Mentioned in passing in a January post—the Colonnes de Buren, a monument created by the artist Daniel Buren, appears to be nothing more than striped pillars in various heights perfectly aligned in a building’s courtyard. Actually, the original installation of 260 marble pillars is named Les Deux Plateaux (the two levels) because it has an underground level covered by metal grilles. On this level, water is supposed to flow and at night the pillars are meant to be illuminated by floodlights. The upper columns are on the street level in the courtyard which used to be a parking lot. Buren is known for using the stripe—a popular French fabric motif—in his artistic work and is often referred to as “the stripe guy.” He started by setting up hundreds of
striped posters around Paris and later in 100+ Metro stations, finally blocking a gallery entrance with stripes at his first solo exhibition. Obviously, he has objected to traditional ways of presenting art through the museum and gallery system. Buren has drawn a lot of public attention and it hasn’t all been positive!A dispute erupted in 1986 when Monsieur Buren began the installation of this artwork in the
courtyard of the Palais Royal. Just like the Eiffel Tower (1889), the Louvre Pyramid ((1989) and the Pompidou Center (1977), the integration of the contemporary with the historic caused a public outcry. The Minister of Culture and Communication relaunched the project, finally completed in 1995, and Buren eventually attained leading artist status under President Francois Mitterrand. I really like them, along with the large reflective balls (created by the Belgian sculpture Pol Bury) and fountains scattered throughout the columns. The city has also installed small striped awnings above the windows around the square, which seem to pull everything together in this setting.
The building enclosing the artwork has its own interesting history. Cardinal Richelieu built this home, the Palais Cardinal, in 1629 and then bequeathed it to the French Crown. The vast, splendid building with an adjoining garden, which was renamed the Palais Royal, did not last long as a royal palace. It became the headquarters of the Dukes of Orleans and was off-limits to the police. During the minority of Louis XV, Louis Philip II (known as Philippe-Egalite, one of the Dukes) opened the gardens to all Parisians and enlarged the building with beautiful arcaded facades lined with shops and famous restaurants on three sides of the
garden and a theatre at each end—one was the Comedie-Francaise, which is still there. It became a center of Parisian social and political intrigue and in fact was the site of a rebellion two days before the Bastille fell, signifying the start of the Revolution. “Let them eat cake…” Philippe-Egalite actually voted in favor of beheading his own cousin, Louis XVI. The complex now houses the Ministry of Culture and the Constitutional Council.Back to the beautiful artwork. They say if you make a wish while launching a coin onto a column and succeed, your wish will come true. I read about that after I returned to the US so I didn’t get a chance to try it. My wish would’ve been to return to Paris—which will come true even though I didn’t toss a coin!
PS - In Feburary 2008, I read that because the lights don't work now and the water stopped flowing nearly seven years ago (only trash beneath the grilles), the "Stripe Guy" isn't happy! He's accused the French government of vandalizing his work with neglect; plus the pillars are dingy which makes the contrast between the black and white less striking. Monsieur Buren would like Les Deux Plateaux dismantled as it's really only half an art piece with the working half in a state of disrepair. Dismantling it would cost about the same as restoring it (about 3 million euros) but if restored, it would need regular maintenance. I love it and think it should be maintained.
