Du 11 sept. au 6 nov. 2026
En Résonance avec la 18ème Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon
En Résonance avec la 18ème Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon
[FR]
Ensemble vide
8.
9. L’élément important du double vitrage, celui qui permet l’isolation n’est pas le verre, ni même son redoublement du verre, mais l’air compris entre les deux vitres et qui doit être le plus immobile possible pour que l’isolation advienne. Celle-ci est plus efficace encore si, à la place de l’air, on met du vide. Cette technique a été utilisée, puis abandonnée parce que la pression du vide causait des déformations à la surface du verre. Depuis, entre les vitres, il y a un intervalle d’air qu’on nomme « lame d’air ». Je répète le mot à voix haute.
10. La Bibliothèque de Babel de Jorge Luis Borges commence par ces mots: «L’univers (que d’autres appellent la Bibliothèque) se compose d’un nombre indéfini, et peut-être infini, de galeries hexagonales, avec au centre de vastes puits d’aération ». J’aime qu’au centre de l’Univers il y ait un conduit.
Nina Leger, août 2026.
[EN]
Ensemble vide (Empty Set)
1. Dinosaurs did not become extinct; they evolved into birds. They hollowed out their bones, creating what are known as pneumatic cavities, and, thanks to the reduced weight these cavities provided, dinosaurs were able to fly. I wonder at what point, in terms of the number of holes, something ceases to be itself and becomes something else; at what point a flying dinosaur becomes a bird.
2. To find out the age of a tree, you count its growth rings. These dark, concentric rings are actually closed-off vessels – countless tiny tubes lined up beneath the bark, through which water drawn from the soil rises from the tree’s roots to its leaves. These channels form in spring and, every winter, they close up and die. The growth ring is the remnant of these cavities. The following spring, new tubes open a little further out on the trunk. The spacing between them depends on the growth of the tree. As they age, trees move away from their centre. Year after year, their life shifts towards the periphery of the trunk whilst their centre dies, devitalised.
3. According to the *Trésor de la langue française*, the first synonym for *INTERVALLE (interval) is *INTERSTICE* (gap). The synonymy between the two terms is said to be 100 per cent. The reverse is not true: if I look up the synonyms for *INTERSTICE*, *INTERVALLE* only appears in fourth place, with a synonymy of barely 50 per cent. I am looking for a logical formula capable of expressing this asymmetry.
4. A snail is born with its shell. Over the course of its life, this initial shell is built up with rings of limestone and becomes the apex of a spiral. The tree holds its death at its centre; the snail harbours its birth there.
5. According to *Le Trésor de la langue française*, the primary synonym for ‘interstice’ is the word ‘pore’.
6. PORE. Most often used in the plural. A. — ANCIENT PHYSICS. The gap separating the molecules of a body. We imagine the innermost parts of all bodies in nature to be separated from one another by empty spaces, which we call the pores of the substance. (Poisson, Mécan., vol. 2, 1811, p. 2) If alcohol is mixed with water, the volume of the mixture becomes noticeably less than the sum of the volumes of the two components, since, as water is a porous substance, part of the alcohol is absorbed into the pores. (Chesn., vol. 2, 1858) B. — A very small opening on the surface of a substance; a very small cavity within a substance. Pores in wood, eggshells, sponges, filters, mortar, stone, soil, sugar and earth. The absorbent pores in the walls of the oesophagus or intestine (Lamarck, Philos. zool., vol. 2, 1809, p. 133).
7. On the radio, a man explains that, in order to have mass, things need a vacuum. Particles, he says, do not possess their own mass; they acquire it by interacting with other particles and exchanging with them a special particle capable of conferring mass. These particles exist only in a vacuum. It is from the space between them that things derive their mass.
8.
9. The key element of double glazing – the one that provides insulation – is not the glass, nor even the fact that there are two panes of glass, but the air trapped between the two panes, which must be as still as possible for the insulation to work. This is even more effective if, instead of air, a vacuum is used. This technique was used, then abandoned, because the pressure of the vacuum caused distortions on the surface of the glass. Since then, there has been a gap of air between the panes, known as an ‘air gap’. I’ll say that word out loud.
10. Jorge Luis Borges’s *The Library of Babel* begins with these words: ‘The universe (which others call the Library) consists of an indefinite, and perhaps infinite, number of hexagonal galleries, with vast ventilation shafts at their centres’. I like the idea that there is a shaft at the centre of the Universe.
Nina Leger, August 2026.
Photos © David Desaleux
Ensemble vide
- Les dinosaures n’ont pas disparu ; ils sont devenus les oiseaux. Ils ont creusé leurs os, y ont ménagé ce qu’on a nommé des cavités pneumatiques et, grâce à l’allègement permis par ces cavités, les dinosaures ont pu voler. Je me demande à partir de combien de trous une chose cesse d’être elle- même et en devient une autre ; à partir de quand un dinosaure qui vole devient un oiseau.
- Pour connaître l’âge d’un arbre, on compte ses anneaux de croissance. Ces cernes sombres et concentriques sont en réalité des tuyaux qui se sont refermés, de minuscules et innombrables tubes alignés sous l’écorce et par lesquels l’eau puisée dans le sol monte des racines de l’arbre jusqu’à ses feuilles. Ces canaux se forment au printemps et, chaque hiver, ils se referment et meurent. L’anneau de croissance est le fantôme de ces cavités. Au printemps suivant, d’autres tuyaux s’ouvrent un peu plus loin sur le tronc. Leur intervalle dépend de la croissance de l’arbre. En vieillissant, les arbres s’éloignent de leur cœur. Année après année, leur vie se déplace à la périphérie du tronc pendant que leur centre meurt, dévitalisé.
- D’après le Trésor de la langue française, le premier synonyme d’INTERVALLE est INTERSTICE. La synonymie des deux termes serait de 100%. La réciproque n’est pas vraie : si je cherche les syno- nymes d’INTERSTICE, INTERVALLE n’arrive qu’en quatrième position avec une synonymie d’à peine 50%. Je cherche une formule logique capable d’exprimer cette asymétrie.
- Un escargot naît avec sa coquille. Au cours de son existence, cette coquille initiale s’augmente d’anneaux de calcaire et devient la pointe sommitale d’une hélice. L’arbre tient sa mort en son milieu ; l’escargot y loge sa naissance.
- Toujours d’après le Trésor de la langue française, le premier synonyme d’interstice, son correspondant exact serait le mot pore.
- PORE. Le plus souvent au pluriel. A. — PHYS. ANC. Interstice séparant les molécules d’un corps. Nous nous représentons les parties intimes de tous les corps de la nature, séparées les unes des autres par des espaces vides, que nous appelons les pores de la substance. (Poisson, Mécan., t. 2, 1811, p. 2) Si l’on mêle de l’alcool avec de l’eau, le volume du mélange devient sensiblement moindre que la somme des volumes des deux parties, attendu que, l’eau étant un corps poreux, une partie de l’alcool se loge dans les pores. (Chesn., t. 21858) B. — Très petit orifice de la surface d’un corps, très petite cavité d’un corps. Pores du bois, de la coquille des œufs, d’une éponge, d’un filtre, d’un mortier, d’une pierre, du sol, du sucre, de la terre. Les pores absorbants des parois du tube alimentaire ou intestinal (Lamarck, Philos. zool., t. 2, 1809, p. 133).
- À la radio, un homme explique que, pour avoir une masse, les choses ont besoin du vide. Les par- ticules, dit-il, ne possèdent pas leur masse, elles l’obtiennent en entrant en interaction avec d’autres particules et en échangeant avec ces autres une particule spéciale, capable de conférer de la masse. Ces particules-là n’existent que dans le vide. C’est de l’intervalle entre elles que les choses tirent leur masse.
8.
9. L’élément important du double vitrage, celui qui permet l’isolation n’est pas le verre, ni même son redoublement du verre, mais l’air compris entre les deux vitres et qui doit être le plus immobile possible pour que l’isolation advienne. Celle-ci est plus efficace encore si, à la place de l’air, on met du vide. Cette technique a été utilisée, puis abandonnée parce que la pression du vide causait des déformations à la surface du verre. Depuis, entre les vitres, il y a un intervalle d’air qu’on nomme « lame d’air ». Je répète le mot à voix haute.
10. La Bibliothèque de Babel de Jorge Luis Borges commence par ces mots: «L’univers (que d’autres appellent la Bibliothèque) se compose d’un nombre indéfini, et peut-être infini, de galeries hexagonales, avec au centre de vastes puits d’aération ». J’aime qu’au centre de l’Univers il y ait un conduit.
Nina Leger, août 2026.
[EN]
Ensemble vide (Empty Set)
1. Dinosaurs did not become extinct; they evolved into birds. They hollowed out their bones, creating what are known as pneumatic cavities, and, thanks to the reduced weight these cavities provided, dinosaurs were able to fly. I wonder at what point, in terms of the number of holes, something ceases to be itself and becomes something else; at what point a flying dinosaur becomes a bird.
2. To find out the age of a tree, you count its growth rings. These dark, concentric rings are actually closed-off vessels – countless tiny tubes lined up beneath the bark, through which water drawn from the soil rises from the tree’s roots to its leaves. These channels form in spring and, every winter, they close up and die. The growth ring is the remnant of these cavities. The following spring, new tubes open a little further out on the trunk. The spacing between them depends on the growth of the tree. As they age, trees move away from their centre. Year after year, their life shifts towards the periphery of the trunk whilst their centre dies, devitalised.
3. According to the *Trésor de la langue française*, the first synonym for *INTERVALLE (interval) is *INTERSTICE* (gap). The synonymy between the two terms is said to be 100 per cent. The reverse is not true: if I look up the synonyms for *INTERSTICE*, *INTERVALLE* only appears in fourth place, with a synonymy of barely 50 per cent. I am looking for a logical formula capable of expressing this asymmetry.
4. A snail is born with its shell. Over the course of its life, this initial shell is built up with rings of limestone and becomes the apex of a spiral. The tree holds its death at its centre; the snail harbours its birth there.
5. According to *Le Trésor de la langue française*, the primary synonym for ‘interstice’ is the word ‘pore’.
6. PORE. Most often used in the plural. A. — ANCIENT PHYSICS. The gap separating the molecules of a body. We imagine the innermost parts of all bodies in nature to be separated from one another by empty spaces, which we call the pores of the substance. (Poisson, Mécan., vol. 2, 1811, p. 2) If alcohol is mixed with water, the volume of the mixture becomes noticeably less than the sum of the volumes of the two components, since, as water is a porous substance, part of the alcohol is absorbed into the pores. (Chesn., vol. 2, 1858) B. — A very small opening on the surface of a substance; a very small cavity within a substance. Pores in wood, eggshells, sponges, filters, mortar, stone, soil, sugar and earth. The absorbent pores in the walls of the oesophagus or intestine (Lamarck, Philos. zool., vol. 2, 1809, p. 133).
7. On the radio, a man explains that, in order to have mass, things need a vacuum. Particles, he says, do not possess their own mass; they acquire it by interacting with other particles and exchanging with them a special particle capable of conferring mass. These particles exist only in a vacuum. It is from the space between them that things derive their mass.
8.
9. The key element of double glazing – the one that provides insulation – is not the glass, nor even the fact that there are two panes of glass, but the air trapped between the two panes, which must be as still as possible for the insulation to work. This is even more effective if, instead of air, a vacuum is used. This technique was used, then abandoned, because the pressure of the vacuum caused distortions on the surface of the glass. Since then, there has been a gap of air between the panes, known as an ‘air gap’. I’ll say that word out loud.
10. Jorge Luis Borges’s *The Library of Babel* begins with these words: ‘The universe (which others call the Library) consists of an indefinite, and perhaps infinite, number of hexagonal galleries, with vast ventilation shafts at their centres’. I like the idea that there is a shaft at the centre of the Universe.
Nina Leger, August 2026.
Photos © David Desaleux