Larissa Fassler's Topographic Studies of Parisian Non-Lieux at Galerie Jérôme Poggi

Larissa Fassler, a Canadian artist based in Berlin, presented her first solo exhibition in Paris at Galerie Jérôme Poggi from October 7 to November 19, 2011. The show featured meticulous topographic studies of several 'non-lieux' (non-places) in the capital, a term coined by Marc Augé. At the gallery entrance, visitors heard subway noise mixed with crowd sounds, accompanying a model of the Forum des Halles (currently being demolished) placed on a tall tricolor socle reminiscent of the French flag. Downstairs, another model of Les Halles depicted circulation networks, with black tape indicating the deepest excavations. The room's walls were covered with cardboard, evoking the fragile materials of these constructions. In the drawing 'Place de la Concorde,' Fassler annotated a plan with all micro-events observed in one day, offering an intimate yet politically charged vision of Paris (e.g., 'Two Lovers Kissing' and 'A Roma Girl Escaping the Police'). The influence of J.G. Ballard and Robert Venturi's representation of the Las Vegas Strip is evident. On a plan of Place de l'Europe, Fassler jotted down all texts noticed on walls or the metro station: graffiti, street names, singing lesson ads, posters for undocumented immigrants. These works function as anamorphoses or highly subjective cartographies of seemingly impersonal places.