céleste boursier-mougenot plants a kinetic forest at the venice art biennale

céleste boursier-mougenot plants a kinetic forest at the venice art biennale
all images © laurent lecat

céleste boursier-mougenot transforms the french pavilion at the venice art biennale 2015 from a vast, vaulted space to a kinetic forested oasis intended for reflection and retreat. the french artist presents ‘rêvolutions’ as an experimental ecosystem that reveals the constantly evolving state of nature through sound, light and motion.

curated by emma lavigne, director of the centre-pompidou-metz, the exhibition transports viewers to an otherworldly oasis of vegetation, where trees have been liberated from their original place of habitation and their roots revealed outside the pavilion and on the gallery floor. a low-voltage electrical current makes the trees move around inside the pavilion, producing an electric rustling sound environment, where visitors can find a place to relax on the semicircle of surrounding steps.

visitors can find a place to relax on the semicircle of surrounding steps

‘while rekindling the aspiration to the marvellous and the sense of wonder of italian mannerist gardens, céleste boursier-mougenot lets his underlying political thrust filter through’ lavigne says. ‘his intention here is to commandeer systems used for controlling living beings and their movements and compose a poetic work offering humanity living spaces marked by liberty and unconventional beauty.’

the kinetic forested oasis is intended as a place for reflection and retreat

the experimental ecosystem reveals the constantly evolving state of nature

roots of the trees are taken out of their traditional context and revealed on the gallery floor

peering through branches of the trees within the interior of the french pavilion

a sound environment is created through the slight movement of the trees

through electricity, the moving trees transform the gallery into a surreal, organic space

a low-voltage electrical current makes the trees move around inside the pavilion

the movement of the trees creates a rustling sound environment outside