Héritage Érodé, 2023

Installation

Iga Vandenhove & Isabel Judez

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Marine terrazzo, terracotta, concrete, reused sedimentary rock, metal rods and motion-sensing sound system

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Isabel Judez and Iga Vandenhove, an artist-in-residence duo, focus their individual and collective practices on ecological and social issues. Most recently, in their residency project, they were inspired by a reflection on the balance of ecosystems, which led to the use of bio-sourced materials as well as to a solidarity-based manufacturing process in partnership with the Schuman Perret high school in Le Havre

 

Integrating a plastic and sound dimension, the work is inspired by the mineral and ecosystemic identity of Cauchois' region, playing on the contrast between the architectural and natural heritage. The materials used in the installation such as sedimentary rock, concrete and clay are found in the town and on the cliffs

 

Following the stages of erosion from flint to pebble, the work is composed of thousands of floating stones. Spread out architecturally and geometrically on three successive terraces, they create a kinetic effect, showing a cliff face in constant formation and disintegration, as if to underline the depletion of natural resources. Rocks set in motion in this way also evoke mineral matter that is far from inert. This living matter, which played a vital role in the formation of the limestone cliffs, has a key role in the installation, with the use of a marine terrazzo made from cement and shells left over from restaurants, blending the human hand with the action of the living within the installation

 

These supposed polarities will become even more sensitive as people pass around the artpiece, triggering disparate sounds. Together, they give voice to a maritime soundscape... yet an artificial one derived from sounds captured entirely in the ORGO workshop during the artpiece's fabrication process. Where the screech of a drill evokes the song of a bird, a concrete mixer becomes a riptide and terrazzo becomes a pebble, the installation explores notions of what is natural and what is artificial, of the entanglement of the living and the technological, and questions the human impact on contemporary ecosystem cycles

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This installation project has been created within an artistic residency at the Jardins d'Etretat

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Co-creation / Isabel Judez et Iga Vandenhove

Parametric design / Johan Navarro @estudio.panametrico

Conception consultant / Jordan Thieblot

Partnership / Lycée professionnel Schumann-Perret au Havre - Atelier gros oeuvre, Pôle céramique Normandie

Exhibition / Les jardins d'Etretat, Etretat  - From July 14, 2023 to January 2025

Thanks / To the teachers and students of the Schumann-Perret highschool in Le Havre : Jérémie, Jonathan, Marylin, Sandrine, Alain, Clothaire, Enzo. To the class Segpa du Havre avec Mamadou, Alexandra, Komba, Raphaël, Sada. The Normandy ceramics school and Pierre. To the gardeners of Etretat Gardens : Nicolae, Micha et Alexandre. To the garden team : Olga, Anastasia et Tatiana.