markings of paleodictyon bacteria projected onto centre pompidou metz

‘paleodictyon’ by simon Ggilfus, yannick jacquet and thomas vaquié [ANTIVJ]all images © james medcraft

‘paleodictyon’ is a site specific installation directed by visual artists simon geilfus and yannick jacquet, and composer thomas vaquié of antivj. the work was created for the singular architecture of the french museum centre pompidou metz – designed by shigeru ban – and was presented last october during nuit blanche in metz, france.

loosely informed by the work and research of deep-sea expert peter a. rona, the piece abolishes notions of scale by contrasting micro-architecture with human construction. fascinated by the marks left by unknown creatures called paleodictyon nodosum, the scientist offers the hypothesis that these hexagonal structures are designed in order to cultivate bacteria. a modern day captain nemo, peter a. rona wanders relentlessly across the seabed looking to discover these living creatures, of which we only know of their mysterious geometrical makeup, reminiscent of the centre pompidou’s hexagonal shape frame. although the video mapping installation was created for the centre pompidou metz museum, there is also paleodictyon app as its digital counterpart.

the work is loosely informed by the work and research of deep-sea expert peter a. rona

the piece abolishes notions of scale by contrasting micro-architecture with human construction

the making of ‘paleodictyon’

a demonstration of the installation

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