Installation of the work by Wim Delvoye under the Louvre pyramid in Paris

The Louvre considers itself to be a living museum, in tune with its time, and has been hosting contemporary artists for several years now. Already in 2008 it had opened its doors to the provocation of another Belgian artist, Jan Fabre, who presented disconcerting works in the middle of Flemish paintings.Wim Delvoye hesitated between two names for this braided stainless steel work: “doner kebab”, in reference to the Turkish sandwich, or “suppo”. “The Louvre preferred the second term which does not refer to any cultural difference and does not discriminate against anyone”, the artist explained. The work, highly sophisticated despite its trivial name, is based on a complex structural metal braiding the continuity of whichis reconstituted by an invisible bolt assembly.The overall stability is achieved by a mechanical embedding at the tip of the mezzanine located under the pyramid.
Type
Art work
Materials and construction systems
Steel frame
Location
France, Paris
Assignment
Structural engineering design
Architect
Wim Delvoye
Customer
Musée du Louvre
Photos credit
Musée du Louvre, C&E
Work completion date
2012