Silhouettes of deer in motion appear on the facade of the courtyard of the Musées Gadagne alongside owls and foxes, seeming to burst forth from a mysterious forest. A sound installation devised by Shantidas Riedacker consisting of rustling noises and animal cries, evoking the forest at night accompanies this thoughtful piece. The immersive projections generated by carousels of shadows, visible to the public, mean it is possible to observe the simple, poetic mechanics of this low-tech installation inspired by zoetropes* and other precinematic devices. Lyon’s puppetry museum contains plenty of examples of shadow play, the forerunner to modern puppetry. This installation highlights the poetic mechanics of the illusion and plunges the visitor into a fantasy world.
* An optical toy dating from the beginning of the 19th century that creates an illusion of movement due to persistence of vision.