THEATRE DE L’INCONNU
In “Théâtre de l’Inconnu” (two-channel HD video & sound, 13 minutes, 2018-20) a faltering narrator recounts the life-cycle of Saturnids, winged insects belonging the family of giant silk moths. The two-channel video installation manipulates elements borrowed from several National Geographic flower time-lapses, the 19th century opera Adriana Lecouvreur, and excerpts from various literary, scientific and ancient texts. The title of the installation gestures towards early modern scientific compendiums, such as Thomas Muffet's “Theatre of Insects” (1658) as well as architectures designed for viewing, including dissection amphitheaters, operating theaters, and entertainment venues for performance and cinema.
Also a venue for spectacle and observation, the gallery space is filled with an interactive and inflatable sculpture of a silk gland sheathed in metallic vinyl. This extracted organ, described by the narrator (in the words of W.G. Sebald) as a “cluster of small, intertwined tubes resembling intestines,” is based on photos from current research attempts to engineer transgenic silkworms whose glands have been modified to produce human collagen for use in cosmetic products. At once tragic, satirical and monumental, the installation explores how Western practices of sight, description and representation have produced and sustained a concept of nature amenable to industrialization and exploitation.
Excerpt of “Théâtre de l’Inconnu” in the exhibition “La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux” presented at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 28 November 2020 to 4 april 2021.
Still image from “Théâtre de l'Inconnu“ 2-channel HD video & sound, 13 minutes, 2020.
Still image from “Théâtre de l'Inconnu“ 2-channel HD video & sound, 13 minutes, 2020.
View of “Théâtre de l’inconnu” in the exhibition “La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux” presented at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 28
November 2020 to 4 april 2021.
View of “Théâtre de l’inconnu” in the exhibition “La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux” presented at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 28
November 2020 to 4 april 2021. Photo: Guy l’Heureux.
Still image from “Théâtre de l'Inconnu“ 2-channel HD video & sound, 13 minutes, 2020.
SStill image from “Théâtre de l'Inconnu“ 2-channel HD video & sound, 13 minutes, 2020.View of “Théâtre de l’inconnu” in the exhibition “La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux” presented at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 28 November 2020 to 4 april 2021. Videography: Philippe Léonard.
This work was made possible with the generous financial support of the Berggruen Institute, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
Please contact hambonehoney@gmail.com to watch the full online preview version.