The gray ceramic cylinders float, attached to an immense metal structure which seems ready to take off. This monumental sculpture, 9 meters high and 70 meters long, called Crescendocarries 1,700 kg of ceramics. Imagined by Swiss circus artist Julian Vogel, since May 2 it has occupied the esplanade of the Subs cultural venue in Lyon. It will be dismantled on October 6. “We are already preparing for his disappearance, because we are going to have a bout of bluesexclaims Stéphane Malfettes, director of the Subs. This is the principle of these installations that we have been planning for four years, and which were born from a desire to transform the use of this 1,000 square meter courtyard. With this work, which hosts performances, balls and concerts throughout the summer, there is interaction with the public and this gives meaning to the space. » It has also become a spontaneous playground for children, who wander around there.
Crescendowhich saw 80,000 visitors, echoes the room Ceramic Circuspresented Wednesday October 2. In both cases, Julian Vogel manufactured the 95 ceramic tubes himself over three months at the EKWC factory in Oisterwijk (Netherlands). A curious delirium for a juggler. “It was chance that brought me to this idea, when I was studying, in 2019, at the circus school in Tilburg, in the Netherlandshe says. I practiced the diabolo, which is, in a way, made up of two inverted bowls. It made me want to have fun with these elements found in the kitchen. Ceramics then emerged and, with it, a reflection on fragility. Once his apparatus is broken, what happens to a juggler who is constantly faced with the risk of falling? »
Emergency Show
Around this question, Julian Vogel first created China Series (2019-2023), a collection of performances, mobile sculptures and videos around ceramic diabolos. In the process, Ceramic Circus revisit the technique of Chinese rotating plates, delivering a message of love to the traditional circus. Crackling drums to raise the hackles, a bicycle number where clumsiness plays well while flirting with the feat, and off we go for a race against time. After setting up five fishing rods, Julian Vogel sticks his ceramic dishes into them. From one to the other, he runs and flies, relaunches and catches, avoids a sphere that panics above the board while the sounds of breaking dishes punctuate his infernal ride.
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