www.designboom.com: french artist and photographer charles pétillon has installed his trademark white balloons within the grand hall of bordeaux’s national opera. however, in developing the project, pétillon — who has previously ‘invaded’ sites in both milan and london with large scale balloon compositions — took a slightly different approach. rather than a static display, the artist created a truly interactive installation that generates sound and music for visitors.
4 comments:
Intriguing. This is the only word that comes to mind that exemplifies my “aww” in what I just read and saw. This is such a unique piece of artwork. This is particularly fascinating to me because I love instillation art and I have strong ties to music and sound. What makes this piece so cringingly inspiring is the beautiful way in which the balloons linger in a floating dance to produce an eerie sounding noise upon touching the table. I love this idea of music being a combination of everything in the room, so any visitors are part of it while the movement of the balloons and the noises generated from their lack of floating as well, all combine into one coherent musical piece. I am, however, curious as to how the balloons stay in place. I am wondering if the way in which they are connected allows for the flow of air, that is seemingly keeping them afloat form the table, is what allows them to stay within the invisible confines of the table? Nonetheless, this is a beautiful art.
This sort of interactive and flowing art is always so interesting to see. I think as we move more and more into the digital age art exhibits like these are going to become more of the norm as people want and feel a need to captivate audiences/viewers in as many ways as possible. The interactive exhibits of the museums like the Mattress Factory to me at least is one of the biggest draws to the museum. To see something organic and unique is so interesting not to mention creating a piece that is “instagramable.” Along with the different medias that the artist is dealing with in this installation I think whenever you can get to the bar essence of whatever it is that you are trying to display and still enforce it with different kinds of mediums that’s fantastic. It’s especially helpful here where multiple senses could be stimulated by the same thing in a supporting fashion.
The sheer whimsy of this installation is what gets me. Second to that is the dissonance experienced upon seeing chains of white balloons bouncing about in an ornate opera house, which is not unlike what one may experience if one saw a tube man flailing around in the middle of St. Peter's Basilica. What's most remarkable of all is how well the balloons work out in such a formal space. Being pure of color and so fanciful in nature, the dancing balloons offer, one may say, much-needed movement in the general stuffiness and rigidity of an opera house. The music sounds almost enchanted, fairy-like, which is a nice middle point between the whimsical balloons and the dignified opera house. I wouldn't say the music completes the experience, but it definitely adds another element of amusing outlandishness to the installation.
The simplicity and whimsical aspect of this article drew my attention, and ultimately led me to stare at a .GIF of dancing balloons for a solid minute straight.
I wish we had so many more fun installations like this in current museums, but alas we all have to learn about Davinci and Monet and Van Gogh (not complaining because, well, go you guys: your art is awesome. It just isn't as fun as dancing balloons). This exhibit vividly reminds me though of an experiment my little sister and I did with a Vortech fan and a balloon. In said experiment, we attempted to place the balloon in the air vortex of the fan, and tried to keep it stuck, so it was essentially dancing in the wind.
This kind of childhood fun is truly a personal antique feeling, and I adore it.
I reiterate, I wish and hope more of similar exhibits come to be, whether as a result of this exhibit or just on its own.
I will be the first to sign up to see said exhibit, so long as I can afford it after college.
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