We met cousin Jenn in the evening and headed to the Grand Palais, an exhibition hall. The Grand Palais had asked the artist Anish Kapoor to design a structure specifically for showcase in the Grand Palais, and it was currently being featured during the May-June window. We waited in a long line (good sign) outside the building to buy our tickets. At some point, someone came outside the museum and told us we would be unable to see the interior of the structure between 8 and 9pm due to a concert being held in the structure. We were not exactly sure what that meant, but went with it.
When we got inside, we were led directly into a revolving door through which emerged this sight:
There was an artist playing music that could only be described as high-pitched chanting (mood music). He was also swaying and holding a glass of wine. At one point, the musician ventured into the crowd and started singing towards the crowd and touching random people on the shoulders and swaying to the music (I was afraid the wine glass would spill on spectators).
It was really trippy.
Initially, we thought this was Anish Kapoor, and he was singing to us, or somehow presenting us the chosen music for the structure. Eventually, we figured out that no, this was the concert, which was not related to the Kapoor exhibit. I'm not sure we were supposed to be there, but hey, free concert everybody.
At some point, the concert got a bit too abstract for us, and we left. However, as we were leaving, we saw the door that we were probably supposed to go into in the first place, and through this door emerged this sight:
The structure was officially named the Leviathan. We affectionately named it the Big Purple Blob. It was quite fascinating to us. Kapoor and his team had built this structure in a separate warehouse. It was designed to be inflatable, which is how they transferred it to the Grand Palais. We were allowed to go right up to the structure. It felt like a kickball. From these pictures, it is difficult to see the enormity of the structure, but given the size, I think that's understandable.
For some reason, the camera refuses to focus on anything but the Big Purple Blob ("BPB"). Therefore, all humans and earthly items remain out of focus.
A good view of the beautiful Grand Palais... and the Big Purple Blob.
Jenn made a great video on her phone of Louis standing far away from the blob and then slowly coming up close enough to the camera until his head is big enough to obscure the BPB. She'll have to post it on YouTube for posterity. We also took a series of pictures that showed the same sequence. This would make a great gift for art collectors. I guess Kapoor's work inspired the artist in all of us.
Haha, BPB is very unexpected. I wonder if the camera thought BPB was a large head very close to the camera which is why it refused to focus on tiny people.
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