The chair-poem dedicated to the Fondation des États-Unis pays tribute to the composer and clarinetist Carol Robinson. It is part of the artistic installation Prendre position.
Biography of Carol Robinson, composer and clarinetist
Carol Robinson is a Franco-American composer and clarinetist born in 1956 in Langley, Virginia. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, she moved to Paris in 1979 thanks to an H.H. Woolley scholarship. Passionate about contemporary music, she collaborates with choreographers, visual artists, and video makers. Her work explores improvisation and the fusion of acoustic instruments with electronics. She navigates between classical repertoire, experimental music, and improvisation, performing at prestigious festivals and working with artists from diverse backgrounds. She has composed for renowned ensembles and received commissions from the French government. Her cycle The Weather Pieces examines the perception of meteorological phenomena. Her work has been recorded by Radio France and other international institutions.
The quote on the chair
May there always be music in every thought, in every action.
A poem-chair
“I adopted the chair, this familiar object, a few decades ago, at a time when I wanted to create art on a human scale in public spaces, while everywhere else people opted for the monumental: it is an object shaped like the body and serves the body. It is difficult to feel exclusive ownership of an object so universally shareable. It is mine when I occupy it, but if I leave it, someone else can claim it as their chair.” Michel Goulet, artist-sculptor
The project Prendre position
A permanent artistic installation
Prendre position is a sculpture-installation project of 47 chair-poems to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris. They were installed in a flowered meadow created especially for the occasion by the campus estate service.
Meeting the designers
This artistic installation was conceived by the Quebecois artist-sculptor Michel Goulet, in collaboration with François Massut, founding director of the collective Poésie is not dead.
The 47 chairs gallery
Each house on the campus is represented by a chair, thanks to a donation from the Maison des étudiants canadiens and the support of the Labrenne group. Each of the 47 chairs is a unique work.
History and architecture of the house
The Fondation des États-Unis was built to embody French-American friendship and to provide housing for American students and researchers in Paris. The building is U-shaped, with a central section aligned with Boulevard Jourdan and two wings extending back toward the park.
