Grand Palais

Last weekend was very busy, beginning with a visit to the Grand Palais.  If you have visited Paris but have not been to the Grand Palais, you have missed a truly beautiful piece of architecture built in 1900 for the World's Fair.  This is the world's largest glass structure and it literally takes your breathe away when you enter it.  The Grand Palais hosts lots of fabulous temporary exhibits and I have been fortunate in seeing some of the worlds many masterpieces there. You can visit their site to see where you need to plan for the next time you're here  http://www.grandpalaisparis.com/  

Last Friday we went to see an installation by a contemporary French artist, Christian Boltanski.  I had no expectations nor did I know I was going to see an installation, I thought it was an exhibit of abstract painting.  At the entrance, there was a long, tall row of metal boxes stacked so that one could not see into the larger space.  The boxes gave the impression of a long wall that reminded me of one in a mausoleum.  The metal was in all shades of brown and rust with hughes brightened or darkened by the light coming through the glass ceiling.  From within came a vibrating sound that appeared to be a rhythmic drum beat, which I later realized was the beat of human hearts.  As I rounded the corner, the huge floor space under the glass dome lay before me and I was awe-struck by the installation.  Throughout were square block areas of clothes lying on the floor with florescent lights suspended about 4 feet above each.  Between the rows was enough space to walk, giving the impression of the grid of a city or the rows of a cemetery.  The eye immediately went to the central point of the space where a huge crane with a scoop mechanism was dropping onto a gigantic mound of cloths, picking them up, raising them to the ceiling, and them dropping them again onto the pile.  I stood transfixed watching this process over and over again, each time feeling the motion was more dramatic.  Part of the intention of the artist was to show the randomness of death, which he accomplished with great effect.  The clothes were like skeletons of people and the mound made one think of all those who died in the Holocaust, as did the squares of clothes that could easily have represented the death camps. Then, of course, the constant sound of the heart beat reinforced the dramatic moment in life when that stops. It's difficult to explain the impact that art can have on oneself since it's so personal and intimate but Boltanski created an incredibly emotional experience.  There's an interview with him at the Grand Palais on YouTube so check it out.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv7tatnhFAc&feature=fvw