Journal of the Exhibition
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collectors to aesthetic by occult phenomena and the The precious meditation, from spiritual or great mysteries of nature. Next magical belief to scientific comes the time of collecting and power experimentation. depicting, in which the visitor is transported into a kind of Minerals have been used since mineralogical cabinet scattered of stones Prehistory in creating paints, and with copies and vanities. This off- 30 January - 15 May 2016 were gradually collected, beat 'lithotherapy' can be preserved, arranged and summarised as follows: catalogued in private collections, Marina Abramović, cabinets of curiosities and Michel Blazy, George mineralogical galleries. They were even painted and turned Brecht, James Lee into portrait subjects in Byars, Pierre-Laurent themselves, as seen in Leroy De Barde's sumptuous 19th century "I contemplate at my leisure Cassière, Marion paintings of display cases and and manipulate as I see fit a Catusse, Marine Class, mineralogical specimens. captive, miniaturised plot, Hubert Duprat, Jean Featuring in the poetic works of almost like a reduced model the surrealists followed by the of the immensity of the Dupuy, Paul Armand experiments and installations of Gette, Isabelle the Arte Povera, Land Art and universe." Roger Caillois Supports-Surfaces movements, in Stones are precious archives of the Giovacchini, Guillaume the hands of artists, these earth. In holding and reading them, Gouerou, Laurent "involuntary masterpieces of the Man gains access to the infinity of Grasso, Alicja Kwade, universe" (Roger Caillois) time, engaging in a journey through became works of art. space and time and the concrete Didier Mahieu, state of being in our world and the Aurélien Mauplot, Éric Today, artists use rough stones as universe at large. While stones may up-cycled ready-made pieces, appear to be frozen in time, their Michel, Damián collecting them, arranging them strata are illustrations of their ever- Ortega, Ève Pietruschi, or depicting them, while others shifting nature, thus forming a kind carry out experiments on them, of living autobiography of our Emmanuel Régent, transform them and manufacture planet. Through these stones, some artists attempt to connect Man, the Evariste Richer, Jean- copies. While the history of how Earth and the Universe in a unique Philippe Roubaud, these minerals have been used, physical and metaphysical depicted or presented still experience, while others plunge the Bettina Samson, remains to be written, audience into a relativity and Valentin Souquet. contemporary artists' taste for impermanence that makes us minerals is palpable. rethink our perception of the world. Curator: Rébecca François Designed as a fully immersive experience, the "Precious Power Minerals inspire collective of Stones" exhibition intertwines curiosity and a sense of wonder. several facets that reflect the As children and as adults, we've various different unique all embarked on treasure hunts resonances and vibrations that to collect stones, selecting the artists have lent these minerals. most intriguing specimens to We open with an invitation to arrange in our own private embark on a spiritual journey collections of little gems. The through time and space relativity, appeal minerals hold ranges from kicking off with the imaginary the simple curiosity of casual worlds and symbolism triggered Room 1 1 a paragon of human activity. 4 Veritable blocks of light, minerals Laurent Grasso (1972, and monochromes operate as James Lee Byars (1932, Mulhouse) gateways to be passed through in _______________________ order to gaze upon the depths of the Detroit - 1997, Cairo) immaterial. In doing so, the ________________________ installation is an "open window" Studies into the past looking out into the world. The Thin disk with hole, 1994 Oil on wood, 114 x 94 cm fluorescence creates a radiant, enveloping landscape where Marble, Ø 40 cm Collection of the artist everything seems connected, and Acquired from Taglialatella Galleries in where no words are required. 2012 This painting opens the exhibition, Everything is simultaneously Collection MAMAC, Nice creating a kind of brief gap spiritual and rational. between time and space relativity. This faux Renaissance painting James Lee Byars' elegant and 3 minimal white marble sculptures rise depicts the phenomenon of levitation. Using this anachronistic enigmatically over visitors, inspiring detail, the scene shifts to an Marina Abramović (1946, ontological contemplation. The unsettlingly strange atmosphere. Belgrade) elementary Thin disk with hole This ambiguity is enhanced by the _______________________ sculpture comprises a disk with a diameter of 40 cm carved into painting's lack of date. The boundaries between reality and dazzlingly flawless white marble, fiction, science and belief, the Shoes for departure, 1991 featuring a barely visible hole at its visible and the invisible, the Amethyst centre. The piece acts as a present and the future, are landscape, philosophical entity and blurred. Studies into the Past 2 pieces, 26 x 50 x 20 cm 10 kg each gateway to the absolute. Enclosed inhabits a paradoxical word, a Enrico Navarra Collection - within a display case, it is future temporality (as it depicts a Courtesy of the Marina Abramović reminiscent of Neolithic China's phenomenon that has never yet Archives jade Bi disks, whose mysterious been proven to exist) written in the meaning appears to link body and past tense (through its many Instructions for the Public: enter the earth, life and death. historical references). shoes with bare feet - Eyes closed – Motionless – Depart. Time: 5 2 Limitless Isabelle Giovacchini (1982, Éric Michel (1962, Aix-en- In the 1990s, Marina Abramović Nice) perfected interactive devices that Provence) ____________________________ drew on the power of amethyst, a _______________________ stone renowned for its spiritual, soothing and protective qualities. Aurore 541, 2015 Fluorescences, 2015 The Shoes for Departure sculpture is Positive prints of desert rose made of two amethyst monoliths photograms, 30 x 24 cm each Fluorescent pigments on canvas, carved into a pair of clogs. Fragile Collection of the artist black light, fluorite from Nice's and precious, this sculpted stone is Natural History Museum, varying evocative of the ruins of archaeology HOW ONE OUGHT TO TURN measurements to come. A plate explains how to use TO STONE. Courtesy of the artist the piece. Visualising themselves wearing these celestial, protective — Slowly, slowly to become hard like a precious stone — slippers, visitors are invited on a Generously loaned by Nice's Natural and at last to lie there, silent and a static journey into the heart of the History Museum, monochromes and joy to eternity. precious power of stones. fluorite specimens reveal their Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak. secrets under the effects of black Thoughts on the Prejudices of light from within a screen box, a Morality, 1881, aphorism 541 kind of ultra-sensory sounding board. The natural elements These strange and mysterious communicate in a secret form of shapes are the result of a alchemy, with the painting serving as photographic experiment created using photograms* of desert roses, chairs and everyday objects. In Chair Collection of the artist the positive prints of which were with mineral specimen and reworked in order to capture the equipment, pieces of quartz and a In Lames de fonds, the artist different facets and shadows cast by hammer are placed on a white chair, photographs fine slivers of rock this evaporite mineral. Hovering creating a palpable sense of tension taken from Nice's Natural History between apparition and that transforms a seemingly Museum from behind a microscope. disappearance, the flipped innocuous scene into a continuously Collated in video form, these photograms of these crystallised renewed and therefore unique event petrographic images taken for rocks mirror Nietzsche's aphorism that speaks directly to the audience's research purposes reveal the rocks' concerning petrification and death. imagination. mineralogical constitutions and a This strange fossilisation is evoked slice of their history. They are not only through the photographic 7 displayed as a successive string of process but through the nature of worlds to be explored, interlinking this rock itself, made from Bettina Samson (1978, the past and the future. evaporated infiltrated water. The Paris) shapes that emerge on the surface of 9 the paper are reminiscent of the ____________________________ inflamed tangles that occur at 451°F Laurent Grasso (1972, (temperature at which paper catches "Comment, par hasard, Mulhouse) fire and burns in Ray Bradbury's Henri Becquerel découvrit dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, la radioactivité", 2009 ________________________ 1953). Series of five photographs on Baryta *Photogram: Images of objects placed on light- Psychokinesis, 2008 sensitive film and exposed to light. paper, 80 x 100 cm each HD video and animation, 12’30’’ Frac Ile-de-France 6 Collection of the artist - Courtesy These black and white photographs of the Sean Kelly Gallery, New George Brecht (1926, New are prints created from uraninite York and the Edouard Malingue York - 2008, Cologne) radiation (natural uranium oxide), Gallery, Hong Kong with no other additional source of ________________________ light. The artist recreates the Psychokinesis transports visitors conditions that led to the French into time and space relativity by Chair Event (mineral sample physician's accidental discover of plunging them into