LA CHASSE
Valenciennes, France
2011
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Related articles:
La Chasse Exhibition Catalog (English) 2011
La Chasse Exhibition Catalog (French) 2011La Chasse is a project in four parts:
Part 1. A temporary installation in the Scarpe-Escaute forest in the north of France. String suspended by fishing line outlines the architecture of the gallery at L’H du Siege. Every few days wild boar would barrel through and break sections of the sculpture. A repetition of break-repair-break-repair became a kind of visual conversation extended by a series overlapping splices and braces over time. The installation lasted three months.
Part 2. A gallery installation at L’H du Siege and Acte de Naissance in Valenciennes, France. The wood structure suspended from the ceiling was coated in a mixture of mine tailings and wallpaper paste. Dozens of artists, students, carpenters and boat-builders contributed their time and skills to the project. This region in France has a centuries-old history of coal mining. Tailings from this activity now form numerous black hills in the landscape and foster non-native plant growth.
Part 3. A body of drawings made during a three-month residency at L’H du Siege. These drawings reflect a study of different forest ecosystems in the north of France, particularly focused on an area that local biologists informally refer to as a “floating forest,” an island of unstable floating ground held together by grasses and tree roots. Public access is denied because of the danger posed of potentially falling through thin sections of ground to the water below – a bit like falling through ice.
Part 4. A four-minute video. The video incorporates imagery from the temporary forest installation with footage from an excursion through the “floating forest” at night, and sound recordings from a large group of hunters and their dogs searching for wild boar.
IMAGES
La Chasse, Valenciennes, France, 2011. Images of both installations and the video were later exhibited at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, (OR) in 2011. Wood, Part 1: 100’ long; Part 2: 80’ long.
LA CHASSE
Valenciennes, France
2011
Related articles:
La Chasse Exhibition Catalog (English) 2011
La Chasse Exhibition Catalog (French) 2011
La Chasse is a project in four parts:
Part 1. A temporary installation in the Scarpe-Escaute forest in the north of France. String suspended by fishing line outlines the architecture of the gallery at L’H du Siege. Every few days wild boar would barrel through and break sections of the sculpture. A repetition of break-repair-break-repair became a kind of visual conversation extended by a series overlapping splices and braces over time. The installation lasted three months.
Part 2. A gallery installation at L’H du Siege and Acte de Naissance in Valenciennes, France. The wood structure suspended from the ceiling was coated in a mixture of mine tailings and wallpaper paste. Dozens of artists, students, carpenters and boat-builders contributed their time and skills to the project. This region in France has a centuries-old history of coal mining. Tailings from this activity now form numerous black hills in the landscape and foster non-native plant growth.
Part 3. A body of drawings made during a three-month residency at L’H du Siege. These drawings reflect a study of different forest ecosystems in the north of France, particularly focused on an area that local biologists informally refer to as a “floating forest,” an island of unstable floating ground held together by grasses and tree roots. Public access is denied because of the danger posed of potentially falling through thin sections of ground to the water below – a bit like falling through ice.
Part 4. A four-minute video. The video incorporates imagery from the temporary forest installation with footage from an excursion through the “floating forest” at night, and sound recordings from a large group of hunters and their dogs searching for wild boar.
IMAGES
La Chasse, Valenciennes, France, 2011. Images of both installations and the video were later exhibited at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, (OR) in 2011. Wood, Part 1: 100’ long; Part 2: 80’ long.
PROCESS
Forest Installation: 14’ x 30’ x 120’
To establish the linear frame of the gallery in the forest heavy string was suspended from the surrounding trees with fishing line. The temporary sculpture was made with thinly milled wood and lapping fasteners.
Gallery Installation: 13’ x 18’ x 80’
Mine tailings mixed with wallpaper paste and water applied over a laminated wood structure bolted to the gallery ceiling.
Video
Footage is taken in a “Floating forest” north of Valenciennes using artificial lights. Sound was captured during a boar hunt in thick fog with 75 people and several groups of dogs wearing bells.
Drawings
Charcoal on paper. The drawings were made during a three month period while in residence at L’ H de Siege in Valenciennes.