As an expression of the public will to support creation and to make our fellow citizens aware of the art of our time, the "obligation to decorate public buildings", commonly known as the "1% artistic", is a specific procedure for commissioning works of art from artists which is imposed on the State, its public establishments and local authorities.
On Monday 14 February 2022, the artist Vincent Mauger presented his work created as part of the 1% artistic contribution to the Neurocampus Michel Jouvet building of the CRNL.
For him, the context of the work must resonate with his work. He likes to "create doors to wider spaces to leave room for the imagination and reflection". He sees the work as an escape from the material place in which one is placed and where one works.
He wanted to make a similarity between the abstract system of thought and the very material system of thought.
The frames of the work are reminiscent of microscope slides and computer windows, but also of the relationship to sports practice, and therefore to cerebral gymnastics.
The 3D reading is reminiscent of a mechanical aspect: the impression of a fixed and moving form at the same time.
Inside, different circles are suspended in space by numerous coloured tubes. The ramifications around the rings form a simple star-like structure reminiscent of the schematic iconography of a neuron. The overall view creates an analogy with the idea of a sample, a sampling from a larger, complex whole.
The mirrors placed in the centre of some of the circles are reminiscent of 'mirror neurons'.
The work measures 3m50x4m50 and is located at the entrance of the Neurocampus Michel Jouvet building so that it is visible in the public space.
The materials used are aluminium (for the frames, the body of the neuronal cells and the dendrites), mirror-polished stainless steel (for the inside of the body of certain cells as an allegory of the mirror neurons), anodised aluminium (for the axons).
