Tropisme, 2014-2015

Tropisme consists of a refrigerated showcase of plants captured in a sheath of ice—as if time could be stopped, and the plants might be preserved and archived for future use. In this frozen landscape, the vitality of matter is protected exothermically from the forces of entropy and decay. But the organisms also point backwards in time, towards the inception of ancient molecular memories. The plants (orchids, cactuses, etc.) are testimony to a geological period––the Cretaceous—which saw the extinction of dinosaurs. The artist freezes them like remains from a time whose memory forever escapes us, except maybe in some remaining part of our “reptilian” brain.

All works by Julian Charrière. Images: ©The Artist / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.