20. Vincent Mauger

Vincent Mauger’s work is an ongoing search for materialisation, concretisation of mental space. By “mental space”, he means the construction of thoughts that come into being in the face of an area or place, as well as virtual worlds and mathematical or schematic constructions developed so that viewers can project themselves into non-existent or faraway places.

He often confronts a real area – the exhibition venue – with a representation of a mental perception of another area. Employing ordinary building materials, he reconstructs representations of landscape that come close to computer-generated images or mathematical and schematic constructions. He sets real, concrete building techniques alongside scientific and virtual imaging techniques. The principles underlying the assemblages of components remain visible: viewers can take hold of them mentally and imagine themselves following the act of construction or modifying its configuration.

His sculptures are made from simple materials: wood, fabric, tiles, and plastic and metal tubes. They remain identifiable, but the ways in which they are used create discrepancies in comparison with their ordinary appearance. The sculptures seem to be rough outlines, sketches developing in space. Inside a building, we come across fragments of landscapes, extensions of space, as it were, giving concrete form both to mental images and places conducive to reflection.