Théo Mercier

OUTREMONDE, The Sleeping Chapter, an interactive exhibition entirely made from sand, brought to life by bodies and darkness, is the new solo exhibition by artist Théo Mercier at the Conciergerie de Paris.

Exhibition: 13 October, 2022 – 8 January, 2023
Performances: 3 – 11 December, 2022

Featuring sand, a unique material, as well as a live score for six performers, OUTREMONDE The Sleeping Chapter is a journey, a caress, or perhaps, a tentative venture into the pitch-black night, REM sleep, and lucid dreaming. Under the domes of the Conciergerie, we see a vast expanse of beds made from sand, or rather, unmade, abandoned, guarded in silence by dogs lying in the dark. The exhibition, a dorm room harboring every possible and impossible kind of sleep, takes you from your crib to your death bed, with a nuptial bed and a makeshift cot along the way. Sleepers are notably absent from this space frozen in time. When the sun rises, we see the shapes of their bodies and folds in the sheets, hear them breathing, and wonder where they are. This series of performances is like an initiatory, psychedelic fairy tale, exploring uncharted realms. The visitors, guided by an all-knowing child, embark on a sleep tour, meeting many a sleepwalker along the way. By embracing a child’s outlook on the night, The Sleeping Chapter taps into the knowledge, the poetry, the vulnerability, and the inferno living inside each person’s bed.