Clio Simon in residency at the CRP/ - Associate artist for the 2019-2020 season
Residency in Douchy-les-Mines / September 2019 – September 2020
Beginning in September 2019, the CRP/ is welcoming video artist Clio Simon for a residency on its territory. A 2015 graduate of the Fresnoy, Simon regularly collaborates with anthropologists, researchers, but also other artists. In her works, she develops the idea that human beings not only live in society, but also constantly create society in order to live. Her work combines imagination and reality, which find themselves linked in an intrinsic way, in order to politically and poetically question the foundations of our society
Her artistic productions explore the image in motion. They are resolutely hybrid and interdisciplinary.
Proposal for an exhibition on the mining area / December 2020 – March 2021
In the Anthropocene epoch, when society is coming to think of itself as the creator of its environment, some populations are encouraging us to broaden the parliament of living beings to include other voices (like those of the mountains and rivers). They encourage us to reinvent our common conception of Progress in order to listen to the thoughts of this Nature as it speaks to us, and take these words into the arena of Justice so that Nature is recognized as a holder of a Right.
As an artist, how can one contribute to this speaking?
How can the forgotten language of the surrounding landscapes be transcribed in images and sounds?
This landscape tells of what happened “At the time”, what will take place “Here, tomorrow”, and what could take place “Imagine if…” but will not take place, though it is housed and protected in the depths of our imagination. The artist will question visitors about how to protect what “we” collectively value. Not a “we” of identity, nor of belonging, but rather a “we” of love that is defending a common cause, inventing and freeing itself through a poetic approach.
Here, in connection with the CRP/’s territorial context, the work will be based on the mine landscapes and their history. To what sort of discourse does the mine landscape give rise? What is its impact? How is the nature/culture dualism evolving? Does our social contract pass over the world in silence? In other words, how do “we” decide to cohabitate with it? What is the moment in world history that “we” are living through together?
Clio Simon, video artist
The created work will give rise to a solo exhibition, presented at the CRP/ from December 2020 to March 2021, bringing together six works: three created between 2012 and 2019, as well as three others produced during the residency in the mining area.
Alongside this research work, Clio Simon will be supporting the art center’s cultural program throughout the season, through meetings, talks, workshops, etc.