G.B.
IMAGES DE FRUITS RÊVÉES PAR DE VIEUX PAYSANS EN HIVER
Visual arts
IMAGES DE FRUITS RÊVÉES PAR DE VIEUX PAYSANS EN HIVER
Visual arts
Images de fruits rêvées par de vieux paysans en hiver is a photography installation centered on the idea of fruits as objects of desire. It contemplates on the fascination and devotion that fruits inspired in people throughout history, especially before they became a part of mass-produced global trade. Devoid of their original shapes and aromas as well as of stories that made them locally distinct, the supermarket fruits of today are pretty much alike all around the world - standardized shells of promise, figurative representation of the market economy.
Filmmaker and researcher of mediterranean fruit varieties sets on a quest to discover places in Europe, where locally grown fruits still hold a significant communal and cultural role. He starts his journey in winter: he observes the resting but resilient fruit trees and converses with old farmers, who spend this time imagining the fruits that will grow on trees in a few months. He discovers abandoned orchards overgrown with weeds and bushes, phantomlike monuments enduring the passage of time in the midst of industrialized fields, resembling 17th century landscape paintings or drawings from children’s books. A phantom Pan-European jungle.
Exposed at the Le Fresnoy - French national center for contemporary art, 2020-2021