Photo: Alex Nollet
For over 20 years, French artist Olivier Grossetête has been creating what he calls Participative Monumental Constructions. Made with the help of native communities, these ephemeral items of structure are erected utilizing solely cardboard containers and tape. Grossetête works with out the help of equipment, utilizing solely the assistance of native contributors to carry these fantasy items to life. While this structure can take many varieties, we’re significantly a fan of the floating cardboard bridges which can be a recurring theme.
From Japan to France to Italy, these bridges take their cues from native structure. Often lifted by balloons, the ultimate installations are as a lot a lesson in physics as they’re in structure. The items, that are designed and constructed over the course of per week with the assistance of 15 to 30 workshop contributors, are supposed to reside for only a few days. After which period, they’re rigorously damaged down into their earlier varieties.
“Ephemeral by nature, like us, these monumental participatory cardboard constructions are destined to disappear. Their stake is, therefore, as much in the process, in the journey, and in the collective experience they propose, as in their final forms. This ‘suspended’ bridge, inaccessible in essence, ultimately connects us to ourselves: an image of our relationship with the unspeakable,” shares the artist.
Grossetête turned to cardboard not solely as a result of it is cheap and simple to search out, but in addition as a result of as a cloth, it is not intimidating. By utilizing a cloth that’s accessible to everybody, he is capable of simply attract volunteers to perform the collective aim in a brief period of time. And by working collectively, they’re effortlessly capable of assemble spectacular items of structure that may weigh multiple and a half tons.
French artist Olivier Grossetête makes use of cardboard containers and tape to create floating bridges.
Photo: Mucha
Photo: Olivier Grossetête
Built throughout neighborhood workshops with the assistance of native volunteers, they’re usually suspended by balloons.
Photo: Olivier Grossetête
These ephemeral buildings are disassembled only a few days after they take flight.
Photo: Mantuano/French Embassy in Rome
Photo: Olivier Grossetête
Photo: Mantuano/French Embassy in Rome