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juliedodd0

Van Goughs Bedroom

Updated: Jan 2, 2023

We’re in Paris! Our room reminds me of Van Goughs bedroom! The walls, ceiling and floor are all wonky and things roll to the corner. You literally feel like you are falling when you walk from one side of the room to the other. We’re not here long and we have planned to cram in as much as we possibly can for the kids. We warned them that they’ll be tired and they are already!

If you’re going to Paris before 4th March Le 104 is worth a visit. An impressive building stands in a less desirable area of Paris housing the arts. Various visual and performing arts, music and even magic. To get there we walked through quite deprived run down streets and a lot of the time we felt uneasy, but it was worth it.

‘Bâtiment’ is a large interactive installation by LeandroErich and is a reasonable 5 euros for an adult and 3 euros for under 30s, I know strange. But it was every bit worth the money. A building façade lays flat on the floor with a mirror reflecting the actions of the visitors who appear to be hanging from the building in death defying and impossible positions. The participants became more and more inventive in their positioning, composing themselves in believable situations making the illusion more exciting and creating anxious moments for the viewer before true perception returned! An entertaining piece of work for participant and viewer alike. I’ve taken loads of photos and video too so I’ll add them when I get home.

We found from entering another part of Le 104 a huge central area for the public to use which was surrounded by shops. Split into sections, different activities were going on in each with people sat in deckchairs around the edge watching what seem to be impromptu performances. We’ve never seen anything like this before and it seemed unreal, we felt like we were on the set of Fame! There were young people that would suddenly stand up and start performing seeming unaware of the audiences and not the least bit uncomfortable when they got it wrong and started again.

A huge blanket covered one area that was scatted with books, Children and mothers sat reading together. And next door teens where dancing in various styles to accompanying music. We stood and watched trying to absorb everything and briefly discussed how this centre would be received in inner city areas of Britain. It’s fantastic that the youths at the centre have embraced the opportunity to use this facility to express themselves.

I want to tell you about another installation we saw yesterday at Le 104. ‘Le Labyrinthe’ by Michelangelo Pistoletto was free to enter beneath the dance areas I talked about last night. Unfortunately I dropped french as soon as I could and although I regret it now I was terrible at it, so with no English statements I have no idea what this work was about. But I can tell that it’s a site specific installation made up of lengths and lengths of corrugated cardboard and I think it has been arranged to resemble ripples from above. This might have been done to resemble disturbed water mimicking how you feel walking through these disorientating, tight spaces with the mirror in the centre being a calm water where you can reflect on your journey through the maze. But really I haven’t got a clue.

I remember when I did my art and design foundation course our tutor Vincent Lavell told us not to rely on statements, to decide what the work was about before reading them but I still often struggle.

I enjoyed the experience though, as did the kids. Moving through it my son James had to be told to be careful not to move the cardboard out of shape as he moved through the tighter spaces, when it occurred to us that the shape may have been taking on different forms through the interaction of the public.







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