Asphalt Cell n°3
Peter Halley
Mediator - Xavier Douroux
Supporters - Fondation de France, Groupe d'action local, association d'élus de Côte d'Or, Conseil Général de la Côte d'Or, Ministère de la Culture – Drac de Bourgogne, Conseil Régional de Bourgogne, SICECO, Whirlpool International
Recey-sur-Ource, Bourgogne, 1996
The context
Françoise Naudet, president of the Association des Sept vallées in Haute Côte d'Or, who has passed away, wants to save the village washhouses from indifference. It is at the origin of the awareness that leads, among other things, to the organization of a tour as part of the European Leader II program. The Local Action Group chaired by Martine Eap-Dupin, General Councillor and Mayor of Précy-sur-Thil with the support of Jacqueline Bosset-Chauvière at the Côte d'Or General Council, supports this project of the Fondation de France. Thirteen villages are concerned by the restorations and nine works are commissioned for the washhouses of eight of them. In addition, there is a photographic commission, which is reflected in a book. The entire operation is supported by Whirlpool (Daniel Payan).
On the occasion of the restoration of their village's washhouse, the inhabitants and members of the Municipal Council of Recey decided to enhance the interior of the place through a plastic intervention.
The commission
On the north wall, a rectangular painting is hung, facing the central bay of the facade. It is a relief in fibreglass, metallic grey. Its design can evoke a building plan or a fragment of a city. A resonance is thus established with the place. The title of the work, Asphalt Cell No. 3, refers to the world of large cities and imprisonment. Water circulation flows are thus linked to the communication systems of contemporary societies.