Work from the Collection

Evaporating Water (Floating Puddle Swing)

Artist: Davide Balula

Date of creation: 2016

Medium: Installation

Materials: Wood, Water, String

Dimensions: Variable dimensions

Collection: Lafayette Anticipations - Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin

Date of acquisition: 2016

Davide Balula, Evaporating Water (Floating Puddle Swing), 2016, Collection Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin © DR

The sculpture Evaporating Water (Floating Puddle Swing) was created through the assembly of three materials: water placed sparingly on a wooden board suspended from two large pieces of string. Inspired by natural phenomena, with this piece Davide Balula questions the notions of space and gravity. Small puddles of water form on the surface of the board which is coated with a waterproof substance. These move randomly according to the surrounding airflow and as viewers pass by the board which oscillates like a swing. Davide Balula combines the solid and the liquid in a poetic dialogue that instils water with life-like properties. Despite its apparent formal simplicity, the work is the result of a complex artistic gesture designed to visually reproduce the process of evaporation.

Written by Oriane Poret as part of the partnership between the Ecole du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations - Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin

Exhibitions

Objet de tendresse
Galerie Michel Journiac, Paris (France)
from 05 Apr to 17 Apr 2018

Broken Things Float Faster
Galerie François Ghebaly, Los Angeles (Etats-Unis)
from 16 Sep to 29 Oct 2016

À propos de l'artiste

Davide Balula

Born in 1978 in Annecy, France

Nourrie par la science, la musique et la technologie, l’œuvre de l’artiste français Davide Balula oscille entre empirisme et ludisme. L’intérêt qu’il porte aux lois de la physique, de la chimie et aux nouvelles technologies participe d’un même questionnement sur les limites de la perception et de l’imagination. Sa pratique multisensorielle et pluridisciplinaire est constituée d’expérimentations diverses et de rencontres fortuites qui viennent remettre en question le passage du temps.

Né en 1978 à Annecy (France), Davide Balula a étudié la musique contemporaine au conservatoire d’Annecy et les arts plastiques à l’École supérieure d’art Annecy Alpes avant de poursuivre sa formation à l’École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg et à l’École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy. Il vit et travaille à New York.