Gradient

This tower is a metal gradient. It is mounted head to tail with inverted assemblies that represent a double variation in the material’s density.
The work consists of a horizontal double graded stack of square mesh welded wire mesh plates.

The plastic artist has given this steel object a variability that gives it a total abstraction. The whole forms a parallelepiped of metal anchored to the ground by an anthracite plate. The system is particularly stable and coherent in space. To understand the notion of gradient, one must imagine the room in a flow of air created by a powerful blower.

We would then obtain an effect of continuous variation of the speed of the fluid through the structure – from the fastest at mid-height of the object, to the slowest towards the extremities. At the center of the column, the artist has placed a double plane of illumination whose halos merge in the upper and lower parts.

The luminosity thus fades at the extremities. Together with the brilliance of the metal, the cold and warm bitonality of the light in the middle plane creates a fascinating vibratory effect. On a practical level, the extra-flat base can be detached from the object, making it easier to transport.

In addition, the entire power supply of the work is placed in the dense part of the structure and remains invisible.
In the middle of the structure, where the metal architecture is less compact, twenty-four vertical steel wires carry the upper part without any buckling.

The thinness of the structure that surrounds the light plane frees the light source. It thus gives the object a certain transparency in its middle. With its architectural skeleton-like appearance, Gradient is close to the proportions of the Areva Tower in La Défense (reduced to 1/100th).