By Marie-Julie Bourgeois
A Levitating Installation, 2011-2014

Computer programming: Cyrille Henry
Manipulations: Omar Benyebka
Partners: EnsadLab Reflective interaction, Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (LPS-CNRS), Espace Pierre Gilles de Gennes (ESPCI), Traces
Special thanks to Julien Bobroff and Frederic Bouquet from LPS, Brigitte Leridon from ESPCI, Florin Cristian Beuran from Université Pierre et Marie Curie and François-Xavier Guerin from ORAY

A coin is floating in the air, ready to fall; tails side: Europe, heads side: the tree of liberty. The coin gently oscillates showing alternately one face then the other. The “Either” (OU) project underscores this perilous moment of imbalance in which we find ourselves perpetually involved. The coin will keep on levitating as long as the conditions of this experiment are stable, the warming process will make it gently fall over on one of its faces. For a few seconds before the coin falls, while time seems in suspension, frozen, the levitating object allows us to watch this precious moment of hesitation, while the coin is suspended in this moment of uncertainty. The game will solve the dilemma as in a toss-up game showing its “heads” or “tails” face.