Performance

Balance, Bridget Polk

Performance from Wednesday to Sunday, 4pm to 7pm

Free entry

Free access, without registration

© Chloé Magdelaine

The Balance performance is being held by artist Bridget Polk in the Coming Soon exhibition, on the 3rd floor of the Fondation.

Rock balancing" is a meditative practice that involves stacking stones in balance. Most often practised in the great outdoors, this method became popular in the 2010s, with the advent of social networking.

Unlike traditional rock balancers, Bridget Polk mixes natural rock, building materials and architectural waste, creating landscapes composed of hybrid stories that seem to defy gravity. She must first find the point of balance between the stones that will allow them to remain piled up for a few days, a few minutes or a few weeks, before collapsing. Her world between ruin and natural formation seems to hold together magically. It's a never-ending orchestra, an accelerated metaphor for the rise and fall of civilisations.

With the support of Hortense Houalet, Joséphine Lizet et Margot Romero.
Bridget Polk, Balance | Exhibition Coming Soon Bridget Polk, Balance | Exhibition Coming Soon
Bridget Polk began balancing rocks along the Hudson River in New York City as a hobby in 2009.

After gaining a small following there, articles containing photographs of her ephemeral structures began to circulate world-wide, leading to invitations to share the process of creating these precariously balanced structures with audiences from France to India. Polk's use of natural stones in this meditative practice has evolved to include earthen-made materials including cinder blocks, construction rubble and concrete.

In 2024, she participated in the collective exhibition Coming Soon at Lafayette Anticipations, Paris.