The Foam of the Nights

L’Écume des Nuits is a flexible installation composed of 131 stainless steel skimmers. Each one holds a photographic portrait, visible through the mesh of its grid. Arranged in neat rows on the wall—like soldiers on parade or hunting trophies—these portraits, through their repetition, evoke the fleeting encounters that mark a life. The work questions what our memory retains of these faces: a trace of varying clarity, an imprint that may or may not withstand the passage of time.

The Play of Memory

The visual effect conveys the haziness of recollection. The metal’s sheen creates a shifting shimmer that changes depending on the viewer’s vantage point: the image appears and disappears, accentuated by the subject’s silhouette projected onto the wall. This visual blurring mirrors the difficulty of capturing a sharp image of the distant past.

The Social Sieve

Faced with this accumulation, the eye is compelled to settle, to pause on a single piece, to make a choice. Following on from series such as Petits Tamis (Small Sieves) or Tamis du Temps (Sieves of Time), this work explores the selection of human connections. This process operates in both directions: whom do we choose to hold onto, and in whose memory do we remain etched? The piece prompts us to reflect on the value of our relationships and the principle of economy we—often unwittingly—apply to ourselves and to others.