Colette Escadafal has been working in collaboration with ArcelorMittal Global Research and Development for more than 20 years. Colette uses flat steel samples prepared by ArcelorMittal’s research site in Maizières that are then used for cold crash testing. She meets with our team around twice a year to collect the crash-tested samples and to make customised crash tests.
Coexistence of materials
Through sculpture, Colette Escadafal heightens the wrinkled appearance of the steel, contrasting it with stone, wood, earth and even glass and crystal. Through photography, painting and video, she observes and portrays the fluid movements of the metal. A whole range of contrasts emerges based upon the coexistence of differences: straight/curved, polished/rough, light/dark, light/heavy, shiny/matt…
Colette Escadafal gives a new life to the steel destroyed by the crash test: its juxtaposition with other materials strengthens it, elevates it and reshapes it to find a new breath of life.