2015
OLGA KISSELEVA, LABOFACTORY
ART ORIENTÉ OBJET
OLAFUR ELIASSON
INGOLD AIRLINES
WEN FANG
BACSAC
JEAN-LUC VILMOUTH
BENJAMIN SABATIER
LUCY + JORGE ORTA
BARBARA PORTAILLER
TOMÁS SARACENO
TARYN SIMON
Exposition du 21 au 30 octobre 2015
Commissariat d’exposition Yann Toma
LE MERIDIEN CLIMATIQUE
OLGA KISSELEVA, LABOFACTORY
ART ORIENTÉ OBJET
OLAFUR ELIASSON
INGOLD AIRLINES
WEN FANG
BACSAC
• BARBARA PORTAILLER
• JEAN-LUC VILMOUTH
• BENJAMIN SABATIER
• LUCY + JORGE ORTA
• TOMÁS SARACENO
• TARYN SIMON
Exhibition From October 21st to 30th 2015
Curated exhibition. Inaugurated by Mrs Ségolène Royale, Minister of the Environment
Introduction
Yann Toma
More and more artists are responding and intend to work sustainably against the growing climate change. Driven by a profound commitment to preserve nature, they attempt to summon the invisible surrounding forces so that our perception can shift. The "climate meridian" is an imaginary semicircle drawn on the globe, connecting the geographic poles. As it constantly shifts, it symbolizes both global warming and the intangible limit of our capacity to reverse the ongoing changes caused by human activity.
By directly questioning the catastrophic consequences of human activity for the planet, artistic practices today seek to embody a certain idea of change through an artistic practice of connection. The aim is now to invite individuals to participate in social and solidarity-based transformations within practices resolutely focused on our immediate environment. Art, in contact with climate issues, questions and engages individuals in accelerating the development of solutions.
Constantly crossing boundaries through his critical approach to creative space, the artist invites us to become aware of our own capabilities and to awaken the global community to the social issues linked to ongoing climate change.
Artists and researchers are currently taking over the Panthéon-Sorbonne Center and intend to explore major contemporary environmental challenges, contribute to the emergence of new collective behaviors toward nature within our cities, and consider art as a vehicle for social connection at a time when an activity claimed to be disruptive seems to be taking shape across the globe.
ART ORIENTÉ OBJET
Marion Laval-Jeantet, artist, and Benoît Mangin, director, place ecology, understood as the science that questions our conditions of existence, at the heart of their artistic approach. Since 1991, they have worked with installation, performance, video, and photography around the theme of Life. This leads them to explore biology, behavioral sciences (psychology and ethology, hence the strong presence of animals in their work), ecology, and ethnology in poetic creations that are as much political as they are visionary. Their ecological concern leads them to produce works that embrace craftsmanship and generate commonplace recycling, giving them a sophisticated, DIY quality. For them, the notion of recycling extends to recycling tried-and-tested ideas, which they defined as ready-thoughts from the very beginning of their collaboration.
Art Orienté Objet, La chute, 2009, 124 × 160 cm (série du projet Unrooted Tree).
Art Orienté Objet conducted the Unrooted Trees project in an African primary forest undergoing rapid deforestation. Marion Laval-Jeantet and Benoît Mangin followed, filmed, and photographed the felling of large trees by logging companies and the environmental consequences of this exploitation, while listening to the indigenous Baka Pygmies, who testified to the staggering destruction of their environment. African forest areas have become dangerous lawless zones where ecological cataclysm leads to human tragedy. This entire project, which documents the stages of transformation of native forest into oil palm plantations, plays on an aesthetic that is both poignant and grandiose. It has been exhibited in major African coastal cities to raise awareness of a phenomenon of which they are generally ignorant of.
Art Orienté Objet, Résilience, 2009, 124 × 160 cm (série du projet Unrooted Tree).
BACSAC
BACSAC was founded in 2009 through a meeting between Godefroy de Virieu, a designer passionate about nature, and Virgile Desurmont and Louis de Fleurieu, two landscape architects committed to bringing nature back to the city. Together, they invented a new type of flexible geotextile container. BACSAC is an artistic company that combines aesthetics and practicality through a project that allows city dwellers to cultivate the land, contributing to the reintroduction of nature into the urban environment. BACSAC helps people rediscover or discover the pleasure of having nature close at hand. With ecological and social goals, BACSAC is currently equipping three hundred schools in Paris with vegetable gardens where children learn about the reality of what they eat.
“The Plant Line, or How the Earth Gives Away Happiness” embodies this spirit of connection with others. In the main courtyard of the Panthéon Center, BACSAC has established a community garden that all members of the university tend throughout Sustainable Week. Embodied by the creation and management of this garden at the heart of the university's activities, the “Plant Line” symbolizes the possibility of creating and maintaining gardens and vegetable patches endlessly, together. It presents a new type of garden, a place of sensory experience, a place of fragrances, combining formal French gardens, a labyrinth, a permaculture garden, and a mandala garden. This work also illustrates the link between art, the environment, economics, and politics.
BACSAC, La ligne végétale ou comment la terre dégage du bonheur, vue d’ensemble, potager participatif, dispositif BACSAC, terre, plantes, 2015.
OLAFUR ELIASSON
Olafur Eliasson (born in 1967, grew up in Iceland and Denmark, lives and works in Copenhagen and Berlin) combines art and science to explore our relationship to space, time, and perception. For him, art plays a crucial role in how we think about the world in action. His work illustrates the power of collaborative efforts, and his art is equally at home in museums, public spaces, and everyday life. His artistic practice extends beyond museums and galleries, encompassing a much broader sphere through architectural projects and interventions in public spaces. The Olafur Eliasson Studio now comprises more than eighty artisans, researchers, architects, art historians, and chefs.
Little Sun, born from the collaboration between the artist and engineer Frederik Ottesen, has taken root in the university and become accessible to students, teachers, and administrative staff, giving them the opportunity to participate in a social enterprise and a global project. Little Sun provides clean, reliable, and affordable light for 1.2 billion people living off-grid and affected by climate change and desertification. Little Sun offers an alternative to traditional lighting such as expensive and toxic kerosene lamps or wood fires, which exacerbate desertification.
The project was officially launched in July 2012 at Tate Modern in London. Nearly 300,000 Little Sun lamps have already been sold worldwide, half to regions without electricity and the other half to countries in the Global North, where sales support the sale of Little Sun lamps at more affordable prices in the Global South. In spring 2016, Little Sun Charge will be launched, which will allow the recharging of a mobile phone, a social and economic link now vital in the countries of the South.
Olafur Eliasson, Little Sun, 2012
Photo: Merklit Mersha © 2012 Little Sun
WEN FANG
For twelve years, the work of Chinese artist Wen Fang (born in 1976 in Beijing, China) has offered profound reflections on major social and environmental issues. An internationally renowned artist, she exhibits regularly in China, France, Korea, and Italy, in the most prestigious galleries and foundations. As a graduate of the Beijing University of the Arts and the ENS Louis-Lumière in France, she places humanity and nature at the heart of her creations. She operates on the principle that "the person we can truly save is ourselves." Based on this observation, she proposes to be agents of change. She addresses themes such as women's rights, illness, and orphaned children, and also focuses on the environment.
Wen Fang, Noodle, porté et créé par Jolly Jumper, photographié par Joel Ramello, La Réunion, 26 août 2015, plantes, tissus, bouchons, plumes.
Wen Fang initiated the Maskbook project during the Conclave of 21 at the Gaieté Lyrique in late November 2014. She is one of the 21 (a collective of artists, social entrepreneurs, and young climate and environmental leaders from twelve different countries) of the Art of Change 21 association, founded by Alice Audouin in 2014. Wen Fang is committed to the Maskbook project from Paris to Beijing. She will launch the Maskbook project in China in early October with a dedicated WeChat page and the first workshops in Beijing during Beijing Design Week. She will lead the Maskbook workshops there. A launch event will take place in Beijing on October 6, with the support of the French Embassy. Wen Fang will also be in Paris during COP21 at the Grand Palais as part of Solutions COP21.
Wan Fang, Green Mouse, porté et créé par Alma Molsted Andersen, photographié par Joel Ramello, Danemark, 26 août 2015, tissus et plantes.
INGOLD AIRLINES
Ingold Airlines is an artistic enterprise founded in 1982 by Res Ingold. It is not simply an airline or a run-of-the-mill business; it is an intellectual stance and a deeply held conviction. For Ingold Airlines, flight represents more than just the physical act of flight; it also involves ideas - an intangible component. Among other things, Ingold Airlines is committed to developing a global network for observing unlimited bird flight patterns. Migratory birds have habits that they pass down from one generation to the next. Environmental changes influence the habits and behaviors of birds, as well as their flight plans. Many species prefer urban corridors where they find food sources and roosts that are far more comfortable than in the wild.
Ingold Airlines, Observatoire et biotope pour des oiseaux et papillons, 12 colonies d’abeilles, installation en aluminium, illumination, annonces acoustiques, signaux pour la sécurité aérienne, école de pilotage pour les jeunes oiseaux, dimensions variables.
The Ornithoports network takes this reality into account and cooperates with committed partners worldwide to support the needs of flying species in a time of climate disruption. Ornithoports consists of controlled areas with service pools to support the landing, takeoff, and general provision of services for birds and other flying species. The systems design is based on the latest knowledge in ornithology and nature conservation. Ornithoports implements international guidelines and agreements for aviation safety. Ornithoports is managed by local operators who hold a valid Ingold Airlines concession and acquire an independent birding harbor management license. Concession fees depend on the classification and airline approval.
Ingold Airlines, Internationaler Vogelflughafen auf dem Dach der BundeskunsthalleAéroport international d’oiseaux sur le toit de la galerie d’art et expositions de la République fédérale allemande, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der BRD, Bonn, été 2011-hiver 2013.
Kuratiert von Stephan Andreae.
OLGA KISSELEVA, LABOFACTORY
As part of the exhibition "The Climatic Meridian," Olga Kisseleva invited Labofactory to create the site-specific work "2080".
Olga Kisseleva is an artist-researcher. She teaches contemporary art and heads the Art & Science team at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Labofactory is an experimental art collective, founded in 2005 by Jean-Marc Chomaz, an artist-researcher and professor at École Polytechnique, and Laurent Karst, an architect-designer and professor at ENSA Dijon.
The installation and performance "2080," initially created in Amsterdam by Labofactory, allows us to experience the fleeting nature of the atmosphere by the means of making the oxygen tangible. Humankind has understood the impermanence of air since Blaise Pascal's discovery of the vacuum and atmospheric pressure. The idea that the oxygen in the air is not a sustainable resource has not yet entered the collective consciousness, because paradoxically, oxygen is not yet perceived as a non-renewable resource, and no country has yet proposed taxing its consumption.
Only multinationals like Air Liquide, which market this common good in compressed or liquefied form, are considering its sustainable use and the potential depletion of its regenerative capacity due to the development of new energy production processes or the decline of marine life. The 2080 scenario is based on the observation that if the entire atmosphere were liquefied, the planet would be covered by a layer of 2,080 mm of liquid oxygen, barely more than the size of a human.
2080, installation et performance par Labofactory sur l’invitation de Olga Kisseleva.
LUCY + JORGE ORTA
Lucy Orta (born in 1966 in Sutton Coldfield, UK) and Jorge Orta (born in 1953 in Rosario, Argentina) founded Studio Orta in 1991.
The "Antarctica" project addresses issues related to the environment, politics, self-reliance, habitat, mobility, and human relationships. Antarctica experiences some of the most hostile climatic conditions: it is the coldest place on Earth, with temperatures reaching as low as -80°C. The continent, which has no permanent settlements or original inhabitants, contains the largest ice desert in the world. It is also a magnificent natural reserve whose glaciers contain 80% of the planet's pure water. It is the only neutral region in the world.
Lucy + Jorge Orta, Antarctica World Passport (Passeport International Antarctique), 2008-2015.
Édition 40 000 exemplaires.
Inscription en ligne : www.antarcticaworldpassport.com
For Lucy + Jorge Orta, Antarctica embodies utopia: a continent whose extreme climate necessitates mutual aid and solidarity, independent research, and sharing and collaboration for the good of the planet. A place of pristine whiteness, it concentrates all of humanity's aspirations to spread a message of hope to future generations. The Antarctica World Passport Issuance Village sculpture invites visitors to register their application for the Antarctica World Passport and become members of the ever-growing Antarctica World Community [www.antarcticaworldpassport.com]. With over 40,000 copies currently in circulation, the Antarctica World Passport perfectly embodies the notion of "Aesthetics in Action." The aim of this artwork is indeed to mobilize citizens of the planet to protect Antarctica, act against climate change, and strive for peace.
Lucy + Jorge Orta, Antarctica World Passport - Mobile Delivery Bureau, 2008, Diptyque fenêtre sur le monde, photographie laminé lambda, échantillons en bouteilles. Bureau et chaise. Assemblage d’étagères en bois avec : bouteilles en plasma, fragments de vêtements, flacons, trousse de premiers secours, couvertures en laine, valise des passeports, flotteurs, ustensiles divers en aluminium et pots, murs de timbres en pochoirs, 180 h × 180 × 80 cm.
BENJAMIN SABATIER
Benjamin Sabatier (born in 1977 in Le Mans, France) is represented by the Catherine Issert Gallery (Saint Paul) and Snap Projects (Lyon). Whether he is sharpening pencils for thirty-five hours, creating the production structure for IBK kit artworks, engaging with the working-class and activist history of Besançon, or developing a sculptural oeuvre marked by a construction site aesthetic, Benjamin Sabatier recurrently questions the concept of work, which functions as a benchmark in an approach that seeks above all to situate art within a broader socio-economic context. His artistic vocabulary consists of raw and readily available materials—brick, concrete, DIY tools, cardboard, tape, etc.—which he manipulates within extremely simple and legible fabrication processes, eliminating any reference to the heroic gesture of the sculptor in favor of a certain literalness where the workings of the artwork are revealed at first glance. This “flash of brilliance,” which is nonetheless polysemous, makes its reproduction easy and possible for anyone.
Combining entertainment and mass destruction, the video Hard Rain engages the viewer in an ambivalent space and a process of suspense. The continuous bombardment of more than three thousand dartboards gradually evokes the sight of a field of flowers, but as the vivid shapes and colors accumulate, repeatedly and aggressively impacting the surface, the poetic image transforms into an ecological commentary. Like a funeral bouquet laid on the battlefield, the accumulation becomes the aesthetic symbol of nature’s devastation. Benjamin Sabatier’s video Hard Rain was filmed in 2008 and received support from the MAK in Vienna and the Jérôme de Noirmont Gallery (Paris).
Benjamin Sabatier, Hard Rain, 2008, vidéo 9’20. Courtesy de l’artiste et du MAK, Vienne.
TOMÁS SARACENO
After graduating with a degree in architecture from the National University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Tomás Saraceno (born in 1973 in Tucumán, Argentina; lives and works in Berlin, Germany) pursued postgraduate studies in art and architecture at the Ernesto de la Carcova National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires (2000) and then at the Städelschule – Frankfurt am Main (2003).
Tomás Saraceno’s work could be considered an ongoing research project, drawing on the worlds of art, architecture, natural sciences, and engineering. His floating sculptures and interactive installations propose and explore new, sustainable ways of moving, inhabiting, and perceiving our environment, moving toward a future of solar energy.
Tomás Saraceno’s new project, Aerocene, invites us to consider new ways of detecting the circulation of energy and resources, moving towards a new thermodynamic imaginary that actively reframes the material and political ethics of our contemporary modes of transportation, housing, and being together here on Earth. It continues the vision of Cloud Cities, a previous project by Saraceno. For COP21 Paris, the artist will present Aerocene through a spectacular sculptural installation beneath the central nave of the Grand Palais. At the Palais de Tokyo, a symposium will be held, and a series of collective actions and performances, based on open-source collaborative principles, will take place in various locations.
Tomás Saraceno, Critical phase transitions / Air-Port-Cities-Cloud-City, Atelier Calder, Saché, France, 2010 © Studio Tomás Saraceno.
TARYN SIMON
The work of Taryn Simon (born in 1975 in New York City, where she lives and works) is the result of a rigorous research and investigation process, centered on the structure and weight of secrecy, as well as the precariousness of survival mechanisms. Blending photography, text, sculpture, performance, and graphic design, her multidisciplinary practice addresses the production and circulation of thought as well as the politics of representation.
Illuminated Wind Turbine is conceived within the context of Greater Paris, embodying the very symbol of the “third industrial revolution”: the wind turbine. Illuminated by hundreds of LED lights in the “City of Lights,” this technological object stands out, echoing the symbol of another industrial revolution: the Eiffel Tower. The future and the past collide in this urban setting, evoking history, preservation, and the passage of time.
Illuminated Wind Turbine takes its place in our daily lives and engages in a dialogue with renewable energies, right in the heart of Greater Paris. The artistic shift occurs as much through the illumination as through the simple movement of the object within the city. The illuminated wind turbine, through its architectural presence and geographical location, questions our behavior, both locally and globally. This act of visual disruption appears strategic, inviting us to consider our means of action to change our behaviors and create possibilities for the future.
Taryn Simon, Illuminated Wind Trubine, projet (vue d’artiste).© Taryn Simon Studio, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris / Bruxelles & Artists 4 Paris Climate 2015.
JEAN-LUC VILMOUTH
While the minimalist and conceptual art of the British scene influenced the early work of Jean-Luc Vilmouth (born in 1952 in Creutzwald, France, lives and works in Paris), his work today emphasizes connection: between dwellings and their inhabitants, between nature and architecture, and between people themselves. By engaging with public spaces, cafés, museums, and natural landscapes, he augments, adds to, shifts, and relocates objects, thereby reweaving lost or weakened connections.
Just steps from a historic forest and in the heart of the city, a community of bees has settled into its Honey Tower, specifically designed for them. In this unique space, an "elevator" allows the bees to reach their apartments. Created by Jean-Luc Vilmouth, the Honey Tower draws our attention to the need to come together around fundamental things: a human community forms around the honey that bees produce. The bees thus find themselves at the heart of a shared garden, which they reclaim as much as the neighborhood residents. A Honey Café, shaped like a flower stamen and open to all, is created and then entrusted to a local association. There, people are invited to come and taste the bees' honey while enjoying a coffee or a slice of honey cake... and thus experience community in a new way.
Jean-Luc Vilmouth, Honey Tower, 2009/2011, Kashiwa-no-ha, bois, feuilles d’or, verre, abeilles, miel (hauteur 3,5 m). © Jean-Luc Vilmouth.