CÉLESTE BOURSIER-MOUGENOT

 

 

 

 

 

shapednoise

A lifeguard tower sited north of the pier dissolved into a sea of foam as the evening progressed.  Foam fell along the structure from the roof down and collected at the base in a lined basin dug into the sand.  The foam was produced according to signals that were picked up by four video cameras situated in the adjacent parking lot.  The visual data was translated into signals controlling the amount of foam that was produced and also stimulated an audio response broadcast in speakers placed within the lifeguard tower.  The sound was ambient in nature and was controlled by the artist throughout the event.  During the course of Glow the foam accumulated and obscured the lifeguard tower and it also subsided; like the tide, it ebbed and flowed all night.

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot is trained as both a composer and sculptor; the two artistic traditions are fully synthesized in Boursier-Mougenot’s installations and sculpture. Focusing on chance, nature, architectural and sculptural forms, the work is as much a performance as a static exhibition. Among Boursier-Mougenot’s notable works, natural events, such as the soft landing of a finch on a string instrument, are co-producers of the effect, so that the spectator’s experience unfolds in unexpected ways. Boursier-Mougenot has shown widely in Asia, Europe and the United States and was a finalist for the prestigious Marcel Duchamp Award. He lives and works in Séte, France. http://www.xippas.com/en/artist/celeste_boursier-mougenot