I met the glass artist Zou Desbiens in the wide virtual world, but I wanted to know more about the technique used, about the discourse... From our exchanges, a dialogue around the place taken by film photography as well as the glass craft in the world has emerged.
In discussing our collaboration, we isolated our common denominator, the territory. During our first face-to-face meeting in Quebec City, Zou generously left me a few pieces of textured glass of his design to experiment with in the darkroom. It is through this moment of sharing and discovery that a sincere relationship based on the desire to learn was born.
A series will be exhibited at the gallery from June 2023. You can see part of the series in Malleable Territory .
I invite you to discover Shots magazine, a photographic magazine published since 1984. A great way to discover the work of other artists, the curators are always relevant, not a lot of advertising, a minimalist approach that lets the artworks breathe.
The representation of the territory in photography changes perceptions, creates symbols, contextualizes as well as contributes to exploring "the unthought". Photography remains halfway between art and the observation of reality. The territory is the identified space, it is in the process of material or symbolic appropriation by humans. The photographic act appeals to the observation of reality through the territory and creates a landscape that appeals to the viewer's imagination. The space created between these two poles, reality and imagination are specific to each subject according to their previous life experiences. Photography strikes, touches, interferes in the life of people by the feelings felt previously. This duality which is specific to photography has always challenged me.
When the glass is liquefied, it takes its territory randomly and it adapts to obstacles in its path just like humans. Through the texture of the glass, we evoke a questioning of the human hold on matter. The shapes and textures obtained with Zou's interventions remain delicate and oddly self-organized like the territory. Despite the impressions of solidity, the glass remains fragile just like the man, we experienced it recently.
In short, Zou and I are convinced that we are at the dawn of the evolution of this awareness, of the importance we have on the territory. The birth of terms such as eco-anxiety, eco-phobia, green depression somehow evoke this awareness at different collective levels. Human beings never really care about the impact of their own development on their territory. Today with the growing population, global warming, the immutable side of the territory seems to be questioned.