3rd Prize – Creation Call 2011

Creation – Mathieu Mercier, French artist born in 1970, living and working in France (Paris), Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2003. Weaving – Legoueix Workshop, weavers Daniel Bayle and Agnès Cariguel, Aubusson Dimensions: 3.20 m high x 3.20 m wide Low-warp tapestry, cotton warp, wool, metallic polyester weft Colors: 7 colors

Mathieu Mercier's works use everyday objects, changing the way we perceive their reality and placing them within the realm of conceptual and minimalist art. He blends genres and certainties, playing with détournements and distortions, assemblages and associations. His work is also a way of thinking about time and space in a metaphysical approach.

He wanted his tapestry to be interesting from a distance of ten meters, where one could recognize a rope, and to present another proposition up close, where it becomes a geometric representation, much like a painting or a pixelated photograph. For the execution, the weaving needed to be as flat as possible, in contrast to a rope that would have been trompe-l'œil and in relief.