not a child's toy

2021

Snow globe, laser cutting and engraving, 3D printing, brick dust, glycerin and water.

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Nine (09) works: varied dimensions.

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Work carried out within the scope of the research and creation residency RAU #6 (Regards d'Artistes sur l'Urbanisme), in the district of Quadrilatère des Piscines in August - September 2021.

A production by Groupe A - Coopérative culturelle.

Funding: Région Hauts-de-France, Sem Ville Renouvelée, PIC Union.
                              

"The snow globe is one of the most kitschy objects in the global tourism economy, and some hobbyists collect them and proudly display their findings.
 

The reproductions of the buildings in the swimming pool's quadrangle, enclosed in their plastic globes and covered in brick dust when handled, take us to a dimension that is even more humorous because we are not dealing here with historical or tourist monuments, but with buildings that have ended up getting off the ground and are completely reconfiguring the district.

Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris [“Remember, man that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”]. This famous Latin phrase, used in every way, could perfectly subtitle the work, emphasizing the banality of the demolitions and reconstructions that transform cities. But it can also bring these miniatures dangerously close to home, imposing the same sentence on them in the end, and reducing our habitats to some lost relics, among others, in the dumps of triumphant consumerism."

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Pascal Marquilly