CAPC Musee d’art contemporain de Bordeaux hosts the collection of Floats by American artist Robert Breer. In the nave of the CAPC, the first ever meeting of thirty-odd of these pieces imbue this experience with a quite exceptional intensity. open through 27 February 2011.
The Floats, these quasi-minimalistic and historic floating sculptures by American artist Robert Breer are to have the run of the museum’s nave, triggering the stirring vision of an unfixed exhibition between mobile-sculpture convention and silent debutants’ ball.
Robert Breer, “Float,” 1970-2004. Collection Frac Franche-Comté, Besançon, exhibition Robert Breer, CAPC Bordeaux Photo by Frédéric Guy. © Mairie de Bordeaux
The Floats—or motorized mollusks—that Robert Breer took up producing again at the end of the 1990s, emerged in 1965. Primary shapes, neutral colours and, for the most recent, an industrial aspect, the Floats were then made with polystyrene, foam, painted plywood, and, more latterly, out of fibreglass. At first glance, these simple structures appear immobile. In fact, they are moving, imperceptibly, within the space they inhabit. They glide unbeknown to the visitor, following random paths that are interrupted by the slightest obstacle that they encounter. The Floats produce what should be named ”mechanical uncertainty”.
CAPC
Musée d’art contemporain
de Bordeaux
Entrepôt, 7, rue Ferrère
F- 33000 Bordeaux
www.capc-bordeaux.fr