In Between Memories
couscous, iron mooring post, rope, plinth with core samples from Manhattan bedrock, sand, pile of photographs
1996-98
dimensions variable
In Between Memories blends the personal and the political. Here, Gérard meditates both on his own sense of displacement and on the waves of exile and resettlement that were the legacy of the colonial era. He presents a freestanding ladder made of couscous, the stable food of East and North Africa, which has become common in France thanks to colonial migrations. The ladder is attached to a mooring rope and accompanied by photographs showing a bridge, half of which represents the Manhattan Bridge and half the Pont de arts in Paris, thus referring to Gérard's own personal migration to America.
Collection de l’artiste, Entrepot Geotec, Dijon, France
Bibliography:
Michel Gérard, The American Decade: 1989-1999, Neuberger Museum of Art (2002) with texts by Heartney, Gedeon, and Danto: p. 24, 48-49
Michel Gérard: Signature Transformations 2009–1972, Christian Pirot (2009): p. 54