Originally, the word turbulence designated “the restless movement of a crowd”. Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist to take a close interest in this phenomenon and to apply to it the Italian world “torbolenza”. He observed and illustrated with particular acuity the moment of transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow, which generates swirls, curls, spirals and other constantly evolving random patterns. Unlike other states of matter characterized as “stable or balanced”, turbulent processes are highly volatile, irreversible and, above all, unpredictable. Today, with the help of new technologies or rudimentary techniques, virtual images or traditional line drawings, artists from different horizons are exploring the multiple aesthetic and philosophical possibilities of the notion of turbulence. They have also developed various systems of graphic, pictorial or sculptural notation enabling them to “chart” these spontaneous and disconcerting movements of matter. The immersive space and video installations of Pascal Haudressy and Ryoichi Kurokawa, which mix images, sounds and sculptures, the blowers and turbines of Attila Csörgo, Zilvinas Kempinas, Petroc Sesti or Jorinde Voigt, which generate whirlwinds or whirlpools, the apparently liquefying wall of Loris Cecchini, Sachiko Kodama’s sculptures, constantly changing along with variations in magnetic fields, Élias Crespin’s mechanical waves and flows, Miguel Chevalier’s swirling field of colour to explore with the eye and the body, Angela Bulloch’s pixel mutations: this exhibition, pervaded by varying currents, brings together the work of 11 artists of different nationalities, all of whom explore in myriad ways (via machines, images, physical processes) the art of playing with turbulence. Vortex, flow, acceleration, effervescence: far from the threatening commotion of total chaos, the works presented here act like “turbines”, generating constantly evolving processes, structures and forms. Order and disorder, so intimately intertwined, create a fertile and dynamic field. Curators : David Rosenberg et Pierre Sterckx. Espace culturel Louis Vuitton 60 rue de Bassano 101 Avenue des Champs-Élysées 75008 Paris www.louisvuitton.com/espaceculturel
