Colorful Cascading Numbers Representing the Diversity of Life Fill Paris’ Largest Office Building

100 Colors No.47 “TIMELINE” by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Artist Emmanuelle Moureaux has unveiled a new permanent art installation in France. Situated in Paris' largest office building, it was conceived as a beam of light and colors that symbolizes the diversity of people and moments of life. Cascading down seven floors in the main atrium, TIMELINE is the 47th work in Moureaux's celebrated 100 colors series.

This prismatic piece is also the first permanent installation from the series in France. It’s formed from 3,200 numbers that are years stacked on top of themselves. The work begins at the bottom, in white, with what was then the current year—2023. From there, we zoom toward the future, with years expressed in 100 gradations representing the flow of time.

Anchored in a fixed position, this column of numbers and colors appears as a real light beam even when viewed from a distance.

“I want people to see colors not with their eyes, but feel colors with their entire body, their senses,” shares Moureaux. “I use colors as three-dimensional elements, like layers, in order to create spaces, not as a finishing touch applied to surfaces at the end of the creation process.”

Fittingly named Lumière, which means “light,” the building is the perfect setting for Moureaux's piece. The Tokyo-based artist is also an architect and was inspired by the space's clean, open interiors. The atrium's incredible glass roof sparked the idea to create this colorful beam of light.

Now that TIMELINE is installed, it can bring joy to the thousands of workers who pass through there each day.

TIMELINE is a new site-specific installation by Emmanuelle Moureaux in Paris' largest office building.

100 Colors No.47 “TIMELINE” by Emmanuelle Moureaux

100 Colors No.47 “TIMELINE” by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Art installation in Paris by Emmanuelle Moureaux

The cascade of colorful numbers starts with 2023 at the bottom and zooms to the ceiling with future years in 100 different hues.

Art installation in Paris by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Rainbow art by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Art installation in Paris by Emmanuelle Moureaux

The art installation is a symbolic beam of light that flows from the atrium's glass ceiling.

Art installation in Paris by Emmanuelle Moureaux

100 Colors No.47 “TIMELINE” by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Art installation in Paris by Emmanuelle Moureaux

“I want people to see colors not with their eyes, but feel colors with their entire body, their senses.”

Rainbow art by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Rainbow art by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Art installation in Paris by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Watch Moureaux discuss her impressive new permanent installation.

Emmanuelle Moureaux: Website | Facebook | Instagram

All photos by Theo Baulig / Raphael Metivet. My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Emmanuelle Moureaux.

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Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Staff Editor and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book "Street Art Stories Roma" and most recently contributed to "Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini." You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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