2021 / Over the seas of future times

Public installation commissioned for the courtyard of the jardin Arnaud Beltrame in Paris
Courtesy @galeriemarguo

Mirror polished stainless steel, stainless steel cables

Hanging from the side of the gallery’s exterior wall is Over The Seas of Future Times, a selection of fragments from Pessoa’s text -originally written in english- recomposed by the artist in a floating display. Left for the viewer to piece together, Pernot’s redaction mimics the very faculty of memory. As the word ‘re-member’ suggests, to recall a memory is to repeatedly compose a collection of fragmented impressions we store in the mind, thus constructing and reconstructing a new memory in each moment, forever re-cast by the lens of the present, yet capable of eternal resurrection. As such, one way to ensure the perseverance of memory is to present it in fragments, so that it may be continuously reanimated by the viewer.
Pessoa’s words are rendered in a mirrored surface, which reflect the passing clouds and changing light, as if to further amplify this intention of engagement, of a simultaneous permanence and transience.