Laying It Bare

Commissioned to coincide with the NGV's Monet exhibition, Clinamen's humble components are deceptive – the bowls float in the pool, creating an overall effect which is part lilypond, part musical instrument, and thoroughly magical. In town for the piece's unveiling in the NGV's atrium, Boursier-Mougenot explains that despite the pond-like look of the piece, the resonance with Monet's work was unexpected. Surrounded by seats, he primarily intended it to be a place where people can gather to listen to the gentle chiming the bowls make as they bump into each other. “The social potential of the piece is amazing. It has the possibility to be an 'agora', a place in the atrium which is a meeting point; a place where you can be by yourself, or where you can meet people, watch the pool and listen,” he explains.

Rather than simply rotating the bowls, an underwater current divides the pool in half, which he explains produces a more interesting sound – “Better than if it was just turning around like a flock of sheep with bells.” It is also more hypnotic to look at. “The current goes from one side to the other and doubles back, following the border of the pool. If you want to be more abstract, you can say it is almost a figure of eight, the symbol of infinity,” he says. The word 'clinamen' was used by ancient Greek and Roman philosophers to explain the swerve of atoms, but for the artist it has another meaning. “It's the idea of exhausting the possibilities of the material,” he says. It's a theme he returns to again and again in his work and in conversation, explaining how the seemingly simple piece has been carefully crafted through a series of refinements. “It's a long long process: I'm not an artist with a new idea every day.”

Experimenting with different variations on a theme is an approach he compares to that of classical musicians. “Some works from past centuries were made with the same idea, the idea that you have the material, you have the process, and you try to balance, to create the most beautiful piece. It's a bit like Johann Sebastian Bach, when he created violin sonatas, for example. He used the material of the violin, and the process of writing formal music in the style of his time, and he tried to exhaust the possibilities of the violin through the process of composing.” It's an apt comparison, considering that Boursier-Mougenot began his career as a composer and musician. Much of his work centres around sound, including his famous piece, from here to ear, which used an aviary full of finches interacting with guitar strings to make unorthodox music. “I want to listen to something that is not predictable,” he says. “It's not predetermined. For me, it's much closer to life that way. It has its own biorhythms.” He believes that anything can become a musical instrument. “We just have to find a way to reveal it.”

WHAT: Clinamen by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
WHEN & WHERE: to Sunday 8 September, NGV