Balise transposes into Ticino marble the form of a concrete block designed to ventilate a basement. The sculpture reveals the tactile and sculptural qualities of a functional element that normally remains invisible within the urban environment.

Derived from the banality of an infrastructure, the volume becomes a landmark that is both ornamental and silent. Its exterior geometry opens onto an interior shaped by folds, cavities and irregularities. A mineral interior.

Installed at La Motta, Fribourg’s outdoor swimming pool, Balise develops a particular relationship with its surroundings. Its form, originally designed to provide air circulation to an underground space, enters into dialogue with the site, establishing a continuity between what is visible and what usually remains buried.

The sculpture thus becomes a threshold between several forms of depth: bodily, terrestrial and subterranean. It brings a chthonic presence to the surface, standing here as a quiet object, offered to the gaze and to bodies.

Balise, 2025, Cristallina marble, Ticino, 65.5 × 36 × 24.5 cm
Photos de la sculpture : Julie Folly
Photos de l'installation : Sophie Berset