Artists tasked to develop the virtual space of the Jeu de Paume, a museum of contemporary art in Paris, have devised two geolocation projects. The first, Project DCODD graffitied square bar codes (known as QR codes) onto street corners–a unique video is associated with each bar code you scan with your smartphone. The second, called “Le Truc” tracks four objects as they pass from one person to another. The truc must be passed within 24 hours. A GPS chip embedded into the trucs show the objects location and an accompanying website where each person uploads their “truc” story. “It was important that the trucs remain unidentified to create the narrative and interpretations,” says Marta Ponsa, commissioner of the virtual space at the Jeu de Paume, “The group plays with these paradoxes and unlikely encounters between the physical and virtual networks.” This is Untapped Paris’ story with one of the four trucs!
Augustin Pasquet was passed the truc in mid-December by his roommate, a journalist at Le Point. He intended to pass it to his squash partner that evening, but inadvertently impaled his partner in the eye during the match–ending in a trip to two emergency rooms. The next day he left in the early morning on a two-week trip to New York City to see his girlfriend (me) and forgot the truc. It remained next to the TV in his apartment in the 2nd arrondisement until his girlfriend arrived in Paris on January 2nd and wondered what the low-budget Mr. Potato Head was doing next to the TV with all the black sharpy drawings on it. At a dinner in the apartment on January 4th, Mr. Patate emerged from limbo and continued on his journey. A friend of the girlfriend from New York City carried Mr. Patate to Amsterdam the next day and gave it to her sister, a cellist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Mr. Potate is passed from Augustin to the new 24-hour owner at the dinner:
Augustin contemplates what to write on Mr. Potate before saying good-bye (earlier graffiti include “MON PETIT CANARD” (my little duck)
Follow the adventures of Mr. Potate and the other trucs at https://microtruc.net/.
