Artist Statement

A tribute to Mark Rothko and John Cage. A reverie stemming from a ten-day trip to New York in the fall of ’96, the real window is located in the Paramount Hotel on Broadway. The installation window wanders between sounds and photos recorded during the trip and the memory of two great New York artists, the painter Mark Rothko and the composer John Cage. The principle of the installation is to create a dynamic perception of New York City. The window is the metaphor: an opening onto the city that filters variations of light and sound, focussing eyes and ears. The autors shall outline the successive forms of the project, and the change related issues, which led them from one version to the next. Issues driving these changes include the audience’s perception of real time alterations in the installation., the coherence of the composition in response to accidental intervention, and finally the imaginary view of the city as perceived through an abstract of concrete construction. In this sense, the issues refer back to John Cage, who strove gradually to give indeterminism and interpretation a place in his work, andto mark Rothko, who plays with perception of light in abstraction.

• Cécile Le Prado
• Stéphane Natkin