Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Leviathan - Anish Kapoor

Hello to all,

Thank you for your comments. George, I'm sure you would look great in a sweater, modeling on steps.
Honey, I guess it would take some time to make you a sweater too. But didn't I see you in jammies?

Right now, I've put my knitting needles away, and I'm quilting the Japanese dolls quilt. No fancy quilting, just quilting in the ditch. I needed some quilting needles, and ended buying Black Bold Needles by Clover. I swear they make a difference. I must check if there are other kinds of Black Gold Needles... but I digress.

I almost forgot to tell you about the Leviathan by Anish Kapoor, exhibited in the Grand Palais in Paris. I like this building very much, with this glass roof, and its size. So I was a bit curious to see that sculpture made specifically for the building.

First, you go into the sculpture:
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It is a strange feeling. There is some pressure to keep it inflated, the light is red, as you can see, it is hot and moist, and I don't think anybody can see to the end of those tunnels (I'm not a good judge for that since I'm vertically compressed, as someone told me once). The shadows are quite amazing, showing the iron structure of the roof through the red skin.
Then you leave this space and enter the big hall of the Grand Palais. It is somehow a relief to be back in the fresh air :-). But this strange thing has taken possession of almost all the space. I could not get one picture of the whole.

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Have you seen how perfect the reflection of the iron is. Good quality surface...

You can learn more here.

I found the whole a bit frightening... What do you think?

PS: I don't know if Blogger is playing tricks and dating Amandine's last post back in January, or if she did actually post in January, and Blogger told me this morning only. Anyway, you can see her top list pictures of her trip on her blog. Perfect if you need a break :-)

Take care!

10 comments:

houndstooth said...

Wow! That thing is fascinating! I'd love a chance to visit and see it for myself.

Now I'm curious about this quilt!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

This sculpture is very modern in feel. It sort of reminds me of the "bean" in Chicago.

What sort of quilt will you be making? I imagine it is quite warm to be knitting now anyway.

georgia little pea said...

my goodness that is STUNNING! i love all your pictures, especially the second one which gives a very good idea of what a leviathan the sculpture was. the play of light and shadows is gorgeous :) i think the building and sculpture look tremendous together. we had a similar structure here during the sydney festival. it was outdoors. unfortunately, i didn't get there.

nikkipolani said...

Very very cool, Vero! Thanks for the mini-tour of this amazing experience.

Rosemary said...

So very interesting especially the red light .......want to see those dolls.

startare said...

Géniales photos! Il faudrait que j'aille faire un petit tour à Paris!

Victoria said...

Amazing! Would love to see this, but I can also imagine how parts of it would be a bit of a sensory overload!

Unknown said...

Wow - what an incredible sculpture!! Although you couldn't fit all of it into your camera but I think your photos are really good and really give an idea of what it's like, Amazing! Wish I could see it in person!

By the way, do you live in Paris? How very glamorous!

Hsin-Yi

Wally said...

Intriguing. I love the third photo and the last photo.

Arran, Arthur and Mum said...

hm, yes it seems very strange and quite 'alien'.