‘Sea of Tranquillity' is the name of a fictional cruise liner created by the artist, which serves as a metaphor for our modern attitude to time and space, our interpretation of the concepts of work and leisure, and, finally, the way in which we deal with our mortality. As such, it has a complex and poetic charge, but also presents a touch of irony regarding the superficial, safe and unimaginative leisure opportunities that are on offer on board the ship.
As a whole, the exhibition is articulated in a museographic setting: a form of narrative emerges, a scenography of memory, an immersive voyage dedicated to an enigmatic floating legend. The exhibition includes a film projection, a monumental model of the ship, various sculptural works and large black and white watercolour paintings. The short film, mixing live actors and 3D environments, virtually plunges the viewer into the cavernous, strange and menacing cruise liner as it softly cleaves the night.
Launched at Le Grand Café in Saint-Nazaire, the exhibition ‘Sea of Tranquillity' then voyages to Belgium (ARGOS, Centre for Art & Media, Brussels, 22 January (opening) - 2 April 2011), to Switzerland (Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, 10 June (opening) - 4 September 2011) and to Spain (Centro de Arte, Burgos, 10 June (opening) - 4 September 2011).
Sea of tranquillity received the appreciated support of the National Centre for Visual Arts - Ministry of Culture and Communication (F), the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (B), Le Fresnoy - National Studio for Contemporary Arts (F), the Flemish authorities (B), Emmanuelle and Michael Guttman, Xavier Hufkens and Galleria Continua.
9 October 2010 - 2 January 2011 in LE GRAND CAFÉ, Centre d'art contemporain, Place des Quatre z'horloges, 44 600 Saint-Nazaire (France). Open Tue-Sun, 2-7 pm, Wed 11 am-7 pm.
www.grandcafe-saintnazaire.fr