Les mesmérides (1990 - 1992)

In 1992, I created the installation Les Mesmérides, freely inspired by Franz Anton Mesmer and his nebulous theories on animal magnetism in the eighteenth century. I conceived a constellation of luminous islets arranged within spaces laden with symbolism (the atrium of the former School of Art in Tourcoing, and a courtyard which I transformed into a simulated cemetery, adorned with crosses recalling the radioactive symbol). Around them, tyres placed in a circle evoked the barricades of May ’68, while plaster chevaux de frise intertwined historical memory with a spirit of protest. The whole formed an immersive experience, prompting reflection on esoteric practices, social tensions, and the resonances between the symbols of the past and those of the present.