France, 1994
Nominee GRA Award 2018 Thesis
A text, a ring binder, and two enlarged pages
“When we were in the very high swiss mountains last September, we had a view from above onto a little village downhill. Funnily, the only element from this landscape that caught my eye was a shiny blue rectangle surface: a big outdoor olympic pool. Only to glance at this blue shape excited me. I could already imagine packing my swimming bag with a still wet towel that smells a bit of chlorine or finding a piece of paper that is falling apart in the same bag because of its humidity. Seeing this pool from above made me realize how contrasting it was to its environment. It looked like a bright candy vending machine in a grey metro station. I found it amazing how it was in total opposition to the landscape: it was a precisely defined space, dug in the earth to replace this element with artificial water, with a color that tries to imitate an idyllic turquoise sea.
(…)
I’ve noticed that the first thing people do when they finally arrive to the swimming pool is to taste (to touch) the water with their hand. Probably to confirm something.”*
*Extract from my graduation thesis "I plunged in slo-mo"
The Lagoon of Waterproof Books, (in collaboration with William Eckerstein)
The Lagoon of Waterproof Books is a platform for sharing texts, extracts, quotes, notes, that are water-related whether from close or far. Contributions by Manon Bachelier, Orin Bristow, Clara Pasteau, Laslo Strong, selected books from the Rietveld Library. Conception and building
by William Eckerstein and Clara Pasteau.
