ART
The Carrousel and the Red Spider
Every time when I pass by this unlikely duo
I am struck not only by the oddity of such a coupling, but also by the
incongruity of its very presence in the centre of the business district of
Paris. Marrying La Belle Époque with Calder’s abstract art is quite surreal
anyway, but placing it in the middle of La Defense, that seems a step too
far. Yet it grows on you in the
end. The bright colours, reflecting in
the glass surfaces of the surrounding buildings, alleviate and warm the severe
atmosphere that reigns around.
With La Grande Arche in all its glory,
towering in the background, there are moments, especially at twilight, when the
entire space becomes a stage and the crowds are the extras. The Carrousel and
the Red Spider on one side and another equally bizarre and phantasmagoric couple by
Miro on the other side of the square, are the stars of the show.
It makes you think. Perhaps there is
symbolism here - the huge metal monster about to swallow the tiny merry-go-round;
the She-spider who would devour her lover once he has fulfilled his mission. We
could see the Spider, as modernity, about to consume the Carrousel, the relics
of the past, to make this brave new world. Does this mean we are going to do away with
our heritage or are we going to incorporate it in our contemporary surroundings?
La Defense de Paris
In fact old and new co-habit here from the
very beginning. The business district has acquired its name from a 19th
century allegorical sculpture by Barrias, commemorating the defence of Paris
during the Franco-Prussian war. Gradually the business district has become a
vast open-air museum but the works of the contemporary sculptors that we see
here are mostly avant-garde as the Red Spider. We are in the third millennium
after all. Only Barrias’ masterpiece “La Defense de Paris” reminds us that
nearly 150 years ago the French battalions were making their last stand here.
Today this is a place where business people from all over the world meet to
discuss ways of better cooperation.
