Blending the Middle Age with the Contemporary

On Sunday mornings, to visit a church is like going to a wedding without an invitation.  After having a nice expresso on Rue Mouffetard, I decided to explore a 'religious' site of a different kind - a place of intellectual exchange.  

The College des Bernardins in the 5th arrondissement is an outstanding example of Cistercian architecture, a style most associated with churches and monasteries of the Roman Catholic Cistercian order.  It stressed simplicity and avoided any superfluous ornamentations that were seen to distract from piety.  The austere aesthetics of the Cistercians was expressed in pointed arches and ribbed vaults made entirely out of stone.

The College was constructed in 1248 when universities were popping up all over Europe - Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Heidelberg, Bologna.  After the French Revolution, it was took over by the Government and had served as a prison, a warehouse and even a fire station. The College was completely renovated and reopened in 2008 as a catholic artistic and cultural centre.

Showing now at the College des Bernardins is a light installation Between You and I by American avant-garde artist Anthony McCall.  His simple projections that emphasised the sculptural qualities of a beam of light was theatrical and lyrical. As the viewer moved around the work in the pitch-black space, the observer would in turn become the observed as he came under the light.