E R O D E D
H E R I T A G E
Installation
Isabel Judez (Visual Art Direction), Iga Vandenhove (Sound Art Direction)
Jardins d’Étretat Art Residency, 2023. Exhibited from July 2023 to december 2024
Marine terrazzo, terracotta, concrete, reused sedimentary rocks, steel, sound devices with motion detection
Dimensions : L 14.00 m x D 0.30m
Combining visual and sound elements, this site-specific installation is inspired by the mineral identity of Upper Normandy. Judez and Vandenhove analyzed the contrasts of the architectural and natural heritage of the region, and used materials that are present both in the city and in the natural landscape: sedimentary rocks, clay, cement.
The work consists of thousands of stones representing different stages of natural and artificial erosion of materials. Placed on three terraces on different levels, the installation shows a section of the Aval cliff in its constant formation and destruction. This kinetic effect depends on the visitor’s point of view: from one spot the work seems to form the complete landscape of a cliff, and from another it disintegrates and reverts to the appearance of separate pieces of stone, reminding us how precarious the state of natural resources is.
Living organisms, which played a key role in shaping the cliffs of the Alabaster Coast, hold a primordial place within the installation through the use of marine terrazzo. This material, made from the remains of sea creatures, shells and cement, epitomizes the intertwining between the natural and the artificial.
These polarities are also reflected in the motion activated soundscape. Multidirectional audio sources create a sound environment reminiscent of the Channel coast. However, here too lies an illusion: the sound of the sea was in fact recreated with the use of a concrete mixer recorded in the workshop, while a drill imitates the calls of seagulls. The work directly raises the question of the human impact on modern ecosystem cycles and challenges the boundary between the natural and the human-made.
About the Artists
Isabel Judez (b.1992) is a Venezuelan artist and architect of Spanish origin, living and working in Paris. She pays particular attention to the themes of identity and belonging, favoring site-specific projects and the reuse of materials found in the areas where she decides to work. Judez’s involvement of researchers, engineers, volunteers, activists and other participants in the creation process has become a feature of her artistic method. Inspired by kinetic art, she often uses the language of geometric abstraction. She co-authored the installation Héritage Érodé at Jardins d’Étretat and was the lead artist for the visual concept.
Iga Vandenhove (b.1989) is a French sound and visual artist, and documentary filmmaker. She lives and works in France and in the various countries where her projects take her (most recently Bolivia). Vandenhove draws on sound and visual polysemy, questioning the role of our senses and imagination in the perception of the environment. Lately she has been exploring this process, playing with superpositions and interweaving between the human, animal and technological worlds. She is also interested in collective myths and personal beliefs on the borderline between fiction and reality. Vandenhove’s artistic practice often relies on field recording, as well as on a collaborative and social approach to artistic creation. She co-authored the installation Héritage Érodé at Jardins d’Étretat and was the lead artist for the sound creation.
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