{"id":728,"date":"2026-06-12T15:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/?post_type=portfolio_item&p=728"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:07:41","slug":"engrave-your-color-in-marble","status":"publish","type":"portfolio_item","link":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/project\/engrave-your-color-in-marble\/","title":{"rendered":"Engrave your color in marble"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\tA multisensory work in memory of a vanished butterfly\t<\/h2>\n\t

A huge thank you to Maryon Djavadi-Esfahani for her dedication and the highly successful organization of this residency. Thank you to Christophe Couteau, director of the L2N laboratory at UTT, for agreeing to host us, to Dr. Margaux Gaillard for her enthusiasm for the project and her invaluable, efficient help, always delivered with good humor, to Julien Proust for his wise advice, to Anna Rumyantseva for the time and enthusiasm she shared with us, to the laboratory's researchers, and to the communication team that helped set up this residency.<\/p>\n

Thanks also to the Troyes Champagne M\u00e9tropole urban community and the ULIX company for funding the residency, as well as to the UTT Foundation for supporting the project.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"FMNH\n\t\tFMNH catalog no. 474 \/ website extinction.photo\/species\/xerces-blue\/\n\t

\u201cGraver ta couleur dans le marbre\u201d is an installation in memory of an extinct butterfly, the Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces). Many species of butterflies have disappeared or will become extinct due to pollution and the reduction of their habitats.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"California\n\n

\n\t\t\tA nanostructural color\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\n\t\tButterfly wing scales magnified 1000x. Each complex scale is made up of about 40 ribs, the ribs are connected by tiny cross bars.\n\u00a9 Butterfly Wings \u2022 Insteading\nSource: https:\/\/insteading.com\/blog\/butterfly-wings\/\n\t

The magnificent blue-mauve color of this butterfly is a structural color, resulting not from pigments but from the nanostructure of the scales making up its wings. It is optical interference that generates its color, and therefore it does not degrade over time, as is the case with pigments.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tResidence in the Troyes Nanotechnology Laboratory\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\"marble8\"\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n\t

Cleanroom experiments at UTT in Troyes, with Margaux Gaillard, Anna Rumyantseva, and Maryon Djavadi-Esfahani.<\/p>\n\t

Nanoscale surface treatment of stones and pieces of marble attempts to best restore their luminous and delicate color. Unlike the ephemeral life of butterflies and their fragility, engraving this structure into marble or stone allows structural color to be inscribed within it and preserved for millions of years, much like fossils.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Papillonhb\"\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterflies\"\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n\t\t\t\t\"Photo\n\t\t\t\t\"marbles2\"\n\t

Because structural colors are due to the structuring of matter, rather than pigments, the color itself can be fossilized, as is the case with this feather. Scientists discovered it fossilized, and the nanostructure responsible for its iridescent colors was preserved for 40 million years. It was upon discovering this article showing that structural color could be fossilized that I had the idea to engrave a color into marble.<\/p>\n\tA nanostructure etched into stone could indeed generate a color that is stable over time.
\nPreserving only the color of the butterfly will not bring this extinct species back to life. This can only be a tribute to its beauty, expressing instead all our regrets at never being able to see it again.\n\t\t\t\t\"Hind\n

\n\t\t\tThe installation\t<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tLike an epitaph carved in marble on the grave of a loved one\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n\t

Sing the fragile beauty of this butterfly, without directly representing it. Because the public must remain with a sense of frustration, the frustration of never being able to see this vanished butterfly again.<\/p>\n

A balancing mechanism allows the engraved marble in the butterfly's colors to move, so that one can admire the variations in its hues depending on the viewing angle. However, this movement struggles to remind us of the lightness of a butterfly's flight. The reproduction of its color by high technology remains very poor compared to the original beauty of this lovely insect.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n

\n\t\t\tAn exhibition that appeals to all our senses\t<\/h4>\n\t

A slight breeze produced by the beating of its wings, which can be felt by bringing one's cheek close. The mechanical device reproduces the movement of the wings during the butterfly's flight.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n\t

An olfactory device makes it possible to recreate the components of the scent of the flowers that the Xerces blue butterfly used to forage on.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n

\n\t\t\tTHE RESULTS OF A SEARCH\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\"Butterfly\"\n\t

The exhibition presents the result of the research conducted during the residency at the L2N. The various tests on pebbles and pieces of marble carried out to obtain a color as close as possible to that of the California Xerces are therefore also presented. The setup allows the exhibition board to be rotated on an axis in order to admire the color changes depending on the viewing angle.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"\"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Une \u0153uvre multisensorielle \u00e0 la m\u00e9moire d’un papillon disparu Un immense merci \u00e0 Maryon Djavadi-Esfahani pour son investissement et toute l’organisation particuli\u00e8rement r\u00e9ussie de cette r\u00e9sidence. Merci \u00e0 Christophe Couteau, directeur du laboratoire L2N de l’UTT, d’avoir accept\u00e9 de nous accueillir en son sein, au Dr Margaux Gaillard pour son […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"su_portfolio_item_director":"","su_portfolio_item_year":"","su_portfolio_item_client":"","su_portfolio_item_skills":""},"portfolio":[2],"class_list":["post-728","portfolio_item","type-portfolio_item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio-installation"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_item\/728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio_item"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"portfolio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominiquepeysson.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}