Poetic installations draw close to sculpture, by implementing in situ “poetic objects” which operate each in its own way, going to and fro between dreams, poetic images and the rules which govern our world.
This is his view on the absurdity of the world, which Olivier Grossetête obliges us to consider through this artwork; Are you sure you know what work is, when faced with 6,000 sheets on which “This is work” is precisely handwritten? Is this game work or is work a game?
An article from the local Valence newspaper on Wednesday 12th March 1997 :
“A blast of humour or madness has blown into Valence during the night between Monday and Tuesday: Enormous plastic bags have been placed by a merry joker or someone not quite right in the head, in front of the Tax Office. These bags, around thirty of them, had been filled with slips of paper on which “This is work” is marked. The taxpayers who came to file a declaration couldn’t help smiling at the sight; Perhaps it was the goal. However, the slips which can be counted by the thousands were handwritten one by one. It makes one wonder. “How much time and how many marker pens were necessary for the individual who made this joke?”
This is one of the roads opened by “Un Bateau Ivre / A drunken boat” in 2000 which features a paper boat to scale referring to famous scenes from the cinema. This ship, already a poetic object in its own right, plays on the rapport between the object, its composition, what it represents and its use or its roleplay.
In 2004 and 2006 "Avion Prototype 1 / Plane prototype 1" and "A force d'attraction / Drawing power" features huge paper planes. If one is portrayed as a usable object, the second represents the poetic acknowledgement of its uselessness.
2006 "Montgolfière ou ascension sociale / Hot air balloon or social climbing", is a real small hot air balloon for inside, made from hundreds of refusal letters (job, funding or exhibition refusals etc...) which floats more or less freely around the exhibition centre.
This project is the model of a bridge suspended (literally) from large helium balloons. In the exhibition centre air-station, the bridge, which links the spectator to his imagination, gives body to space and dances under the air movements it creates.
This project is the continuation of the suspended bridge. An external format, planned for the Tatton Park Japanese garden for the biennial of the same name. This rope bridge will come out of the water and will form an arc by the traction of the big helium balloons. Built to scale 1, it could be used by a (lightweight) person for photo sessions.
"Orchidée / Orchid" is the project for a giant urban metal flower (5 to 7 m) which will open under the effects of the surrounding heat. This is a sculpture that can move due to memory form alloys.