ArtistsMichel de Broin
Black Whole Conference
The installation consists of a large sphere composed of an assemblage of chairs. The legs are attached to one another, bringing the chairs together. In this spherical conference room there is no central position, all the chairs float in solidarity with each other. They operate as an immune system — protecting themselves by blocking and kicking out their surroundings. As a massive object in the gallery space, the sphere acts as a centre of gravity around which the rest orbits. The reorganization of matter derives from a ‘big bang’ where the ancient order of the conference room has blown out and reconfigured into a ‘utopic’ geometrical endosystem.
Car body, pedals and gears, 2005
In this project, all superfluous devices were removed from an 86’ Buick Regal — the engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system — thereby reducing the weight of the vehicle whilst preserving its appearance. It was then equipped with 4 independent pedal and gear mechanisms that make it possible for passengers to form the self-propulsion group. A cutting edge transmission technology was developed to transmit the power supplied by the passengers to the drive wheels and to vary the reduction ratios between cyclists and wheels, so as to ensure their progressive coupling for start-ups. With a top speed of around 15 km/h, the vehicle’s resistance to the culture of performance is raised to an unprecedented level.
Revolution
With its 40 meters path, Revolution is comparable to a 5 story staircase. Housed in the Couvent des Jacobins, Revolution takes its inspiration from a spiral stairway. By forming a knot, the metal stairway deconstructs the symbol of vertical ascension with which it is normally associated. Here the sculpture allows one to enter an infinite cycle of revolutions where everything rises only to descend according to the rhythm of evolutions and transformations. The visitor can climb up the stairway and physically experience the idea of an eternal return, in a time loop where what comes, is similar to what returns.
Dead Star
Dead Star is made from residual battery at the end of their duty. Left to itself, the sculpture will slowly cool down since there is no longer electronic activity taking place in it. The hundreds of batteries were once used to power appliances before they finish their cycle in a recycle facility. Retrieve from death, they were assembled again in this whole structure.
Late Program
Not completely renouncing its status as an instrument of communication, Late Program, appears to be a television yet functions as a wood-burning stove. Late Program communicates a warmth, content without information.
Michel de Broin
Contemporary
Urban art, photography, sculpture, mixed media
Canadian artist born in 1970 in Montréal, Canada.
- Localisation
- Montréal, Canada
- Website
- www.micheldebroin.org
- Themes
- Ironie, société