Corals of Liberty

Inspired by the research of biologist and thinker Ernst Haeckel, whose illustrated plates revealed an invisible world to the naked eye in the 19th century and which Franjou studied for many years, she set out to tackle the column, sculpting dozens of meters of linen. Her personal cabinet of curiosities contains numerous corals and gorgonians. There they sit in her studio alongside roots and bark; they eventually hybridize with one another to shape, in the artist’s imagination, a world of their own… a world where life, in its most minute meanderings, is profoundly precious.

Most corals live in symbiosis with microscopic algae called zooxanthellae. These algae provide coral with most of its energy through photosynthesis. In turn the coral shelters them within its structure. Franjou plays on the reciprocal relationship between coral and algae to create a new one: that of the column’s structure and her own sculpted corals.

By anchoring her forms to the column’s metal framework, she fosters a new material relationship: one that rises from the waters of the Saint-Martin Canal and extends all the way to the Paris skies.

The liana, installed near the burial vaults, first appear to the visitors in shades of white— symbols of osteoporosis and coral death. Then, in shades of ivory and greige, they begin to climb the first steps of the staircase. Gradually, they come back to life in full color: a whirlwind of bright, invigorating hues overtake the space. A flamboyant palette unfolds in succession: sunflower yellows, coral and flamingo pinks, scarlet red, cherry flame and vermilion. The long and fantastic ascent culminates in a deep, vibrant crimson. Synonymous with rebirth, this warm and dynamic chromatic journey from white to red celebrates both the energy of movement and the joy of being alive.

From the pedestal of the column, as one’s gaze rises toward the Génie de la Liberté or Spirit of Freedom, the spiral staircase unfolds like a perfect ammonite overgrown with corals, a symbol of the perpetual whirlwind of life. All of Franjou’s sources of inspiration reveal themselves here: from life sciences to mathematics and the golden number to fractal growth. Here one may glimpse sand ripples or the intricate pattern of a Purkinje cell…Here visible and invisible connections emerge between worlds that may seem distant at first, but are brought together in the heart of the monument.

As a symbol of liberty, Aude Franjou’s corals invite visitors to recognize the fragility of life while seeing hope in its resilience. In their upward climb, always and forever reaching higher, they are a powerful connection to a world of life and liberty… a world of joy.

Catalogue © Cloé Pitiot, Aymeric Peniguet de Stoutz
Text © Cloé Pitiot
Photo © Vincent Leroux
Video © Anna Masseyeff