inside
What happens
when we go inside?
An infinite universe exists there.
How do we interpret that?
The artists who participated in 'inside'
at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris
were brilliant, thought-provoking,
mediocre, shocking, disgusting
and of course, more.
My niece Madeline and I experienced
this powerful exhibition on our last day in Paris.
My favorite piece was
Tape Paris
by Numen/For Use.
Numen/For Use is a collective headed by
Sven Jonke, Christoph Katzler and Nikola Radeljković,
working in the fields of conceptual art, scenography, industrial and spatial design.
According to their
website:
"It took twelve people ten days to wrap-up the concrete pillars
in the great entrance hall of Palais de Tokyo
into a maze of accessible translucent passageways,
which coil 50 meters (about 164 feet) through the gallery space
and reach the total height of 6 meters (about 20 feet)."
And it's all done with transparent tape.
Wider than you might wrap a gift with
But tape nonetheless.
Not only did it fill the cavernous entry
with a fluid and beautiful form
but you could enter the form
navigating your way from one end
to the other.
Much more work thank I'd expected,
being inside
was slippery, spooky, organic,
moving, evasive, womb-like,
variable and mysterious.
It was also great fun!
Out of control
and completely content.
Inside.
Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira's
Baitogogo
extends to link nature and architecture.
What to do?
Diagonal Section by Marcius Galan
plays with perceptions
and rules.
Drawn in pencil in one continuous gesture,
Marc Couturier's monumental mural
Troisième jour [third day]
refers to the Book of Genesis.
Studio Apparatus for Palais de Tokyo ou The Exorcism
by Mike Nelson felt like a bunker or prison.
Street artist Dran's distinctive style covers walls and stairs
with contemporary imagery.
Dran knows what the mind can be like...
Stéphane Thidet,
Le Refuge.
Looks like a cabin in the woods.
Do I hear rain?
Not inviting to be inside here.
Performance artist Sven Sachsalber
Looking For a Needle in the Haystack.
Don't know if he finds it.
Happy to see the installation for rest, respite, play
and just plain joy
by the marvelous Sheila Hicks.
With great gratitude for an amazing 2014!
