Science, desires, and imagination: a three-way conversation between Pierre Meunier (artist), Gaëlle Martin-Gassin, and Boris Chenaud (scientists)

An original proposal at the crossroads of Arts and Sciences. A time for cross-fertilization around desire and envy, artistic and scientific friction on the subject matter, the research and creation process.

Event organized by the Art & Culture Department, the Scientific Culture Department of the University of Montpellier, and the Théâtre des 13 Vents, based on performances of La Bobine de Rhumkorff (January 31, February¹ and 2) and Bachelard Quartet (February 7, 8, and 9) by Marguerite Bordat and Pierre Meunier, at the Théâtre des 13 Vents.

Pierre Meunier's artistic career spans circus, theater, and cinema. He has worked with Pierre Etaix, Annie Fratellini, Philippe Caubère, Zingaro, La Volière Dromesko, Giovanna Marini, François Tanguy, Matthias Langhoff, Jean-Paul Wenzel, and Joël Pommerat.
Pierre Meunier constructs and writes his own shows, inventing a theatrical style that brings concrete physics into play with mechanisms and raw materials, which become true partners for the actors on stage. In his studio, he experiments with his dynamic sculptures and other installations, quietly conducting research guided by a fascination for the strangeness of these presences that so stimulate the imagination. His work is nourished by encounters with scientists and philosophers, stays in industrial forges, workshops in psychiatric settings, periods of writing, as well as improvisations on stage with the team gathered around a theatrical project. The aim is always to provoke a fertile disturbance in the mind of the spectator, to arouse in them an active intimate reverie, capable of connecting the dreamlike, social, political, poetic, and metaphysical dimensions of the person through impromptu resonance.

Gaëlle Martin-Gassin is a lecturer in physical chemistry at the University of Montpellier – Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier. She teaches at bachelor's and doctoral level and develops nonlinear optics experiments to study molecular interactions in liquid environments within porous nanomaterials. Her involvement in the CoSA (Connexion Art et Science) group stems from a certain openness. Her scientific research most likely benefits from a sense of wonder and freedom of thought.

Boris Chenaud is a lecturer in physics at the University of Montpellier – Charles Coulomb Laboratory. Professor physics at the Faculty of Science, his research focuses mainly on experimental quantum transport and quantum metrology. He participates in various initiatives to promote scientific culture. In this capacity, he has co-organized various initiatives in Montpellier: for the World Year of Physics in 2005, the Year of Light in 2015, and most recently, for the Year of Physics 2023, with the installation of a giant Foucault pendulum in the Place du Nombre d'Or.

Free admission.