The first time I visited the Pinault Collection at Bourse de Commerce was to view Kimsooja's To Breathe — Constellation — a mirror covering the entire floor of the rotunda, turning the dome above into an abyss beneath your feet. For my latest visit, I was drawn by Cloud #07156, a fog sculpture by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya.
© Malcolm McLoughlin
Composed entirely of microscopic water droplets, a dense white cloud is released from beneath an iron grid at the heart of the rotunda. There's no wind inside so the crowd becomes the only current the fog has to answer to — it builds, drifts, banks up behind a stranger, and trails off where someone else has just walked through.
From my perspective as a photographer, the shape-shifting of the cloud combined with human movement made for a poetic type of dance.
It also brought a creative partnership to life in a spontaneous way, through meeting two dancers there. As they worked out an intricately choreographed number, I circled them with my Canon R5, documenting their movement as if at one with the cloud. Being creative is one thing, but for me, doing it in collaboration with other artists — whether they're dancers, musicians, or filmmakers — is hugely satisfying and rewarding.
© Malcolm McLoughlin
© Malcolm McLoughlin