Rethinking Space with Larissa Fassler

At the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, État des lieux, on view from January 6 to March 22, 2026, presents an artistic inquiry by Larissa Fassler developed during an extended residency within the museum’s spaces. Invited in 2023 as part of preparations for major renovation works, Fassler spent three months walking the galleries, corridors and stairwells daily, using her own body as a tool to measure and map how space is experienced and inhabited.The heart of the exhibition consists of a series of hand-drawn preparatory works that chart the human geography of the museum. Each area is rendered not solely by its physical architecture but through the movements of visitors: blue dots indicate pauses, dashed lines trace pathways, turning red where tension, frustration or disruption occurs. Alongside these graphic records are notes capturing snippets of conversation, bodily postures, gestures and moments of stillness or agitation, together composing a collective portrait of presence in one of the world’s most frequented cultural institutions. Fassler’s work prompts reflection on the relationship between the body and public space, on how architectural environments are perceived, and on the ways visitor experience interacts with the arrangement of exhibitions. By revealing what often goes unnoticed in the everyday dynamics of a museum, the artist encourages viewers to consider not just form but the quality of movements and social relations that unfold within cultural spaces.