1.97m x 1.44m x 2.2m (length x width x height)
550 kg corten steel


The “Fabrique de paréidolie” sculpture is placed on a projecting slab, promontorying the retaining wall that delimits the flat garden area below the hill’s gradient. The Citadelle hill is home to various institutions, including the Walloon Public Service, the CHR hospital and the ISOSL psychiatric hospital… The sculpture is inspired by the Rorschach test, used as a diagnostic tool in psychology. The test is based on a dozen graphic plates featuring symmetrical blots made by throwing ink onto a sheet of paper before folding it in half.

The elements of the sculpture use the Rorschach method as much in the design of their forms as in their structural functioning. Indeed, the behavior of steel sheet is similar to that of a sheet of paper; a fold stiffens and generates a section with high inertia, transforming the sheet into a structural profile, whereas a sheet without a fold bends at the slightest movement.

The shadow cast on the sculpture multiplies the cut-outs and gives depth to the elements. The succession of symmetrical folded profiles enables the random cut-outs to be linked together through the void.
The superimposition of randomly cut slats gives the sculpture a rocky appearance reminiscent of “fabriques or folies”, a kind of pavilion that can take on the appearance of an artificial grotto, placed in gardens and parks mainly between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Sculpture is a hymn to contemplation which, through the interplay of forms, offers a space dedicated to reverie.

Many thanks again to Gérard Dejardin and Donovan Tognoli of Ateliers Melens & Dejardin chaudronnerie, to Jo of Havart s.a. and to the sculpture’s sponsor.