Hypnotizing “Boreal Halo” installation by French artist Vincent Leroy was recently displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Muzeul Național de Artă Contemporană – MNAC) in Bucharest, Romania. As its name suggests, the work captures the essence of the Nordic lights and was chosen as the centerpiece of Rokolectiv’s 10th year anniversary – being the “festival for electronic music and related arts”.
Courtesy of Vincent Leroy
Leroy’s art piece consists of an apparently floating, ten-meter diameter ring. The installation levitates in the white marble room of the museum, located in the E4 wing of the famous Palace of Parliament. With the use of a subtle structure, the artist achieved the illusion of lightness. The ring rotates at a specific angle, opening up and enclosing its limit, thus inviting visitors to step in its inner space and look at it from a different perspective. The kinetic object mimics the “throbbing rhythm of an aurora borealis”, the curators mention. It was chosen as a metaphor for their “efforts to slow down time and decompose movements” – an idea that coincides with the artist’s vision.
Courtesy of Vincent Leroy
Apart from its most recent appearance in Bucharest, the monumental sculpture was displayed during “Designer’s Days”, at Carreau du Temple, Paris – a former prison of the Knights Templar, where the Royal Family was jailed during the French Revolution, and currently a major market and event space in the Third Arrondisssement of Paris. In 2014, the art piece was also present at another electronic, digital music and digital culture festival – “Nuits Sonores”, at Hôtel de Région, Lyon.
Auréole Boréale at Carreau du Temple, Paris – Video courtesy of Vincent Leroy
By: Ana Cosma
Ana Cosma is an editor at Arch2O with a deep-rooted passion for architecture and urban design. Drawing on nearly a decade of architectural experience across prominent firms in Stuttgart, Germany—including Exyte, BWK.Architekten, and SCD Architekten—Ana brings a practiced eye and international perspective to her editorial work. Her academic foundation in Architecture and Urbanism from Politehnica University of Timișoara, complemented by a study period at Sapienza Università di Roma, informs her nuanced approach to exploring contemporary urban challenges and design innovations. At Arch2O, Ana curates and contributes insightful articles that bridge professional practice with emerging trends in urbanism and architectural theory.