Anywhen, 2024
4K digital film, colour, 5:1 sound
Runtime 15'10'
Courtesy of the Artist
Anywhen is not just a film but a living entity, a continuous evolution of an earlier film work shown at the Tate Modern in 2016. In this iteration, the film weaves together imagery of a cephalopod—the common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis—with footage of bacteria, and the elemental movements of liquids and gases. These visual layers are set to the haunting strains of No Queda Nada, a song by the Venezuelan musician Arca, creating a sensory experience that is both visceral and alien. The cuttlefish, filmed in an aquarium tank located in Parreno’s Paris studio, has been a recurring presence in his practice; first appearing in Alien Seasons (2002). This aquatic creature, with its remarkable ability to transform its appearance in an instant, embodies the themes Parreno often explores: time, mutation, and communication. Using chromatophores—cells that manipulate light and pigment—the cephalopod shifts its skin from golden, shimmering patterns to ominous, greyish tones, its transformations oscillating between beauty and monstrosity. In Anywhen, the camera lingers on the cephalopod’s eye and tentacles, capturing its enigmatic, otherworldly presence. The eye becomes a portal, a point of connection between the human gaze and an intelligence that operates outside our comprehension. Its tentacles, in constant motion, suggest a choreography of the unknown —an alien language written in fluid, dynamic gestures. This work is not a narrative but an encounter, a portrait of a creature addressing us; it is the liminal spaces between life forms, elements, and time. It invites viewers to enter a realm where the boundaries between human and non-human, organism, and environment dissolve. Anywhen becomes a question: what can we learn from creatures that exist in perpetual transformation? What do they say?
Protomarquee, 2016
Plexiglass, DMX, steel, bulbs, projection screen
330 x 500 x 19 cm
Courtesy of the Artist; Esther Schipper Berlin/Paris/Seoul
Much like the Marquee series inspired by the brightly lit signage adorning theater entrances, Protomarquee is a visual device that subverts the context of space, by becoming a part of an indoor projection screen, as opposed to being installed on the exterior of a theater. Nearly twenty bulbs of different sizes are fixed behind the screen in order to create a constellation of luminous spots. This lighting device accompanies the screening of films. In the breaks in between each work, commonly referred to as the “intermission”, the lights are turned on alternately creating blinking patterns, all the while integrating into the sequence of light and sound interplaying throughout the room.
—
Voices, 2024
(VSO) Language with Susane Daubner
Conlangers: David J. Peterson with Jessie Sams
Speech Generation/Voice Cloning: Pierre Lanchantin
Sound Design: Nicolas Becker with Lexx
Courtesy of the Artist; Susanne Daubner; Haus der Kunst München
The exhibition showcases a pioneering cybernetic voice system that speaks in a novel, evolving language called ∂A. This dynamic language adapts continuously based on environmental data collected from an array of sensors installed in an almond grove in Spain’s Tabernas desert. The voice, modelled after that of the ARD anchor-woman Suzanne Daubner, alternates between speaking, whispering, and humming, creating a melodic and soothing tone reminiscent of distant thunder. The cybernetic structure’s sensory network includes weather instruments, air quality monitors, geological sensors, and communication devices. This comprehensive array allows the system to perceive its surroundings in ways that surpass human capabilities, translating environmental data into unique linguistic expressions. The system can mimic emotional states based on environmental changes, adopting a melancholic tone in response to detected environmental degradation or during quiet, contemplative periods of data analysis. Its translations into human languages are poetic, always seeking the most evocative way to convey its observations, creating a bridge between its unique perceptions and human understanding.