Le Silence d’un Nuage
Several wrought-iron sculptures float on the surface of the water, evoking the insects that move across it: water striders.
Often mistakenly called “water spiders,” water striders are small insects that move across the surface of unpolluted water, making them excellent bioindicators. They communicate with one another through vibrations on the water’s surface, produced and perceived through their hind legs — a principle echoed here in the resonance of the drums.
Powered by solar energy, the sculptures produce a rather harmonious sound: a balance arm, slowly filled by a pump, suddenly empties to strike a metal drum according to the mechanism of the Japanese Shishi Odoshi. The sound then spreads across the lake’s surface like a watery and sonic wave that gradually fades away.
With the slightest change in sunlight, as a cloud passes overhead or night falls, the majestic iron water striders fall silent. The rhythm slows down, and silence emerges, giving way to the sounds already present around us.
The Silence of a Cloud is an invitation to listen to the world, its pulse, those tiny details which, even when they come from insects only a few millimeters long, should remind us of the climate disruptions currently underway.
A collaborative project with Ricardo Angeles Reyes, Andres Blume,
and the students of the CAP Artistic Blacksmithing program at Riess High School in Mazamet: Adrien Jaune, Agathe Camilli, Florian Fabre, Gabin Tarbagayre, Guilhem Clerc-Tournier, Janisse Ould Belaid, Louis Muller, Monsieur Verdier, and Nathan Abruzzo.
Produced in the workshops of l’Uzine in Graulhet.
Project led by the art center Le Lait, with the support of the Département du Tarn and DRAC Occitanie, as part of a shared residency organized by the Tarn ArtsP group of visual arts teachers, and made possible thanks to production support from the Région Occitanie.
Exhibition in partnership with the Communauté de Communes Sor & Agout, the City of Saïx, and the City of Graulhet.
As part of a shared residency organized by the Tarn ArtsP group of visual arts teachers.
Thanks to Sara Lana, Ana Medina, Marie-Christine Cabanas, Anzu Wicks, Sylvie Syl’Batik, Fabien Durand, Karine Delzors, Jacob Redman, as well as everyone who contributed to this project.
As well as to the Centre d’art Le Lait: Antoine Marchand, Claire Bachellerie, Murielle Edet, Hélène Lapeyrère, Patricia Scribe, Chloé Albrand, and Guillaume Rozan.
And to the CAP Artistic Blacksmithing program in Mazamet: Sylvain Gabriel, Maxime Fernandez, and Cédrine Gaillien.