French chocolatier Patrick Roger makes art edible
Picture taken off video of Patrick Roger making statuettes out of his chocolate: Edible, but not for eating. Nor for sale. — AFP picturePARIS, Aug 4 — Patrick Roger is no ordinary chocolatier. Not satisfied with selling chocolates to his customers, he has started shaping the confactionery into sculptures weighing up to 80 kilos each.
His work has won him recognition across France and internationally, and led to collaborations with Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld. AFPTV took a bite.
Roger is on a mission to make art as delicious as possible.
He is based at this workshop in central Paris that he refers to as his “magic laboratory”.
His fame comes not just from combining chocolate into new flavours, but also from turning them into enormous chocolate sculptures.
Says Roger: “If I hadn’t discovered this material, I would never be where I am now, that’s for sure. This has given me a huge personal insight. It wasn’t me that discovered this. It discovered me. But you have to do what you want to do and what you enjoy. And I think that’s essential, the rest is of little consequence.”
Roger says he’s inspired by nature and politics.
As well as building statues, he tries to weave a political message into his craft.
His current focus is on endangered species, represented here in his workshop in life-size proportions.
“It’s a very, very important cause,” he says. “I think it creates an energy, and if you manage to save two or three, then I will have really helped to build something.”
A walk among his creations isn’t unlike a trip to a modern art museum… albeit a bit tastier and more edible.
“I don’t think it’s a waste having these window displays,” he says “People do like it when there’s a change. It’s a bit like with department stores; people like to window shop.”
Customers hoping for a bite of the sculptures could be disappointed.
They aren’t for sale or for public consumption.
For a taste of the chocolate, they’ll have to stick to the truffles. — AFP/Relaxnews
