The New patrons of Beaulieu campus

New PatronsStudents, members and a teacher from the Social Careers IUT at the University of Rennes 1 : Guy Cathelineau, President of the University of Rennes 1 - Joël Thomas, President of the Rennes IUT - Gilles Le Certen, Director of the Rennes IUT - Jean-Pierre Georgelin, former President of the Rennes IUT - Jacques Miriel, former director of the IUT Rennes - Christine Sammer, head of the Social Careers department at the IUT Rennes - Philippe Dorval, art teacher and former head of the Social Careers department at the IUT Rennes - Marie-Aude Lefeuvre, Head of the Cultural Department at the University of Rennes 1 - Mathilde Beguet, Margo le Du, Florent Guérif, Anne-Claire Le Mignon, Pauline Migraine, Lauriane Guivarc'h, students in the Social Careers Department at the IUT in Rennes - Grain de Sel, student association in the Social Careers Department at the IUT in Rennes - Quentin Cauchard, Stéphanie Juin, Clément Louis, Caroline Ly Boualong, Anaïs Maffart, Angélique Mauge, Laura Neumann, Laurette Prévot, Charline Raze, Anne Seveno-Barreau, Sophie Timon, Christophe Walle, Maud Corbet, Célia Duquenoy, Marine Josset, Marine Le Cars, Charlotte Le Foll, students in the Social Careers DUT programme
Artist(s)/Creator(s)Lara Almarcegui
ArtworkMatériaux de construction
Structure médiatrice40mcube
MediatorAnne Langlois and Patrice Goasduff
Contexte·sHigher Education, Social cohesion, Urban setting
Discipline·sArchitecture, Painting
Dates2009-2014
SiteBâtiment 32A, Campus de Beaulieu, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine
AddressAllée Étienne Marey, 35000, Rennes
RegionBretagne
PartnersFondation de France, IUT, University of Rennes 1, Rennes Métropole, Brittany Region, DRAC Brittany, Ille-et-Vilaine General Council, Rennes 1 Cultural Service, Rennes 1 Foundation, 40mcube, Eternal Network

A group of students from the Social Careers department at the IUT in Rennes and their teacher Philippe Dorval noticed a lack of communication between individuals in the same year group, between year groups and between the different courses taught on campus. By seeking to work with an artist, these students wanted to be the driving force behind change, to express the spirit of openness that inspires them and to affirm certain values such as getting to know each other, identifying with each other and talking to each other.

This commission was an opportunity for them to use art to explore fundamental questions about their education, such as the renewal of practices in the sociocultural field, the use of spaces, and norms.

The Beaulieu campus is designed on the American model, consisting of numerous buildings integrated into vast lawns criss-crossed by roads. Lara Almarcegui wants to encourage the patrons to take a closer look at the context and landscape in which they operate. She suggests that they calculate the mass of materials used to construct all the buildings on the campus. Identifying the materials and calculating their weight required the formation of a team comprising not only the patrons, but also students and teachers from other courses on the campus. Matériaux en construction takes the form of a text, a list of the different materials and their weight, painted directly onto one of the campus buildings.