Earth-Life (7) from the Earth-Life series of the Réfléchissons-y… project. ( Let’s think about it…)
The Earth-Life series evokes the desolation, pain, and sadness one can feel when faced with the ruins of wars or natural disasters but also conveys hope.
The artwork Earth-Life (7) consists of an alignment of 7 blocks made from rusty metal residues and paper.
These blocks appear to be both sterile and fertile. On most of them, small white elements can be seen. These represent the colonization of microorganisms, the regeneration of life.
The rusty metal embodies the concept of the brutality of destruction, the passage of time, and abandonment. The recycled paper pulp represents the Earth's crust mixed with the permanence of concrete and the Xuan paper (white) symbolizes the idea of purity and of life reborn.
The use of paper as a material allows me to work on the perception of the artwork's density and to create metaphors around the fragility and ephemerality of life. The alignment of the 7 blocks suggests to the observer a certain mass even though it is not the case. Only the weight of the metal elements adds density to the artwork.
The perception of life's regeneration is implied by the multitude of small white dots.
