Dé-paysages
2015
Installation
Silver halide print (colour) of the landing of Baron Munchausen in a glass and aluminium box, liquid, air pump, bottles of chemicals. In partnership with Benoit Charlot.
135 x 80 x 40 cm
Production La Panacée, Centre d’Art Contemporain – Ville de Montpellier / Café Europa, Mons Capitale Européenne de la Culture 2015 / Le Living Room
“The choice of Audrey Martin’s latest work (Dé-paysages) is inspired by the film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1943). The installation uses a photo of the Baron’s adventures, which is dissolved using bleach to represent a cruel light - thus making the piece look like a science experiment. The exotic scenery seems to melt into the contraption, leaving only a pale blue vestige.
By breaking the momentum, Audrey Martin manages to reopen essential metaphysical questions; the same questions that have been hidden by our consumer disinterest. She emphasises our angst, whilst she assists the transformation of our belief system. She states that the paradoxical function assigned to art should distract us while giving us an ontological sense or justification, making the world bearable. Light, manipulated by Audrey, becomes a lethal weapon, which destroys the tranquil flow of our comfortable illusions. “
Text extract: Verger Michael Lawrence, Munchausen Blue