Laura Lamiel. they make a sound like winds, like leaves, like sand

Published in the form of a concertina book, this catalogue invites readers to discover the work of Laura Lamiel, which fills the 24 display windows of the Passage de la Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, in an exhibition curated by Alexandra Bordes, alongside the group exhibition Clair-obscur. The title they make a sound like winds, like leaves, like sand, borrowed from Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, sets the sensory and poetic tone of this installation.

In the former display windows of the Halle au Blé, the artist continues her exploration of “cells”—these open structures made of white walls, glass panels, and reflective surfaces, a project she began in the 1990s. Whereas the museum display case isolates and sanctifies the object by keeping it at a distance, these installations establish an intimate, almost physical connection. From one display case to the next, the same motifs, the same materials: children’s shoes, gloves, cotton coats, glazed bricks, slate powder, or even a typewritten phrase on a piece of cloth: “nothing is to be done, everything is to be undone.” These recurring elements create a rhythmic, almost musical composition, reactivating “the memory of the preceding rooms.”

Light, ever-present, is not merely illumination here: it structures the space, defines transitional zones, and heightens the tension between presence and absence. As a revelator of interior spaces, it is a sculptural element in its own right. In the silence of glass and light, in the rustling of materials, something human continues to whisper—a sound like winds, like leaves, like sand.

This concertina book, featuring an essay by Emma Lavigne and the reproductions of all 24 display cases as well as details of the artworks presented inside, recreates the experience of the visit: to unfold, to browse through, to turn over in one’s hands as one would move from one cell to another, from one display case to another.