INSIDE _ TRANSFORMING SPACE AT PALAIS DE TOKYO
Inside is a stunning group exhibition on the crossroads of art, installation, architecture and design – currently on show at Palais de Tokyo, Paris. It is above all a sensual voyage within the building, an exploration of itself, and a unique experience that transforms the premises into an organism to be traveled.
The show also offers visitors a passage to their own “inner rooms”, for which the exhibition space serves as a metaphor. This immense odyssey, both physical and psychological, invites to walk through two floors of the Palais de Tokyo that have been transformed by artists in such a way that, from one installation to the next, the visitor remains constantly immersed in the works, which lead us within ourselves – from our skin to most intimate thoughts.
Participating artists are: Jean-Michel Alberola, Dove Allouche, Yuri Ancarani, Sookoon Ang, Christophe Berdaguer & Marie Pejus, Christian Boltanski, Peter Buggenhout, Marc Couturier, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Dran, Valia Fetisov, Marcius Galan, Ryan Gander, Ion Grigorescu, Hu Xiaoyuan, Eva Jospin, Jesper Just, Mikhail Karikis & Uriel Orlow, Mark Manders, Bruce Nauman, Mike Nelson, Numen, Abraham Poincheval, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Reynold Reynolds & Patrick Jolley, Ataru Sato, Stéphane Thidet, Tunga, Andra Ursuta, Andro Wekua, Artur Zmijewski.
One of the most spectacular installations is “Tape Paris” by Numen. It is made entirely of tape and not the first time that the collective known as Numen/For Use has installed one of these futuristic branched structures in a public space; all titled ‘Tape’, they have appeared in Frankfurt, Melbourne, Tokyo and elsewhere. But the impact is no less impressive.
“Tape Paris” is made for intrepid visitors who might want to consider that the construction’s tensile strength of 44km worth of tape is enough to support five humans at once. Thus the experience shifts from jittery to joyful. Being inside feels simultaneously primordial and futuristic, outworldly yet familiar. Just the crackling noise as the tape stretches to accommodate the body weight gives you an unsettling reminder that this ordinary material is doing an extraordinary thing.