A FRESH BURN LIKE A DOUBLE TREE
Mélodie Mousset
15 Jun – 19 Aug 2017
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Garden Party and re-opening of Mélodie Mousset's exhibition with new works:
Thursday, 15th June at 6pm
Mélodie Mousset’s work is oscillating between virtual and physical realms, focussing her investigation on the physicality of the human body and the potential virtuality of the mind. For SALTS, she worked site-specifically and envisioned the outdoor space as a single large-scale sculpture.
Erected in the middle of the front yard, a mass of terracotta partially swallows the exhibition cubes, with earth spilling throughout the door and blocking the entrance. This mountain-like structure is embedded with a series of larger-than life ceramic eyeballs, that the artist finished with terra sigillata, an ancient Greek glazing technique.
From the garden, one finally finds an access point through the window, only to realise that the terracotta has invaded the entire space. Inside, a 3D animation using motion capture technology features a character encompassing physical features from people the artist has often been compared to, including David Bowie and Tilda Swinton.
The design of the hill corresponds to one Mousset originally intended to program in virtual reality, but decided to physically build after failing to digitally render it. Calling on many aspects of her myriads of investigations, the structure simultaneously evokes the aftermath of a dramatic landslide, a prehistoric graveyard, a worn-off pyramid, or a clay sculpture waiting to be fired. Weird and uncanny, the ensemble also looks like a gigantic shrine, where each element is dedicated to a cult only known by the artist.
A Fresh burn like a Double Tree is conceived like a new chapter of a great narrative that embraces, contradicts and sometimes erases the recurring elements of Mousset’s almost encyclopaedic research, with aspects taken from science, spirituality and her own biography.
Interested in the potential of virtual reality, whereby an emotionally powerful experience can spark any type of counterpart in the non-virtual world and vice versa, Mousset collides an irregular cone with a parallelepiped with the illusive ease of 3D modelling, schizophrenic vision or topological projection. Here the physical properties of both elements seem to be ignored, creating an illusion meant to challenge our senses. By burying the pristine withe surface of a white cubes under a mass of red earth, the artist also makes an allusion to Robert Smithson’s Partially Buried Woodshed (1970). In total, ten truckloads of twelve tons each were piled over the exhibition space.
Eyes are omnipresent in Mousset’s new installation; from Magritte’s 1928’s Faux Mirror single eye, to George Bataille’s “pineal eye”, whose function is to allow man’s inner impulses to be vertically discharged, they enrich the artist’s symbolic and physical repertoire on many levels. Here, the blue glazed lash-less eyes are like holes in a volcano through which imaginary fluids can flow up and erupt. Large and hollow, these sockets also collect water when it rains, and provide an uncanny anthropomorphic quality to the pile. The volcano is another central figure of the artist’s vocabulary, as a symbol of infinity that paradoxically can only happen in a
closed cycle. From liquid to gas and solid, material changes state, and while nothing is ever lost, nothing is neither ever created. In virtual reality using 3D headsets, the eyes typically provide the only access to a fictitious infinity, yet they are the tools allowing the ultimate confinement.
In Endless Woman (tearing is not allowed) (2017) we encounter a virtual character incarnating three different archetypes; a vulcanologist, a topologist and a schizophrenic. Through the prism of their specific field and vision, they discuss things that don’t seem to be related, yet seem to melt into a universal truth that evokes the porous relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind.
Interested in this relationship, the artist seeks to highlight moments when both overlap, creating a sort of slippage that allows true awareness to emerge. In the
film, this slippage happens when the characters experience a temporary “rêverie”,
which translates with their skin falling off, ultimately revealing an empty 3D mesh
structure.
Mélodie Mousset (*1981 in About Dhabi, lives and works in Zurich) studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, EBAR, France, Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, ECAL, Switzerland, the Royal College of Arts, London, and completed her Masters of Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts CALARTS in Valencia, California. Mousset’s work extends through numerous mediums, including performance, video, installation, photography, sculpture and new media, including virtual reality. Following her long time interest in the body as a vehicle for physical, ritual, and historiographical interactions, Mousset ’s multidisciplinary investigations explore the possibilities of identity-formation in our hyper-mediated contemporary world. Her work features among international public and private collections, and has been exhibited at institutions and galleries worldwide, including MOCA (Museum Of Contemporary Arts), Los Angeles; Kunsthaus Aargau; MAC (Musée d’Art Contemporain) Lyon; The Metropolitan Art Society, Beirut; Susanne Vielmetter Project, Los Angeles, and most recently at Barbara Seiler Gallery, Zurich.
Curated by Samuel Leuenberger and Elise Lammer
A FRESH BURN LIKE A DOUBLE TREE - Mélodie Mousset
01–72
Daniel Gustav Cramer
ALL INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Kasper Sonne
ASSOCIATIONS NEW
Max Brand, Vittorio Brodmann, Beni Bischof, Claudia Comte, Stéphane Dafflon, Armen Eloyan, Athene Galiciadis, Mathis Gasser, Charlotte Herzig, Thomas Jeppe, Jan Kiefer , Victor Korol , John Monteith , Nicolas Party, David Peschka, Guillaume Pilet, Nicholas Pittmann, Ivan Seal, Francisco Sierra, Loredana Sperini, Tobias Spichtig, Henning Strassburger, Stefan Sulzer, Tyra Tingleff
ASSOCIATIONS NEW
Max Brand, Vittorio Brodmann, Beni Bischof, Claudia Comte, Stéphane Dafflon, Armen Eloyan, Athene Galiciadis, Mathis Gasser, Charlotte Herzig, Thomas Jeppe, Jan Kiefer , Victor Korol , John Monteith , Nicolas Party, David Peschka, Guillaume Pilet, Nicholas Pittmann, Ivan Seal, Francisco Sierra, Loredana Sperini, Tobias Spichtig, Henning Strassburger, Stefan Sulzer, Tyra Tingleff
BRANDS – CONCEPT/AFFECT/MODULARITY
Kari Altmann, Florian Auer, David Jablonowski, Pierre Lumineau, Metahaven, Pamela Rosenkranz, Anne de Vries
CLOSER SCRUB
Tyra Tingleff
CONCERT – COMING HOME
CONCERT – ROCK THE SLAUGTHERHOUSE
Minimetal, Me and the Minimes and Teppichmode
CONEY ISLAND
Yves Scherer
DI STIJLLED
Tobias Spichtig
DI STIJLLED
Tobias Spichtig
DI STIJLLED
Tobias Spichtig
EL BUEN VECINO
Sol Calero
GREEN GROWTH
Katja Novitskova
L’AGE D’OR
Pauline Beaudemont
MATTHEW SMITH & YONATAN VINITSKY
MUTANT
Peles Empire
NEUE WELT, VIEW OVER AUTOCENTER
OUTSIDERS
Pedro Wirz
OUTSIDERS
Pedro Wirz
LET'S PLAY
Rusconi & Sara Vidas
PICTURE THIS
Fredrik Værslev
QUITE BLACK ON THE WESTERN FRONT BUT THE SUN IS STILL AT THE HORIZON AND WORRIES ABOUT THE FOAM
MDFA Union: Beni Bischof, Michael Bodenmann, Georg Gatsas, Barbara Signer
SHOW-OFF
Awst&Walther
STEPPING STONE
Frank Altmann, Awst & Walther, Nina Beier, Eva Berendes, Stefan Burger, Martin Soto Climent, Adam Thompson
STRÖME
Gina Folly & Mandla Reuter
THE HOLE
Karsten Födinger
Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries
La Lutte Continue, 2000
read the room/you've got to
Etel Adnan, Kolt Beringer, Harry Burke, Cynthia Cruz, Olivia Dunbar, Andrew Durbin, Ida Ekblad, Heike-Karin Föll, Lauren Gault, Harmony Holiday, Karl Holmqvist, Romain Juan, Joan Naviyuk Kane, John Kelsey, Paul Kneale, Sophie Jung, Sophia Le Fraga, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Garrett Nelson, Collier Nogues, Sophie Nys, Fatuma Osman, Vanessa Place, Lauren Printy Currie, Megan Rooney, Andrew Seguin, Donna Stonecipher, Sue Tompkins, Martina-Sofie Wildberger, Hannah Woo, Lynn Xu
YOUR PALINDROME, HER ABECEDARIUM
THERMAL WELDING
Raphael Hefti
THERMAL WELDING
Raphael Hefti
TO ZANZIBAR FROM ACAPULCO
Claudia Comte & Guillaume Pilet
TO ZANZIBAR FROM ACAPULCO
Claudia Comte & Guillaume Pilet
UNRELIABLE NARRATORS (PART FOR JEREMIAH)
Adina Popescu
WHERE CUCKOOS NEST IN AUTUMN
Marc Bauer, Armen Eloyan, Sara Masüger
WHERE CUCKOOS NEST IN AUTUMN
Marc Bauer, Armen Eloyan, Sara Masüger
COURTESY OF SALTS
Pedro Wirz
"CRUISING - Sylvie Fleury*
DO YOU FEEL THIS SPIRIT OF ETERNITY?
TIC-TAC. TIC-TAC.
I AM FEELING SO HAPPY.
IF I HAD AN UZI, I WOULD EMPTY A MAGAZINE IN THE SKY.
Gilles Furtwängler
FUJI COLOUR GARDEN
Hagar Schmidhalter
Irmão dos homens todos
Mauro Cerqueira and Pedro Wirz
MY GRAVITY SLPPED AWAY Flaka Haliti
MY HISTORY OF FLOW
Lena Henke
OWEN PIPER AND LILI REYNAUD-DEWAR ON HOW TO TALK DIRTY AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
PANORAMA
Nicolas Party
PEACE, LOVE AND HARMONY
Ditte Gantriis
Tending to Motion, with Nik Emch, Jan Kiefer, Sara Vidas
PHILLIP, LUKAS & ISIDORA
Augustas Serapinas
POST COURRIER ART A Presentation organised between HEAD – Genève, Haute École d‘Art et de Design und die Basisklasse Bildende Kunst / Kunsthochschule Kassel.
THE NIGHT HOLDS TERROR
Emanuel Röhss
WORKS OFF PAPER
With: Penny Goring, Lorraine O’Grady, Lady Pink, Arleen Schloss, Martine Syms
Curated by Harry Burke for The Printed Room
WLGTDWI - A PERFORMANCE EVENING
Paul Kneale and Megan Rooney
Double Take, 2015
2008 Toyota Yaris, audio recording, video projection
Dimensions variable
CLUB UNIVERS with
Angèle Siegenthaler, Katharina Kemmerling, Gregory Stäuble, Linda Wunderlin, Dario Zeo, Sebastien Rück, Davide Wouda, Iris Brodbeck, Manuela Cossalter, Laura Mietrup, Aline Stalder, Chris Handberg, Cyril Hübscher, Njomza Sadikaj, Simone Steinegger, Aysa Stettler, Nadine Cueni, Markus Aebersold, Anna Diehl, Ambra Viviani and Manuel Koechli
WHO ARE YOU?
Olivier Castel, Dorota Gawęda and Eglé Kulbokaité, Selina Grueter and Michèle Graf, Than Hussein Clark, Martin Soto Climent.
Michèle Graf, Than Hussein Clark, Martin Soto Climent.*
HONEYBAKED - Jan Kiefer
ZIGZAG INCISIONS with Armando Andrade Tudela, Raven Chacon, Roberto Evangelista, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Alfredo Hubard, Seulgi Lee, Pierre Leguillon, Felipe Mujica, Edit Oderbolz, Blinky Palermo, Tania Pérez Córdova & Francesco Pedraglio, Falke Pisano, Julia Rometti and Jorge Satorre
POCKET - Hanne Lippard. Curated by Harry Burke for The Printed Room
THE LITTLE APOCRYPHA - Emily Mae Smith & Adam Henry
Ho King Man
Stiff Cotton Brain Stone
Installation view, SALTS, 2017
Photo: Gunnar Meier
THE VISITORS - Caroline Mesquita
A FRESH BURN LIKE A DOUBLE TREE - Mélodie Mousset
SOULLESS SKIN - Sarah Margnetti starring Kiki Kogelnik
I Am Our Common Pronoun - Nanna Abell, Sigurđur Ámundason, Josefin Jussi Andersson, Klara Ström &
Hannah Wiker Wikström, Zoe Barcza, Mira Eklund, Artor Jesus Inkerö, Yassine Khaled, Helene Nymann, Eirik Sæther, Vidha Saumya
Infinity has its limits - Kasia Fudakowski, Maria Loboda, Zoe Paul
The New Body - Astrit Ismaili
THE GOURD & THE FISH - Rodrigo Hernández
Bhanu Kapil & Sharon Carlisle
"Mud Female Buddha Equinox Ritual", 2014
Sharon came every morning to sift the mud/build the Buddha . . . the mud female Buddha herself erased one day abruptly. The space was thought of as a “balcony” (after Genet’s Le Balcon). The space of a life, a site of incarnation. Incarnate, fleeting.
Image courtesy the artists
ADRENARCHY - Jumana Manna
HUNTER OF WORLDS, with Nina Canell, Rochelle Feinstein, Louise Lawler, Marie Matusz
Josep Maynou, Alan Schmalz
John Smith, Niels Trannois
HUNTER OF WORLDS, with Nina Canell, Rochelle Feinstein, Louise Lawler, Marie Matusz
Josep Maynou, Alan Schmalz
John Smith, Niels Trannois
Anna Diehl - RESILIENCE
Charles Benjamin - NOT OLD NOT NEW
Marguerite Humeau and Julian Charrière - TWIN EARTH
BODYSPLITS - Nina Beier, Morgan Courtois, Jesse Darling, Cathy Josefowitz, Judith Kakon, Oliver Laric, Kris Lemsalu, Julie Monot, Pakui Hardware, Puppies Puppies, Mia Sanchez, Dorian Sari, Diamond Stingily
Tobias Spichtig - FRIDGES AND MIND AGAIN
ON FIRE – VULNERABLE FOOTAGE with Melanie Bonajo, Samira Elagoz, Juliana Huxtable, Carolyn Lazard, Leigh Ledare, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Tobias Madison, Markus & Markus, Shayok Mukhopadhyay, Christoph Schlingensief, Martine Syms, Johannes Willi, Sasha Wortzel with Morgan Bassichis
Charles Benjamin
CROCODILE TEARS
ARMEN ELOYAN
MEGAN ROONEY
Camp Solong
Game of Goose
Country SALTS: THIS MORNING, IN THE SWEET TORPOR OF THE GREAT FOREST, IS LIKE EVERY MORNING IN THE WORLD
Nicolas Party
Nicolas Party
*Lena Henke - Boobs (female fatigue series), 2015
Gina Folly
side 2
Vanessa Safavi
Rodrigo Hernández
Emanuel Röhss
Pauline Beaudemont
Claudia Comte
Petrit Halilaj & Alvaro Urbano
Kasper Sonne
Raphael Hefti
Katja Novitskova
Pedro Wirz
Sol Calero
Sol Calero
Tobias Spichtig
Pedro Wirz
Daniel Gustav Cramer
Tyra Tingleff
Tyra Tingleff
UTTER BLISS
Stefan Sulzer
UTTER BLISS
Stefan Sulzer
GLASSWORKS REVERSED
Tobias Spichtig
The Ethicas of Pirating
Adina Popescu