The nose is a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti which, like many other works by the artist, has gone through several versions, the Swiss genius constantly reworking his motifs. Less known than The man who walks or the series of “Femmes immobiles”, it is no less adored by careful observers of the work of the artist who died in 1966 at the age of 64.
The nose, therefore, is a sculpture suspended in a cage in the shape of a parallelepiped and representing a human head, with coherent shapes. Except for its disproportionately long nasal appendage. It’s difficult not to think of Pinocchio in front of this work that Giacometti, in his Parisian studio, continued to revisit until the end of his life.
The exhibition “Le Nez”, at the Giacometti Institute, in the 14e Parisian district, presents all versions. With the exception of just one, the very first, dating from 1947 and today exhibited at the Kunstmuseum in Basel. But this one, made of plaster, is too fragile. And cannot be moved. “It would be unreasonable, assures Hugo Daniel, curator of the Parisian exhibition. Nobody knows what could happen. »
The sculpture taken from each angle
But the sculpture is there, in the form of a hologram. The work was scanned carefully, using technology from the company Proto, based in Los Angeles and considered one of the most cutting-edge in the sector. The teams traveled to Basel and took every angle of the sculpture. In the exhibition, the work appears in a case, a sort of box. Here it seems to be spinning in front of the visitor. Sometimes it splits.
“The idea is to show The nose like no one will ever be able to see, adds Hugo Daniel. Because we can thus stage several different angles, not being satisfied with just one. » And to emphasize “the complexity of the work, its richness”.
The nose by Giacometti is not Proto’s first stroke of brilliance. The Californian company has already made an impression with holograms of personalities, such as athletes Usain Bolt or Lewis Hamilton, entertainment stars such as Sean “Diddy” Combs or Ellen DeGeneres. Proto has also already made a strong impression in the art world by exhibiting, in April 2022 at Christie’s, a scanned version of the Little fourteen-year-old dancer, by Degas, presented in Los Angeles, then in Hong Kong.
A unique device
The exhibition of a hologram in a European museum is unprecedented. Particularly for an artist for whom it is difficult to find a more established equivalent. But, at the Giacometti Institute, we want to ensure that the process has not “nothing like a gadget” : “It’s an educational device. Information on the different stages of the work, images, clues about the stages of Giacometti’s research appear around the hologram. underlines Hugo Daniel.
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