2019

“La Trace” (French for “the trace”) is a site-specific installation that was realised in Montpellier and deals with rules of conduct and mobility in public spaces. The design of a city and of its furniture show where, when and how the residents should be, what behavior is tolerated or undesirable. Park benches with armrests that prevent lying down show that in some places only certain body positions should be taken. So the forms of living together in public space are strongly predetermined to the point of closeness that we can take with other people.

People who live on the streets are forced to be permanently mobile in urban areas and can usually only use places for their stay for a short time. “La Trace” takes up this regulation of public space and tries to capture the ephemeral traces of people who are permanently present in a city but hardly leave any traces. At the same time, the idea is inspired by footprints on sidewalks that arise when areas are newly concreted and people or animals leave marks on if they happen to walk over the concrete that has not yet bound.

For “La Trace”, a concrete slab was adapted and installed on a site-specific basis. On the top of the concrete slab you can see abstract imprints, which after closer inspection show body traces. They are to be read as a kind of movement study, which at the same time refers to the stay of people in public space. The prints show variations from a comfortable sitting position to a lying position. The audience is invited to explore and decode the attitudes with their own bodies. “La Trace” tries to depict the ephemeral presence of people in the city, to stimulate reflection on regulations in public space and to transform an inhospitable place into a possible place to stay.