This scenographic project was a double challenge to us. The first was to found a way to show contemporary art work in a 19th century style architecture context and to question the contextualization of works that are resolutely contemporary. The second consisted in making a scenographic proposal without knowing the list of selected artists and their works. For this reasons we had to respond with a project with a clear concept that offered an adaptability in terms of uses and configurations.

The context of the ‘Palais des Etudes’ des Beaux-Arts de Paris, with its classical monumentality, led us to play with the theatricality and the strong presence of the floor tile frame. Wanting to erase the context to expose 38 contemporary artists would have been a lost cause. For that we chose to reinforce this theatricality and its division by fragmenting the exhibition supports (fragments of ‘white cubes’), assuming them as a film set, and assuming the hidden side of the scenography (the ‘Behind the scene' face). The fragmentation of the walls has been drawn in the scrupulous respect of the existing frame of the Palais des Etudes, and with the concern to propose an optimized constructive clarity which allows to propose different heights of walls that can be adapted to the art works with a unique assembly detail. This frame and constructive aspects seemed important to us as it allows to open an architectural dialogue between the scenographic proposal and the architecture of the Palais des Etudes des Beaux-Arts.

Bunker-Palace
http://www.bunker-palace.com/
(Esjieun Kim + Alexandre Pachiaudi + Martin Tubiana)