Installation
Theaster Gates
Le chant du centre
June 30–November 3, 2024
LUMA Arles, France
www.luma.org
Le chant du centre, which translates to The Song of the Center, is an artistic intervention by Theaster Gates that transforms the Grande Halle of LUMA Arles into a ceramics workshop. At the center of the workshop, Gates continues the Temple—the artist’s series of sanctuary-like spaces intended to inspire contemplation and dialogue. Here, the Temple is made from wooden ware boards (used to store in-progress pottery) that hold his personal vinyl collection, a bar, and other artworks. The workshop, coupled with an anagama kiln newly constructed in Camargue, is a testament to what Gates refers to as the “museological, political, and social possibilities” of honoring clay’s ability to be both a functional and sculptural gateway into the fine arts. Conceived as a durational and demonstrative installation, the work will be in constant evolution as new wares and sculptures are produced and fired, thereby creating new forms of engagement with each visit. The installation is free with museum admission.
Theaster Gates’s clay studio, Chicago, 2020. Artwork © Theaster Gates. Photo © Chris Strong