Cellular Tower Totem

An artwork in shades of blue rises in the sky of Bussy-Saint-Georges

MATHIEU MERLET BRIAND

#CLOUD

Creation: February 2023

Artwork: digital painting

Technique: digital printing covering

Production: Quai 36

Totem, the City of Bussy-Saint-Georges, and the art production house Quai 36 have selected artist Mathieu Merlet Briand to create an ambitious artwork standing 32 meters tall around the cellular tower in the landscaped Golf district.

THE ARTWORK

Combining a meteorological phenomenon with the concept of a computer "cloud," the digital painting created by Mathieu Merlet Briand presents a dual representation both literal and symbolic of clouds: as a natural element and as a metaphor describing the digital data "cloud" where our information is stored. This contemporary and poetic artistic proposal was chosen by the residents of Bussy-Saint-Georges in a public consultation held in June 2022 to adorn the cellular tower. The artwork, featuring shades of blue, harmoniously blends with the colors of the sky and integrates seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.

THE ARTIST

To create his works, Mathieu Merlet Briand synthesizes thousands of digital images and data. Through algorithms he develops, recycling processes, and analogies with nature, he shapes streams of information to create tangible materializations. His versatile work takes the form of sculptures, multimedia installations, and kinetic artworks, representing abstractions, relics, crystallizations, or fragments of the network. The themes he explores primarily lie between nature and technology. He aims to translate our contemporary reality, caught between the "information age" and the "Anthropocene," and to enhance nature to facilitate ecological transition.

CITY OF BUSSY-SAINT-GEORGES

Located 25 km east of Paris, near Disneyland Paris, Bussy-Saint-Georges holds a strategic position in the greater eastern Paris region. It is an attractive destination for young, dynamic families choosing to settle in the municipality known for its "parks and gardens," where quality of life combines with intelligent urban planning and a wealth of services to the population.

TOTEM

As a European industrial TowerCo, TOTEM manages passive mobile infrastructure (towers, rooftop sites, and other mobile sites) and aims to provide coverage solutions across its geographies. TOTEM is a "Tower Company" or "TowerCo" that invests in, constructs, markets, and maintains a unique portfolio of nearly 20,000 towers and rooftop sites in France as of 2022. A long-term partner of all mobile operators, businesses, and communities, TOTEM offers shared infrastructure solutions in urban and rural areas alike.