Les Particules, le conte humain d’une eau qui meurt - Book

(The Particles,  The Human Tale of a Dying Water)

2023

The Eyes Publishing 

Images I Manon Lanjouère
Preface I  Michel Poivert
Interview I Manon Lanjouère & Ika Paul-Pont conducted by  Andreina de Bei
Languages I  French, English
Graphic design I  Sarah Boris Studio
Collection I Civis Maritimus
Format I  20 x 28 cm, 56 pages, SoftCover, OTAbind
Price I 35€

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︎Manon Lanjouère forges spectral images that resemble a new nosology. Her classification of the mutations that transform underwater life forms into a repertoire of refuse borrows notably from the photographic iconography of plants in the early nineteenth century. ︎

MICHEL POIVERT, PHOTOGRAPHY HISTORIAN AND CURATOR, INTRODUCTION EXERPT

Extracts of the ITW : 

ADB Was it the fragility and beauty of these creatures, Manon, that inspired and motivated you?

ML Of course, and even more striking for me was the realization that they play a fundamental role in the balance of ecosystems, since phytoplankton – microalgae and cyanobacteria – carry out photosynthesis, absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen. Imagining that this vital function for the planet, performed by wonderful and intriguing-looking creatures, was being severely compromised by plastic pollution, fired my imagination and fuelled the creative process that led to the Les Particules project.

IPP The fragility you mention is more than proven. Our research has demonstrated the impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on phytoplankton: by interacting with these living organisms, the pollutants modify their distribution in the water column and their floating speed, adhere to them and thus form aggregates that are toxic for the entire food chain, and worse, reduce their ability to photosynthesize by almost 45%. It’s invisible, and tragically harmful.

ADB Is your artistic process akin to scientific research?

ML Research, without a doubt. I’m not trained as a scientist, nor do I claim to be, but I find the sciences very inspiring, and they constantly nourish me.My projects are all framed by a protocol, on the basis of which I construct an image, as one would do in laboratory experiments. I then apply the process ad infinitum, and through this iteration, I wear out the form to the end.For me, laboratories are playgrounds!

︎The marvels of science and its literary fictions promised both knowledge and the illusion of mastery over nature. Now, however, waste is a species in its own right︎