“Personnes” is an installation piece at the Grand Palais in Paris done in 2010. ‘Personnes’ means both ‘people’ and ‘nobodies’ which is already intriguing itself, as to why Boltanski picked a word so contrasting to itself. Because of it’s contrasting title the viewer is already curious and already drown to the piece to know more. https://www.designboom.com/art/christian-boltanski-personnes-monumenta-2010/
ART or Design
Temporary or PERMANENT
LARGE SCALE or Small Scale
TRANSFORMING and/or Defining and/or FORMING
Immersive and/or DISTANT
Pattern and/or COLOUR and/or Repetition and/or SHAPE
This installation was intended as a powerful experience, on both physical and psychological levels, a spectacular moment of emotion questioning the nature and meaning of humanity. It creates reflections on the inescapability of death and how chance watches over the destiny of each one of us. https://www.designboom.com/art/christian-boltanski-personnes-monumenta-2010/
“That there is nobody here and yet the place is crowded.” https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jan/17/christian-boltanski-personnnes-paris-review
How are the textiles more then just a fabric?
Laura Cummings states that the elements used in Boltanski’s piece were “simple and apparent” as they were simply secondhand clothes places in a certain order, with a five-fingered claw hanging from a crane, occasionally moving towards the pile, grabbing a random clothing item and then, letting it drop. However, because of the way it is all combined together and the atmosphere Boltanski has created, he made it seem like “You were in a necropolis, now you are in purgatory: balanced between heaven and hell, witnessing the hand of God.” https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jan/17/christian-boltanski-personnnes-paris-review
Boltanski transformed the atmosphere using every he has at his disposal, including audio, and different levels of view (looking straight on all the clothes, looking up a crane like arm picking up and dropping clothes).
Christian Boltanski is known as France’s greatest living artist. His medium is the human race and memento mori (objects that remind a person about the inescapability of death).
Adrian Searle (another guardian journalist) points out the sounds that you can hear whilst you are there as well. The sound that resinates throughout the room is the sound of a 15,000 heartbeats all beating together. Which together adds more impact and more shook to the installation, as you walk around looking at all the clothes of these seemingly gone humans and listen to what seems like their heartbeats. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jan/13/christain-boltanski-grand-palais-paris
“Boltanski’s art is filled with tragedy, humour and a sense of the absurd.” https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jan/13/christain-boltanski-grand-palais-paris
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