that interested them but something totally different. They had other memories of me and success was only a reference point, nothing more. When it comes down to it, never did anyone take the liberty of saying he liked "Comme un avion sans ailes" in an e-mail message. On the contrary, they are proud to talk to me about less well-known things. And it's extremely relieving, stimulating. For example, when I did "Casque nu" in Chicago (a bluesy album, very different, author's note), I had some criticisms. In the mail, whether they liked it or not the people wrote and said that whether I was in Chicago or in Paris I would stay myself no matter. That freed me a great deal and it helped me to go further. The same for the techno track I did on my last album ("Elle danse pour oublier" author's note). I did it because I like that and I listen to it a lot. But I didn't doubt that I would be criticised for a little opportunism. And on the net, I got a lot of encouragement. It was as if I was given the right to do what I wanted."

But a paradox of the system, the multitude of messages sort of ruins the possibility for dialog: "Today I don't really have the time to answer. As soon as I write one message, I receive 50!".

Evolution

One of the important things about Champs Paraboliques is that it is kept up to date. No matter where he is, CharlElie can keep an eye on his site with which he has "a close relationship". The messages he receives have a lot of influence on it : "That's why it evolves regularly. I try to adapt to everyone's tools."

But after falling in love with the Net, nowadays CharlElie has a more objective and critical view of this tool: "with a bit of maturity, I think of Internet as I do the telephone. I use it according to my needs. You must admit that there are still lots of things that screw up on the Internet, but this means of communication is too complete for us not to find what we want." A more limited use than we would have thought in Couture's galaxy. No surfing the Net at home: "We've tried, but I admit that for the moment, the dictionary is the best. The research is hell. It's too long".

However, "since I opened my site, I have had a more relaxed conscience, more in tune with my time. A creator today must use the tools of his time. This doesn't prevent you from doing things the old-fashioned way with a paper and pencil. It's not all incompatible."

Pencil or mouse? Once again the choice is from now on impossible for the artist. His work tools are too interlinked, too interdependent, too numerous: "That came into play in the latest book I wrote, "Transfocus" a book with numeric images that I did in Eastern Europe and which are associated with texts read by fifty or so people. Around this I composed a symphony of background sounds that are on a CD-ROM. One thing leading to another I did a multimedia concert with image and sound. This activity ensued from my Internet experience."

Future

Free Net access? Numeric piracy? Questions that everyone asks and to which CharlElie has his answers: "I insist that my first site remain free, but I have had many requests from people who would like to buy this thing or that, old records or books. We are planning on opening a sales site but I don't want it to interfere with Les Champs Paraboliques. It will be called Moon's Queen and should start in September."

As for copying, only the record companies seem worried: "I'm not afraid of anything. The sound is so bad. There is more to be worried about from large-scale distribution and easily consumable music. On the same note, one can photocopy the pages of my books. That is more worrying."

CharlElie Couture's Lastest News:
Two books : Transfocus (Flying Boat/Fnac Direct) and Beaux Gestes : le tennis vu par CharlElie Couture (Le Pré aux Clercs)