Trap (model)
Pierre-Laurent Cassière
2025
Photographic paper, reflective film, aluminum, magnets
Flat: 9.9 x 28.9 cm / Installed: 9.9 x 21 x 10 cm
Edition of 15 copies signed and numbered by the artist, plus 2 artist’s proofs
At first glance, Trap (model) appears as a small, dark, and indeterminate volume. The object is placed at eye level, nestled at the intersection of two walls. It seems to point a protruding corner toward us. The illusion continues and doubles when we project light onto it with a flashlight or cell phone: suddenly, it is as if the box is lit from within, revealing its two hidden sides. If we venture our gaze a little further, this block of light becomes an interface, a gateway to a third space of unknown dimensions located behind the exhibition walls. We move from one illusion to another.
Playing on the confusion of the senses, this imaginary and paradoxical black box is based on several physical and optical principles. It plays on anamorphosis and the traps of perspective. In its use of a material that only reflects light back to its source, it refers to Henri Chrétien's discovery of the reflector. And for the proportions of the virtual sides of the volume, it draws on the Cinemascope, a film projection format invented by Chrétien himself.
If we consider also the resonances that Trap (model) shares with the camera obscura (the ancestor of photography) and with certain emblematic works of Minimalism (from Robert Morris to James Turrell), it is clear that Cassière is inviting us on an open and fascinating journey through the history of art and media.
