For Freigeister, Aline Bouvy has discretely placed an apparently utilitarian object into the exhibition itinerary, a sculpture resembling a cash machine. Nondescript, this brushed steel device could very well pass as a minimalist sculpture; however Insert Your Card, its title, betrays its primary function. By peering into its screen, visitors activate a short animation that plays over a musical interlude. The whole apparatus appears quite rudimentary compared to the current standards of digital iconography, like so many vending machines doomed to technological obsolescence. With its bouncing mascot and jaunty tune, our brains quickly identify the language of advertising, but our expectation are soon shorted by the animation’s unexpected plunge.

Marie-Noëlle Farcy