La Manutention - residency for performing artists within the Palais de Tokyo
The building of the Palais de Tokyo designed by the architects Jean-Claude Dondel, André Aubert, Paul Viard and Marcel Dastugue has been built in Paris in 1937 on the occasion of the International Exhibition of the Modern Life Arts and Techniques.
It is intended to accommodate in each wing the National Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris. After many temporary occupations, the building hosts today the Palais de Tokyo, a center for contemporary art, which opened in 2002 following the renovation of parts of the interior spaces led by architects Lacaton & Vassal. A second series of works in 2012 concerned the entirety of the surfaces of the west wing of the building, that is to say 22 000 m2 which made it the largest center of contemporary art of Europe today.
In the fall of 2017, the Palais de Tokyo has inaugurated La Manutention, a residency program dedicated to performing artists, which welcomes six emerging artists invited each year to work for a period of one month each and whose curatorship is done by Vittoria Matarrese. This new format welcomes and encourages exploration and experimentation, providing artists with the opportunity to develop their practice and produce an unprecedented performance. Artists in residence include Paul Maheke, The Institute of Aesthetics, Regina Demina, Jamila Johnson Small, NSDOS, Vestoj ...
The new resident, the Canadian artist Miles Greenberg, settles in the Palais de Tokyo for the month of March 2019. He develops a body of work including installations, performances and curations around notions of identity, displacement and trauma through various explorations of the black and queer body in space.
Present since the design of the Lacaton & Vassal development project in 2002, the apartment / studio dedicated to resident artists of the Palais de Tokyo had never been fitted out before. Following the launching of a patronage campaign with Les amis du Palais de Tokyo and others partners, the renovation process has been launched in September 2018 and the space has been inaugurated in February 2019. FREAKS is a sponsor of the project and has offered the architectural gesture and then ensured the monitoring of the building process.
The total area of the space has been optimized to accommodate a wide range of activities: daily life of the artist in residence (sleeping area, bathroom, kitchen, storage space), work / rehearsal (dance floor, mirrors, dance bar), reception area (modular tables, dimmable lighting system and technical ceiling for performance evening, collectors dinner ...). The bed is designed like a mobile canopy, made by Ronan Masson, and can move in space and be stored to disappear completely into the wall of colored-gradient mirrors. The storage space, bathroom and toilets communicate and can also be used as backstage in case of punctual shows.
The project fully assumes the general industrial aesthetics of the Palais de Tokyo with a light gray flocking on the ceiling that emphasizes the beam lines on which a set of Sammode industrial tubular luminaires are suspended. The window wall is deliberately left blank. The floor of the living space is treated in anthracite resin with a Sika finish and the workspace / rehearsal with soft Tarkett dance floor. It is part of the continuity of the simple and effective architectural treatment of the Lacaton & Vassal project while offering a comfort of life and work to accompany the most contemporary creation.
Contracting Authority: Palais de Tokyo
Architect : FREAKS
Surface area: 120m2
Budget: 150K €
Delivery: February 2019
Building companies: Cora2L, Isofis and Ronan Masson
Partner companies: Sammode, Sika and Tarkett
Main patrons: Nicolas Bara, Bernard Chenebault, Yann Marie Daguzan, Thierry Forien, Didier Gaillot, Sandra Hegedüs, Elisabeth Lenchener, Rosella Mangeruca, Kathleen O'Donoghue, Floriane de Saint Pierre, Anne-Claire and Nicolas Trier and Claudine and Alain Wayser
Photo Credits: Palais de Tokyo 2019 © Ayka Lux
Performer artist: NSDOS (and his dog Akira)
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