ÉTAT DE GRACE

Sculpture par l’artiste Nathalie Thalec intitulée État de grâce dans le cadre du 1% artistique de la sous-préfecture d’Aix-en-Provence.

Commanditaire : Sous-préfecture d’Aix-en-Provence

Revolving history

As part of the 1% cultural programme of the Convent of the Jacobins – Congress Centre. Laurent Grasso designed a work located in the frame of the original bays of the Convent nave. Each of the four bays houses twenty-seven triangular brass prisms, or one hundred and eight modules. Integrated into the ogival shape of the old stained glass windows, the modules are driven by a synchronized rotary movement. The movement of their extremely reflective golden surface successively reflects the external and internal environment, as well as repeating the movement of the sun’s path and variations in ambient luminosity.

Project owner: Rennes Métropole – Direction générale de la Culture
Architect: Jean Guervilly
Production: Eva Albarran & Co

DELTA
1% for arts for the French-German Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A bas-relief installed in the basin of water represents the meanders, the organic circulations of the river Gange as if they were “seen from the sky”. It is on this fertile foundation that grow ceramic sculptures inspired by lotus flowers.

1% for arts – ENSIACET in Toulouse
Autumn 2016

The phenomenon on which this work is based is that of the galvanic couples: when two metals are in contact, their corrosion is modified. The electrochemical current flowing between them has an effect on the less noble metal, which corrodes less rapidly while the noblest metal remains spared.

These columns are composed of different strata of metals, among those likely to compose galvanic couples. Their diameter is equivalent to the standard carrots, these mineral samples directly taken from the ground, to remind their origin and their mineral origin: the man has extracted these minerals, sorted them to purify the material, and arranged them.

The whole installation is conceived as an experiment whose starting conditions are set before observing what results from it. The work thus evokes both the transformation of matter and energy, by the electrochemical currents consciously implemented which slowly modify the state of matter. Thus, the iron particles of the columns, eroding and returning to the earth will feed the plant forms that develop there.