Dreamland / Territoire de rêve

Dreamland is a kinetic installation inspired by the history of Coney Island, the American amusement park in Brooklyn that saw its heyday in the early 20th century and has been in decline ever since. A large table, filled with an array of eclectic mechanized objects, resembles a cross between an imagined city model, a ruined amusement park, and the laboratory of an abandoned social project.

It carries and questions the narrative of a 20th-century movement that was both constructive and destructive: entertainment. It also evokes all the offshoots of entertainment, establishing it as a major influence on our relationship with territory, living things, and dreams. Originally created as a scenographic environment for a live performance, the work is presented here as a standalone installation. Visitors are invited to move around like omniscient giants, circling a breathtaking fantasy island filled with a thousand miniature mechanisms. Each machine contributes to the immersive soundscape and the epic nature of this constantly evolving work: a robotic, marvelous, and tortured fairground.