''Sculptures Bachelard'' is an ''In Situ'' work by French artist

Jean-Max Albert Jean-Max Albert (born 1942) is a French painter, sculptor, writer, and musician. He has published theory, books on artists, and a collection of poems, plays and novels inspired by quantum physics. He perpetuated experiments initiated by Paul Klee ...

installed in 1986 in the

Parc de la Villette The Parc de la Villette is the third-largest park in Paris, in area, located at the northeastern edge of the city in the 19th arrondissement. The park houses one of the largest concentrations of cultural venues in Paris, including the Cité d ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is named after the author of ''

The Poetics of Space ''The Poetics of Space'' (french: La Poétique de l'Espace) is a 1958 book about architecture by the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard. The book is considered an important work about art. Commentators have compared Bachelard's views to those of ...

'',

Gaston Bachelard Gaston Bachelard (; ; 27 June 1884 – 16 October 1962) was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter, he introduced the concepts of ''epistemological obstacle'' and '' epis ...

. It consists of a set of 8 sculptures arranged around the perimeter of the Jardin de la Treille.

Description and interpretation

The work takes the form of an installation in two distinct parts: * ''Sculptures Bachelard'' : 7 sculptures in bronze green patina, ±17 x 15 x 4 cm, Fusions foundry. * ''Anamorphosis reflection'', sculpture in bronze, green patina, 120 x 80 x 60 cm, Landowski foundry. Sclp Bachelard Implantation

When gazing into the sculptures, the space beyond and around is roughly framed. Combining in a cubist manner the differently framed perspectives, the sculptures propose to "render the quality of a specific portion of space". A "rendering" not in the sense of a photograph – or it would be a kind of camera that would take one shot and then petrified itself in the form of the environment targeted – but more like an abstract model concentrating, agglomerating, in a sort of nucleus (and somehow in an animist concept) the spirit of this space. Each sculpture thus, transposes into a geometric summary portions of space which, according to their location, suggest different qualities of atmosphere designed by Bernard Tschumi, Gilles Vexlard and Laurence Vacherot. If six of the seven "viseurs" relate to the character of the different points of view, the seventh relates to a precise event : a modest bronze assemblage, fixed in the corner of a pond, below the thematic garden, perpetuates a tradition of garden landscape which conceals images, perspectives or symbols. Given favorable position of the sun, the reflection of this seemingly heterogeneous element appears a regular geometric. The reflection presents a circle encased in a square itself inscribed in a triangle. This figure referring to Bernard Tschumi’s master plan for the park.

Acquisition and installation

Under François Mitterrand’s presidency, many public works of art were initiated in the frame of the "Grands travaux", an artistic renewal supported by the government. In February 1986 the Etablissement Public du Parc de la Villette (EPPV) commissioned Jean-Max Albert for this sculpture project.

Reception

For art critic Bruno Suner, Albert’s ''Bachelard Sculptures'' reverse the usual setting of a sculpture, which is to be within the site, by including the site into the sculpture For art critic Sarah Mc Fadden, the sculptures : "Parse the particularities of their surrounding with a rigor that heightens the viewer’s perception and, like advanced physics, leads to the realm of poetry. The works are conceived as frames for space, light and form that reveal what lies beyond or around them." Since the dimensions of the concerned space, are "absorbed" by the pieces they are, strictly speaking, out of scale. Since the dimensions of the concerned space are "absorbed" by the pieces they are, strictly speaking, out of scale. Transient sparrows nevertheless firmly secured on the marble perimeter of the Jardin de la treille. They are discovered by the public in friendly propinquity the space encountered. "Air space rather than obstruct it" noted art critic Frédéric Mialet.Frédéric Mialet, Jean-Max Albert, Exercice sur le vide, D'A n°45, mai 1994

Gallery

File:Jean-Max Albert, Sculpture de visée IV, Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1986.jpg,

''Sculpture Bachelard VI''

File:Jean-Max Albert, Sculpture de visée VI, Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1986.jpg,

''Sculpture Bachelard III''

File:Sculpture de Visée 4 Egp.jpg,

''Sculpture Bachelard I''

File:Jean-Max Albert, Sculpture de visée V, Parc de La Villette, Paris, 1986.jpg,

''Sculpture Bachelard II''

References

External links