MÉTROPOLIS

Métropolis symbolises hope for more vibrant urban construction. With its foundation anchored in the ground, the tower, as it rises up, gradually allows its internal light to escape. It opens the pores of its skin, and breathes at last. Mineral becomes vegetable, vegetable becomes celestial particles.

The backstory to the sculpture

Metropolis is the "topsy turvy" success story of the Passage Secret studio.

Riding on the success of the porcelain curtain (cf. Perception, Dahlia [link to the "distinctions" page]), Yaël and Guillaume wanted to experiment with it not hanging, but placed on the ground, in the form of a screen. Solid and supple at the same time, it was to be modular, and its deconstruction at the top would give it the aesthetic touch that would also make it a decorative object. But four days before the exhibition at which the piece was to be launched, the screen failed during set-up. What could be done with a thousand and more orphaned flakes of porcelain? After a few trials, it emerged that these little pieces could be stacked up beautifully to form a tower, like a child's building-block game.

A base was added, and a lamp: Metropolis was born.