A new environmental installation by Oscar Tuazon opened in Paris

American artist Oscar Tuazon signs a new architectural piece for Place Vendôme, in Paris, created for contemporary art fair FIAC 2017. Marked by a typically strong materiality, his latest “inhabitable art” is an environmental sculpture that engages different methods of construction and allows visitors to walk through.

The installation, called Une colonne d’eau comprises four sculptures, each of which is constructed out of PVC pipe, originally used to transport water, and tree trunks cut from Paris’ Bois de Vincennes. Stemming from Tuazon’s interest in the municipal infrastructure of water, these recycled pipelines represent “an architecture of water made visible, a horizontal water monument.” Viewers are able to enter the structure, which is bisected by the tree trunks, and experience the environment created by Tuazon both internally and externally.

Based in Los Angeles, Tuazon – who studied architecture and urbanism and who worked side by side with Vito Acconci – is well known for his artistic contribution to architecture, space and design. He frequently uses wood, concrete, glass, steel, and piping as materials to create his structures and installations. His works have roots in minimalism, conceptualism, and architecture, and have a direct relationship with both the site in which they are presented, as well as with their viewer, often through physical engagement.