People, Together…

What have Jean-Michel Alberola and Michel Cassé, David Lynch and Sir Michael Atiyah, Takeshi Kitano and Patti Smith, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Claudine Nougaret and Misha Gromov in common? They are among the 21 authors of one of the most brilliant and involving exhibitions I’ve seen in the last few years.

Set at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporaine in Paris, curated by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Michel Cassé and Hervé Chandès, and running since 21 October this year to 18 March 2012, the exhibition sheds a new, intriguing light on a not-too-often considered universe. Mathématiques - un dépaysement soudain was first thought of on 20 November 2010 and received its final touch on 4 September 2011, when Gromov finally completed the list of books for his “Library of Mysteries”.

Interviews and collages, animation, slide shows and artefacts - as well as a full week long life-cycle of hatching baby robots learning to speak, interact, and interrelate with visitors - complete the set. I liked the catalogue (220 pp., 44 €) very much, and would definitely rate the exhibition as a not-to-be-missed event.

(Rome, 16 December 2011)