Laurent Grasso's 'The Horn Perspective' at Centre Pompidou

Laurent Grasso, winner of the 2008 Prix Marcel Duchamp, presents 'The Horn Perspective' at Espace 315, Centre Pompidou, from June 17 to September 14, 2009. The installation continues Grasso's exploration of scientific inventions and beliefs about electrical and magnetic powers. It features a replica of a Tesla antenna and a reconstruction of the Horn Antenna, through which Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson confirmed cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964. Speakers emit a static-like sound, possibly the captured signal. A film projection of a forest path creates a perspectival vanishing point. Grasso's work merges past and future, referencing 19th-century scientific illustrations and constructivist design, embodying what critic Arnauld Pierre calls 'archaeo-modernism.' The exhibition also includes works like 'Polair' (2007) and 'Time Dust' (2008), which involve antennas and interference. Grasso, born in 1972 in Mulhouse, lives and works in Paris. Recent shows include the Institute of Contemporary Art Toronto and Galerie Chez Valentin in Paris.