The Matrices > Matthieu Pilaud, 2023

The Matrices > Matthieu Pilaud, 2023

Inspired by the rose windows of the buildings lining the Somme River, Matthieu Pilaud invokes the myth of the Wheel of Fortune to resonate with the capricious nature of the History of the Somme, the river department.

These motifs, drawn from the Basilica of Saint-Quentin, the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Péronne, the Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre in Corbie, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Amiens, and the Collegiate Church of Saint-Vulfran in Abbeville—originally built to “make the light sing”—here become wheels, spinning wheels, mills, as if an extrapolation of a mythical journey along the Somme Valley.

Through a bending process, Matthieu Pilaud attempts to fold these stone embroideries to give them the necessary curvature for wind movement. They thus become large lace turbines in aluminum, reflecting in the canal waters and shifting slightly with the wind.