An open invitation to look inside oneself; the exhibition begins in the foyer with the work of Numen/For Use. This fluid structure, comprised of only scotch tape, welcomes guests into the consuming space that is ‘Inside’. Organically shaped by the forces of tension, the transparent sculpture is suspended by its outstretched arms and beckons guests to clamber into its naturalistic limbs, and feel their way through it’s responsive veins. The group exhibition showcases the work of 31 artists, who each metamorphose areas of the exhibition space.
 
A startling, and at times disconcerting odyssey into their newly transformed spheres results in a exploration of the depth within the viewers own head. Plunged from room to room into the psyche of the artists, both sensorial and emotional, to take us to the core of our being and challenge and explore this through the artists conception. The spaces range from the bizarre; Abraham Poincheval documents his autonomous living inside an inhabitable sculpture of a bear, to the macabre; a wax body has been laid on a table, it’s head trapped inside a doll-sized house, by Andro Wekua.

Throughout the journey, our interpretations of self and security are subverted and disturbed, and commonplace identified notions in our modern world become dubious. Our convictions are challenged with the reversal work of Stéphane Thidet, who has engineered heavy rainfall within a wood cabin.  Perceptions about protection, shelter, refuge are called into question, when the safest place to be is standing outside the cabin, sheltered by only our flesh.

The transformation of Palais de Tokyo seeks to draw us inside the organism it has become, but also within our own psychology. It allows the art within to transcend objectivity boundaries and forces us to explore our innermost emotions, binding artist, viewer and gallery irretrievably in the memory.
 
Saskia Hadley
 
20 October 2014–11 January 2015
 
www.palaisdetokyo.com