Sunday after-noon in Lille | Dimanche après-midi à Lille

Golden Monoliths
par/by SpY
Rue Faidherbe (Rambla), Lille

Imagined for lille3000’s 7th edition, the Golden Monoliths by Spanish artist SpY guide the visitors and participants of the parade to the heart of the city and its Fiesta. The gold titans seem like a modern take on the 17th century city gates, that welcomed the opening of carnivals and processions. They transform the urban landscape of Lille through the installation of fourteen golden shipping containers in a vertical position, aligned along its main street.

This monumental intervention reconfigures the everyday perception of the public environment, turning industrial objects into symbols that alter our understanding of space.

The street ceases to be a simple space of transit and becomes a ritual corridor, a passageway between

Originally conceived as utilitarian structures for global transportation and trade, the containers are decontextualized and coated in gold. Far from being a decorative gesture, this treatment converts their industrial purpose into an artistic resignification that oscillates between the functional and the symbolic.

SpY subverts the original identity of the containers through an installation that transforms the utilitarian into the mythological, in an exercise in spatial perception that invites reflection on the cult of consumption in modern society.

Source: fiestalille3000.com/en/exposition/golden-monoliths-2/

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À l’image des portes de ville du 17ème siècle qui accueillaient l’ouverture des carnavals et des processions, les Golden Monoliths de l’artiste espagnol SpY guident le public et les participants à la parade au cœur de la ville et de sa Fiesta. Ils transforment le paysage urbain de Lille avec quatorze conteneurs dorés érigés à la verticale le long de la rue Faidherbe.

Cette intervention monumentale reconfigure notre vision quotidienne de la ville, transforme des objets industriels en symboles qui modifient notre perception de l’espace.

À l’origine conçues comme des structures utilitaires pour le transport et le commerce global, les conteneurs sont décontextualisés et peints en or. Loin d’être un geste décoratif, cette métamorphose vient bouleverser leur essence industrielle et leur confère un sens artistique entre fonction et symbole, utilité et mythologie.
Source: fiestalille3000.com/exposition/golden-monoliths/

Taken in: France / Hauts-de-France / Arrondissement de Lille / Lille (show map)

Taken on: August 17, 2025

Tags:

Lille

Fiesta

art

Totems

Golden

Monoliths

SpY

artist

artiste

rue

Faidherbe « less

Sets appears in: • Lille | aout '25

Groups appears in: • Kunst in de openbare ruimte • La metropole Lilloise more » • Vu au Nord en France • the poetics of space • Views 400 • flaneur • 'Views: 401 - 500 • 400 View Club (Max 499 Views) • Vanishing Points • V400 • Urban Landscape • Cityscape and urban scenery • views: 400 to 500 • Urban Photography • And also a person • Urban! Urban! Urban! • Lille-Rijsel • within all spaces • walking in a city • urban being - the world we built and live in (HQ) • Urban Vibe • PBWA - Photography By Wandering About • All beautiful photos are welcome! • 400 views at least (NO LIMITS, NO 30/60) • Urban contemporary sculptures • ! Beautiful and great captures • Canon EOS RP Users • Canon EOS RP photos • Canon RP • Canon EOS R and RP • Genius loci: The spirit of a place • Lumières naturelles • phenomenAgraphy « less

Camera: Canon EOS RP, f/10.0, 1/160 sec, 50mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS RP
Lens:	RF24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM
Aperture:	f/10.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	50mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 26.6 (Windows)
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