in the city
translated with Google traduction
Art in the City rather than in museums: Charlie Place de la Gare in Bourges
The monuments of Paris are both poetic and reassuring. And practical landmarks for those, like me when I arrived, who are foreign to the City.
Light scores are like ideas: immaterial, they are independent of the size of the sculpture that plays them. On a monument, the rendering is very different from a studio piece, but the compositional work remains similar.
Saint Rémy district - first glimpses of the Coquille de Reims
I’ve only done three urban Luchrones. Public space is formidable, and “Urban Time” has little to do with personal time. For artists and elected officials alike, it’s a very trying time-shift, so after the 1990s, I admit I’ve prioritized my personal research in the tranquility of my studio.
Marc Piemontese gives a first demonstration of the Astrolabe at the National Center for Art and Technology in 1990
Whether in metal or stone, Public Art requires a lot of work. Technology will add to these difficulties, a leap into the unknown. I leave the solitude of the studio for teamwork, open to all. Fortunately, elected officials and, above all, passionate teachers are taking the plunge with me. We’re far from the controversies surrounding Contemporary Art, but it’s wilder than in art fairs; because outside, in addition to the criticism, there’s bad weather—the worst of which is stupidity, which leads to vandalism.
It had withstood the Tramontane wind as well as the Sea Wind, but one night vandalism blew so hard that the Sailboat of Argelès disappeared.
A technological art project that ends up in a public place is a rarity. Inevitably, some technical aspects are “firsts” that involve breaking away from known methods. This fascinates technicians, who adapt and invent like artists.
For example, in 2020, there are no industrial LEDs that radiate in all directions. The very design of my Coquille in Reims clashed with the manufacturing of LEDs at the time—they are directional. So, the teachers and students of the Saint Jean Baptiste de la Salle high school handcrafted the 324 springs and their replacements. These pieces are so well made that they’ve been in working order since the inauguration.
(more pages on my public art projects coming soon)