Recycling has never been so cool. Michel de Broin’s exhibit at the Musée d’art contemporain is an experiment in opposites – imagery of fire and water, recycled materials and waste. The Montreal-based artist has done something extraordinary; he has created a whimsical and enticing exhibit in which he reappropriates forgotten objects.
Among other things, de Broin’s work is made of prints, plaster, film, pumps and recycled materials. It illustrates urban living and human wastefulness in a way that is both insightful and entertaining. From a short film of abandoned cans rolling in an autumn breeze to an inverted bronze statue inspired by the Statue of Liberty (appropriately called “The Abyss of Liberty”), the exhibit shows de Broin’s diversity of ideas and artistic talent.
De Broin proves there is still something interesting in objects that seem to no longer have any use – it’s just a matter of perspective. A shattered light bulb sits atop an illuminated podium, as if announcing “I am still important.” Indeed, the artist seems to be insisting on the relevance of what has been discarded – anything ranging from old batteries, school desks, a suitcase.
But de Broin is not simply teaching a moral lesson. He is also exploring his own imaginative ideas. One installation involves footage of him pumping air into a slightly filled water bottle using a bike pump. The pressure builds, the bottle takes flight and the water is set free.
De Broin’s clips – filmed in front of abandoned buildings, at the Eiffel Tower, in a field, and at a tourist-filled Montmartre lookout – show the eccentricities of modern art, delivered to perfection with the artist’s quirky sense of humour. The entire exhibit is punctuated with seeming incongruities. Take, for instance, “Blue Monochrome,” a dumpster that has been revamped into a swimming pool, complete with integrated lighting, a heater and a pool ladder. De Broin certainly gives new meaning to the term ‘dumpster diving.’
De Broin creates these paradoxes by combining seemingly opposite elements – a sink that expels fire and water, or an alarm that rings silently. It is not any one of these works individually that make the exhibit, but rather the wide variety they form collectively.
One film in the exhibit shows footage of the artist’s project for the Parisian Nuit Blanche festival in 2009. The artist had the largest-ever disco ball (which he made himself) hung from a 50-metre crane in the Luxembourg Gardens. This footage shows the illuminated disco ball casting interesting shadows over the famous gardens. Displayed on four vertically stacked televisions, the footage is impressive in itself, but especially so when the viewer considers the disco ball was created with 1,000 mirror pieces. De Broin certainly knows how to give his audience material for reflection.
Michel de Broin’s exhibit at the Musée d’art contemporain runs until September 2, 2013.