Studies in Manhattan
Residency, study ~ Projects in public space
New York, U.S.A. – 2007-2008
Although intended for public spaces, Pitois’ Sculptures à Souhait are not the result of conventional public commissions. She emphasizes that it is, first and foremost, her interest in a city and its people, in social interactions, that prompts her to create pieces for urban space. Acting on her own initiative, she selects the locations for her interventions herself, her choices dictated not by their visibility but by their social and symbolic value.
7 MINUTES OF PEACE ~ Tribute to Philippe Petit
Ground Zero, Lower Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A.
The artist came up with this project as she regularly walked past the gaping void of Ground Zero during a residency in New York. It is a tribute to the performance of Philippe Petit who, in 1974, , walked across the space between the two towers of the World Trade Centre on a tightrope. The piece is made up of a monumental column that soars skyward, topped by topped by the silhouette of the tightrope walker. At its foot, a huge cylindrical glass elevator takes visitors on a seven-minute solitary journey. Their ascent gives them time to contemplate while offering them an alternative, silent view of a city in constant motion.
A PIECE OF THE PUZZLE
Governor’s Island, Upper New York Bay, New York City, U.S.A.
On Governor ́s Island, situated just a mile from the southern tip of Manhattan, you get a picture postcard view of Manhattan. New York is a myth in and of itself; a place of endless possibilities, where you can start over with nothing to create a new life. In this project, the artist has imagined installing a kaleidoscopic spyglass on the island, affording both an enlarged and multiplied vision of Manhattan, like an inner close-up of urban reality focusing on both the overview and the details. This back-and-forth movement between distance and immediate reality is also the process that leads to self-awareness, as suggested by the caption displayed on the ground.
WHISTLING BENCHES
The Ramble, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A.
Did you know that birds belonging to the same species sing differently in different continents? The differences are tiny, but they underscore the importance of context. The project for Central Park is based partly on this scientific observation. In a secluded area, in the woods, the artist has designed rock benches where strollers can to stop, listen and learn the song of birds singing in the trees; the “text- legend” indicates that should birds forget their language, humans could help them learn it again. The question is how to preserve our identity and our own memory in a huge city when we assimilate another culture and another language.
