Nicolas Carrier, Marie Ouazzani, Exposition périphérique (2018), film still, courtesy of the artists 2018.
Nicolas Carrier, Marie Ouazzani, Exposition périphérique (2018), installation view, courtesy of the artists 2019.
Nicolas Carrier
Born Brive, France (1981), lives and works in Paris, France
Marie Ouazzani
Born Lille, France (1991), lives and works in Paris, France
Exposition périphérique 2018
Film, HD video, 52.00mins
Courtesy of the artists
Plants are also at the heart of Exposition Périphérique (Peripheral Exhibition) by Marie Ouazzani & Nicolas Carrier, a film with documentary accents following a group of scientists characterised by slow and light gestures, in the act of studying, sampling and taking care of the green spaces around the Paris ring road. The shots of these natural interstices on the bottom of bitumen are interspersed with the Latin names of each plant, along with the description of their properties, which we could think that they are made-up. We learn that the “Paulownia Tomentosa”, native of Asia, is often found on wasteland, its porcelain leaves have a protective effect, or that the “Conyza Canadensis” is a herb native to North America that is deployed in peri-urban areas, on industrial sites and railways. “Every step of his dance keeps the witches away.” By focusing on abandoned spaces, on the between Concrete Island by JG Ballard and the Life of Plantsby Emanuele Coccia The duo accomplishes an act of resistance.
Manon Klein
