Intimacy of Strangers, 2021
The video installation Intimacy with Strangers/ Intimité multi-espèces takes us to a hybrid terrestrialaquatic future world in which amphibians, insects, bacteria, fungi, observing chairs, and kinetic objects live side by side. The gallery’s walls, covered in an enveloping oceanic blue-green colour, form the background for the adventures of a tiny crab concealing itself in a marine landscape and microscopic spores taking flight and rising through layers of dead leaves. We are witness to scenes of complex cohabitation among different species— scenes in which living together also sometimes means dying together. On the floor, in front of the screens, strange creatures—vestiges of the Anthropocene—move discreetly, their movements barely visible. Over there, a teapot stirs slightly, as if it were waking from a long sleep. Over here, a spiky cocoon wiggles. Deep within this immersive environment where anthropomorphic relations between objects and subjects are disrupted, our bodies become part of the unfolding ecosystem. I weave these sensual symbiotic or reciprocal relations into a narrative by exploring the idea of a lasting partnership and commitment among different entities. I imagine a world in which all creatures, including humans, are symbionts. Through the speculative perspective of science fiction and the realism of a documentary approach, Intimacy with Strangers / Intimité multi-espèces addresses the diversity and fluidity of existence through community and inter-species equity. By debunking established notions of nature, culture, and technology, I envisage possible paths for a living-together, a “becoming-with,” on a damaged planet.
Presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts as part of MOMENTA 2021. Room installation with clapping clams, teapot and other critters Medium: mixed media Technical Engineer: Andreas Marckscheffel Exhibition Design: Andrea Macias-Yañez Photo: Jean-Michael Seminaro Curated By: Stefanie Hessler in collaboration with Maude Johnsons, Camille Georgeson-Usher and Himali Singh
