Algues Maudites, a sea of tears
Alice Pallot
Alice Pallot looks at the impact of human activities on the environment. In her work Algues Maudites, a sea of tears, she focuses on the proliferation of green algae on the coasts of Brittany, in coastal waters and in some rivers, a phenomenon that has been spiralling out of control for many years. These algae flourish as a result of runoff from intensive agriculture, and the warming climate. It is a real environmental and health issue, producing pollution that is both seen and smelt, and which has proven toxic. In the course of her research, her documentary project has been organized into narrative chapters combining testimonies, observations, experiments, scientific documents and poetic imaginings. It is imbued with a science fiction–like imagination, evoking a future that calls into question how habitable the Earth can be without oxygen-producing life and hence without oxygen.
Her installation reveals issues that are still not very visible, confronting us with the fragility of the natural world and the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity. At the same time, she lets us see the resilient organisms that could be the survivors in a future world. Through a flexible process that pushes against the boundaries of photography – for example, employing refuse like plastic bottles and algae found in the area as a photographic filter – Pallot looks at an ongoing environmental crisis.
With the support of: This project was begun as part of Résidence 1+2 in cooperation with the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles and with the support of WBI. It was created in Brittany in cooperation with the Sauvegarde du Trégor Goëlo Penthièvre association, and then in Toulouse with the researchers at CNRS Occitanie-Ouest.
Production year: 2022
