In Case of Apocalypse Count On Me

Torn posters on metal, acrylic paint, 150x 200 cm

2023

Inès Mélia engages with public space, confronting passersby with messages that prompt them to break free from deepseated denial about the future. "In Case of Apocalypse, Count On Me" is the latest piece in a series of interventions she carried out in the Paris metro over the course of two years, alongside her studio practice. This ongoing project was brought to a halt following a formal notice from the RATP (Paris’ public transport authority). Drawing on the legacy of historical poster artists such as Raymond Hains, Mimmo Rotella, and Jacques Villeglé, Mélia overlays graffiti-style phrases like "Did you get home safe?", "You will be very late", "Don’t go to art school" onto torn posters. These fragments, collected through everyday observations, recall the poetic flânerie of Queneau’s "Courir les rues". Scrawled in a freeing, almost cathartic gesture, her handwritten messages offer fleeting moments of comfort and reflection. The resulting works are installations that often include colored strips and sequins, where text and image merge in a joyful, unruly composition. For Mélia, who maintains a close relationship with music, the spontaneous layered aesthetic, born from subversive acts and improvisational writing, evokes the spirit of jazz, resonating with the immediacy of the present moment.