The renowned Paul Bert Serpette market in Saint-Ouen, Paris, has been transformed into a stunning artistic landscape for the 2025 edition of the Fête des Puces through an innovative installation called "Paradox." The creative collective Uchronia, led by architect and designer Julien Sebban, was commissioned to create this year's thematic installation, developing a series of site-specific inflatable sculptures that reimagine familiar objects in unexpected ways.
The ambitious project features nine distinct inflatable installations strategically placed at the market's three main entrances and throughout its interior spaces. These monumental sculptures create a unified scenographic experience that challenges visitors' perceptions of permanence, value, and authenticity—concepts central to the flea market experience itself.
Each entrance showcases a different expression of paradox through form and function. The "Inflatable Antiquity" installation presents classical columns and sculptural fragments, including torsos, busts, and limbs that appear to emerge from or break free of their architectural foundations. This striking juxtaposition contrasts the traditional stability and endurance of classical art with the temporary, lightweight nature of inflatable materials.
The "Oversized Domestic Objects" installation transforms everyday vessels such as vases and amphorae into monumental totems. These typically fragile and ornamental objects are dramatically scaled up and rendered in inflatable form, creating a compelling visual dialogue between delicacy and exaggeration, intimacy and spectacle. The installation challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with familiar household items.
Perhaps most intriguing is the "Levitation Chairs" installation, where furniture pieces representing various design periods from the Louis XIV era to contemporary times are suspended within translucent inflatable columns. This piece reframes utilitarian furniture as cultural artifacts, contrasting their practical origins with a museum-like mode of display that elevates them to art objects.
The installations are crafted from reflective and translucent materials that respond dynamically to daylight and movement throughout the day. This responsive quality means the artwork continuously transforms, offering visitors different experiences depending on the time and lighting conditions. The lightweight construction allows for rapid installation with minimal environmental impact, reflecting Uchronia's commitment to adaptable and temporary structures.
Inside the market, ten carefully curated stands collaborate with Uchronia to interpret the Paradox theme. These participating vendors include Arthur Bruet, Galerie Vauclair, LVS Antiquités, Hugo Greiner, Galerie Glustin, and Remix Gallery. Each stand features unique scenographies that blend instinct, chance, and historical layering, mirroring the unpredictability that defines antique collecting culture.
Uchronia's approach examines paradox through three key elements: material contrast, dramatic scale variations, and typological reinterpretation. By using inflatables—materials that are inherently lightweight, temporary, and luminous—the installations engage with fundamental questions about permanence and transience while echoing the eclectic and ever-evolving character of the iconic antique market.
The project represents a continuation of Uchronia's ongoing investigation into the spatial potential of inflatable structures. The collective uses softness, lightness, and unexpected scale as primary design tools to reimagine familiar typologies within contemporary contexts. The inflatables were produced by Digital Inflatables, adding technical expertise to the artistic vision.
The Paradox installation runs from September 25th through October 5th, 2025, offering visitors nearly two weeks to experience this unique fusion of contemporary art and historic commerce. The project demonstrates how temporary artistic interventions can transform established cultural spaces, creating new dialogues between past and present, permanent and ephemeral, valuable and accessible.
