Anthony Laffargue

Palestra Minima
La Palestra Minima is the fantasy tale of a gymnast on a Mediterranean island. The project draws on my own introspective and structuring practice of sport, which allows us to refocus on ourselves in order to stand upright and face the world.
It combines mineral materials, stone and plaster, reminiscent of a limestone cliff landscape. The sportsman climbs a massif in the centre of the piece, confronting his body with this regular topography. He will have built it himself, in a rudimentary way, with materials that only work in compression with one another, but with the intention of achieving the classical beauty of Greek forms.
A large nickel-plated brass bar rests on two walls. It will not move: resting on the bases, it will only roll. It is the body that will adapt to the bar, playing with heights and standing, sitting and lying positions.
Using the body and its dimensions as a starting point, new volumes are drawn, resulting in powerful shapes that are far removed from our common frame of reference, leaving room for raw perception. The result is a more sensory and sensual relationship with the environment.