"Pop Air" is the new immersive exhibition of La Villette, two years after the success of "beyond the limits" of the Japanese collective Teamlab, which honored digital and interactive art.This time no fauna and virtual flowers but a set of inflatable and bright structures several meters high.In the 6000 m2 of the Grande Halle de la Villette, fifteen artists coexist for the next six months in an electro chill atmosphere.
These creations come from the collection of the Balloon Museum in Rome, the first Italian museum devoted exclusively to inflatable art, founded two years ago.
Wandering in the land of Barbapas
Are they mushrooms?Flowers ?Hats ?The works in the shimmering colors of the Australian studio Eness (some are more than 6m high!) Welcome visitors of all ages.With their bright eyes, these funny characters seem to indicate the direction of the first room: Hypercosmo, a huge bullet pool.Created by the Italian collective Quiet Ensemble, this first achievement - perhaps the most successful of the exhibition - is full of sight: the basin, filled with thousands of transparent plastic balls, reflects the light rays of the spotlights fixed to the ceiling, hidden behind large white bubbles.
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Blue, red, yellow ... Stroboscopes change color to the rhythm of music.His undulations give the impression of swimming in the middle of the clouds."I plunge back into childhood," exclaims a visitor by making the angel in the pool.At the start shy, the public does not hesitate long before making the big leap."We realized that adults love this work! Maybe even more than children," said one of the guides, amused."Once in Rome, a young man dropped his engagement ring at the bottom of the basin...We had to empty the pool! ”.Between two dives, so pay attention to your keys and all precious goods ...
In total, twelve works by Australian, Italian or even Scottish artists are to be discovered.They are all in very different styles: there is the installation of the Italian collective Motorefisico with its multicolored balls suspended in a room covered with mirrors but also the two inflatable cushions six meters wide from the Brazilian artist Geraldo Zamproni.Little crush on the invention of the German-Polish artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski.Its sphere swollen with helium and covered with fleets floats in a completely white room.By pushing it, pulling it or throwing it, it draws on the walls and creates unpredictable forms.
Immersive and ecological
Among all these works, there is also that of French Cyril Lancelin.Knot Rouge looks like a large small intestine tangled."In truth, it is a continuous line thought according to the model of the clover knot, a mathematical knot comparable to the sign of infinity," he explains."It is a way to have volume with the least possible material".Architect by training, the artist dropped his compass and his pencils to design three -dimensional works which he published initially on his social networks."One day, someone contacted me on Instagram to order one of my works.He wanted it in China, in two months.I looked for the material that would make it possible to make such a feat of speed and that is how I started inflatable art, "he continues.
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Make fabrics or plastic, his works are quick to design and easy to transport.They create or modify them taking into account above all the place and the budget."In architecture, there are so many constraints: houses must have a door, windows, they are limited by the field.Art, on the contrary, has no limits!After seeing Knot Rouge, I hope that the children will no longer draw a square house, with a sloping roof, but a scribble house, "he laughs.
His inflatable work is in polyester.If the fabric is not in natural fibers, it is however recyclable."Everything is changing! One of my works in Chile, once uninstalled, was used to make bags, for example!", The artist tells us.Respect for the environment is put in the foreground of this new exhibition.All the balloons used are made in a naturally biodegradable and as solid latex as any other end of rubber.
"Instagrammable"
In the middle of the ball pool or in front of the work of Knot Rouge, it does not miss: visitors take out their mobile phone, take a picture of the light and colorful sculptures to then publish them on their social networks.But this habit does not pose any problems for the exhibition commissioners."It's part of the game! We adapt to it," admits Francesco, project manager "Pop Air".Between two works of artists, fifteen studios await the most photogenic visitors: angel wings in multicolored balloon or apple inflating sofa ... "This Instagrammable side of the exhibition does not bother me", adds the French artist Cyril Lancelin."The photos on the networks let us know what visitors liked, what interested them.We discover the creations other than with official photos ".In memory, you can leave with a bouquet of inflatable flowers, before going to the "flower bar" take a small snack.
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"Pop Air" exhibition, at the Grande Halle de la Villette, from April 14 or August 21, 2022.
