Pavillon de chasse

temporary in-situ structure, clear double-sided tape
300 x 400 x 500 cm

Hunting Lodge is an imposing rectangular structure made of transparent double-sided adhesive tape that forms a floor, walls, and a ceiling.

Rather than using the walls of La Criée as exhibition space, the artist prefers to work within the walls, in that interstitial “void” that reveals the impressive height of the ceilings and the feeling of being overwhelmed that visitors may sometimes experience upon entering this vast white cube. On the other hand, as one moves around this space, one finds oneself caught between two kinds of walls: the rigid, white, and cold walls of the building, and the supple, translucent, and sticky walls of the Hunting Lodge. Like a living organism, La Criée appears to have been turned inside out like a glove (…)

The Pavillon de chasse actually invites visitors to engage with the space in a way other than simply standing back to contemplate the exhibited works. Indeed, from a distance, the viewer sees the work as a plastic form that is at once opaque and transparent, fragile and monumental. As viewers approach and are provided the opportunity to enter the pavilion, they become visitors, discovering through touch that this space literally clings to their bodies, clothes, and shoes, leaving traces of their passage on the adhesive (handprints, hair, paper, etc.).
Simone Decker’s work resonates with the post-minimalist sculptures of the 1960s and 1970s (Richard Serra, Dan Graham, Michael Acher, etc.), which challenged the conventional exhibition space—a space within which it is possible to surreptitiously subvert established norms. “On the other hand, Simone Decker maintains a very subtle relationship with the viewer-visitor. Indeed, she aims not to overwhelm them, but to offer them a space that is at once critical, playful, and sensitive.”

Larys Frogier, exhibition brochure Ex-change, Rennes, La Criée centre d’art contemporain, 1999