SUBSTRATE
September 4 to October 27, 2022
Collective exhibition, no-made
The villa "Le Roc Fleuri", Cap d'Ail.
For its twenty-second year of exhibition on the site of the Villa Le Roc Fleuri in Cap d'Ail, the artists of no-made and its guest artists (local, national and international) were asked to respond to the theme SUBSTRAT.
Through this word SUBSTRATE, it is the feeling of essence, of the basis of contemporary art but also its mutations, its developments that are sought. SUBSTRATE then becomes the fundamental support of the moving plastic act, perhaps the solid base of artistic proposals?
We will exhibit the plastic, sound and performance proposals of twenty-seven artists. These proposals will define a stroll between what we will call: the apparent, the reigns of the living, death and rebirth, stratum and trace and finally under the house.
The apparent is situated in SUBSTRAT as a welcome for the visitor which from the outset questions the vanity, roots and heritage of plastic action.
The kingdoms of the living will use the mineral, the vegetable or the animal as SUBSTRATE of the work in its development. Death and rebirth traps materials, destroys them, reconstructs them. Its transformations make the plastic productions of artists kinetic in "nothing is lost, nothing is created: everything is transformed" Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier.
Strate et trace is a narration of SUBSTRAT in its chronology and its desire for memory in the form of written traces, installations, mineral, pictorial or sound fragments, witnesses of the effects of time. Sous la maison ends the journey of this exhibition in enclosed spaces outside the garden, where videos and installations dialogue and respond to each other on the reasons for SUBSTRAT.
(1).jpeg)
Vital breath
Vital Breath, 2023
Wood, fabric, gum arabic
250 x 100 x 100 cm
Souffle Vital is a work by Mona Barbagli, created during her residency at the CIAC in Carros. This installation was born from the encounter with a dying tree, an acacia, discovered on a path connecting Carros Village and Le Broc. This project explores the cycles of life and death, paying homage to this tree while questioning the notions of passage and transformation.
To capture the essence of the tree before it disappeared, Mona used strips of white fabric impregnated with gum arabic, a natural resin from acacia sap, which could be described as the “blood of the tree”.
For several days, the artist wrapped the tree with these strips in a meticulous, almost ritualistic act, forming a kind of cocoon reminiscent of a shroud. Once dried, the print was removed by cutting the cocoon from top to bottom. This print, both fragile and monumental, was then mounted on a structure made of fir wood, a material evoking elevation and resilience.
The wooden structure that supports the print simultaneously evokes a rib cage and a boat. These symbolic references are essential in the work. In ancient Egypt, the acacia was a sacred tree used to build funeral boats, such as those found near the pyramid of Cheops. These boats, beyond their function, symbolized the passage of the soul to the afterlife. The god Osiris, a figure of rebirth and immortality, was often associated with this tree, protector of his mummified body and guardian of the promise of eternal life.
In Souffle Vital, the verticality of the structure and its openings at the top and bottom reinforce this idea of a link between earth and sky, between life and death. The light, passing through the layers of fabric, projects shadows and reflections that evoke dreamlike landscapes and invisible worlds. This subtle play between light and matter invites an introspective exploration, where poetry and spirituality mingle.
This work questions our connection to nature and our relationship to time. Using a dying tree as a starting point, Mona Barbagli immortalizes its “vital breath,” its last energy, while transforming it into a tangible memory. The choice of materials – fabric, gum arabic, wood – is meaningful, linking the work to universal symbols of life, death and rebirth.
With Souffle Vital, Mona Barbagli creates a meditation on the cycles of existence. She invites us to contemplate the fragility and beauty of life, while celebrating the power of transformation and the mystery of the passage between worlds.
