Discovering Secret Paths: the author's photos and artworks
I began collecting and reworking photos for a possible exhibition related to the earth, moving on through the elements form water. The fragments in the image above (click to see a larger version) come from rocks found in and around Giétroz in the Valais. I now have enough material but have been too busy publishing my books to be able to plan an exhibition.
Above, a couple of photos of people attending the opening of my exhibition at the CAC Voltaire on Friday September 4th, 2009. The exhibition space was right next to the ticket desk for the Cinema in the Maison du Grütli where a series of screenings were taking place in honour of the International Video Week. The latter was a sad occasion as, following the death of André Iten and political changes in the Geneva government, the Video Week was no longer to take place. My exhibition had been possible thanks to the warm welcome of Rui Noguera who had run the CAC Voltaire since its beginning. He too was subsequently ousted by the same “political and administrative” forces that decided it was time he retired.
In the last of these three photos from the opening of the exhibition in the Centre de Santé in Colombier you can see the gentle curve designed by the row of water photos. I had intended to trace a straight line and have them all at the same distance from the floor, but the roof was curved and a straight line looked out of place. Relaxing the string that was to help ensure they were horizontal, it traced out a natural curve that suggested a wave of water … so that was how it came about.
The video artist and sociologist Guy Millard at my exhibition at the CAC Voltaire. We made a number of art videos together and both taught at the DAVI of the Lausanne Art School, for a while. Guy was already ill at the time of this photo in 2009. He passed away Saturday April 3rd, 2010 at the age of 64. He asked to have one of my water photos, the one he is looking at in this picture, but because of his illness I never got round to taking it to him.
Go to the Mémoire d’eau – Water Memory gallery
In my second novel, Beyond the Surface of the World, some of the characters explore the fabric at the surface of the visible world enabling them to open the way to other possibilities. In this series of photos about water, I have also explored what lies hidden at the surface of things, thanks to movement and the stillness of photography. You will discover unexpected forms that look more like life and the living. Just as the openings in the novel led to exploration and adventure, so these photos invite you on imaginary voyages.
These photos were shown in an exhibition at the Centre de Santé de Colombier, rte de Sombacour 10, CH-2013 Colombier from September 11th to October 23rd, 2009. The opening night was Friday, September 11th, 2009 from 17:00 to 19:00.
All these photos are available from the Secret Paths Store.
Go to the Eau Vive – Living Water gallery.
In a book entitled “The Dance of Life”, Edward Hall revealed the multitude of micro interactions that take place between people in daily life unknown to them. I took up this idea in a video entitled Sonate thanks to the use of slow motion and a steadycam, showing both the poetry but also the violence in the miniscule collisions and collusions in a market place in Geneva. Twenty years later, I rediscover the same interest in uncovering the unseen hidden in movement, this time in water. Strange forms that are almost living appear and surprising juxtapositions invite us on an imaginary journey.
These photos were shown in an exhibition at the CAC Voltaire, Maison du Grütli, Général-Dufour 12, CH-1204 Genève In association with the Biennale Libre de l’Image en Mouvement September 4th – September 17th, 2009. The opening night was Friday, September 4th, 2009 from 18:00 to 19:00.
All these photos are available from the Secret Paths Store.