In the darkened space of the exhibition, Vivien Roubaud renders perceptible a fleeting phenomenon: a pocket of mist that forms and then fades away. Its substance, drawn from the dense vapor of electronic cigarettes, is held in place by an electric field surrounding a fine copper mesh. The artist transforms these invisible flows into a sculpture of air, revealing the circulation, density, and fragility of an unstable matter, where each breath and each variation gives rise to an ephemeral apparition.

The mist materializes, radiates faintly, then disappears, leaving behind only a fine drizzle. The work combines a sense of wonder at this almost tangible form with a feeling of disenchantment in the face of its fragility and volatility: what seemed still and sculptural dissolves almost immediately, placing perception and impermanence in tension. The apparatus relies on a diverted assembly of technological objects: electronic cigarette atomizers, ionizers, and umbrellas are combined according to a system of electrical triangulation. Three electrodes create a charged zone in which the mist is sustained and evolves. This mechanical and chemical prototype sculpts the air and shapes an olfactory matter in perpetual metamorphosis, transforming the banal into a poetic phenomenon—between breath, apparition, and invisible energy.