synopsis
Algues Maudites was initiated as part of the 1+2 Residence in collaboration with the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles and the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI). It was carried out in two phases from May to July 2022: in Brittany in collaboration with the association Sauvegarde du Trégor, then in Toulouse with the help of scientists from the CNRS Occitanie Ouest.
The proliferation of green algae on the Breton coast has become a major environmental problem. In recent years, green algae, known as «cursed algae», have invaded the coastline.
This phenomenon is the result of a process called eutrophication, linked to an overabundance of organic matter, which leads to the asphyxiation of the environment. The multiplication of green algae is induced by the excessive presence of chemical nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in coastal waters. This results from sewage discharge, agricultural run-off, industrial waste and massive discharges of nitrogenous fertilisers from livestock and intensive agriculture. When they decompose, these algae become toxic by producing high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide (H2S gas). These extreme concentrations of algae cause oxygen depletion in the environment, an imbalance in ecosystems and a loss of biodiversity. When the algae are not collected, they leave behind morbid landscapes with a frozen appearance, as if out of time.
Alice Pallot’s photography reminds us of the fragility and unpredictability of the tested natural world, but also a glimpse of the unseen potential beauty. The work Algues Maudites also questions the possibility of creating a space and a moment of rebirth through a «fauna, flora, soil» balance that has been broken.
Alice Pallot integrates the notion of anticipation into the photographic medium by capturing a natural phenomenon: the reality of anoxic environments (without oxygen), in which we could not survive as human beings, and by imbuing them with a science- fictional imagination. By playing on the elements of uncertainty that accompany the anticipation of a near future, she gives the viewer keys to the essential questioning of the preservation of ecosystems in the face of its exploitation and the imminent decline of biodiversity.
The first part of the research took place in Brittany (Côtes d’Armor), where Alice Pallot met Yves-Marie Le Lay from the environmentalist association Sauvegarde du Trégor. Together, they travelled the land to take samples of sand containing black putrefied juice from the decomposition of algae, which were later observed under a microscope by the CNRS in Toulouse. With his team, they carry out inventories of the species impacted by the decomposition of the algae.
According to the ecologist, the tides clean the surface, the beaches become «sterile», there are no more shellfish and biodiversity has disappeared. Yves Marie Le Lay emphasises the need for awareness and wishes to alert the public authorities and the population. Alice Pallot translates the ecologist’s metaphors through her language and photographic codes. Among the visual metaphors: «behind the green, there is the black», «Black tides are the new green tides...», the «sterile» beach. Alice Pallot gathers waste, seaweed recovered from the beaches of Brittany in order to use them as photographic filters. The scene is then viewed through the prism of pollution. This creates an immersive experience of the polluted natural world, while alluding to the potential world we are moving towards.
The second part of the project takes place in Toulouse, in the Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement laboratory, with the scientist Joséphine Leflaive and the CNRS. Alice Pallot cultivates microalgae and cyanobacteria on photographic prints such as archival images of coastlines invaded by algae or dead animals asphyxiated by H2S gas. Alice Pallot then extends the action of the toxicity of these organisms which even affect the photographic material.
At the same time, Alice Pallot and Frédéric Azémar - a scientist at the CNRS Occitanie Ouest - create an artificial aquarium saturated with a proliferation of algae reproducing the phenomenon of green tides, in order to observe the change from an oxic ecosystem(life forms dependent on oxygen) to an anoxic ecosystem (not needing oxygen to live) through the process of decomposition of algae.
The proliferation of green algae on the Breton coast has become a major environmental problem. In recent years, green algae, known as «cursed algae», have invaded the coastline.
This phenomenon is the result of a process called eutrophication, linked to an overabundance of organic matter, which leads to the asphyxiation of the environment. The multiplication of green algae is induced by the excessive presence of chemical nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in coastal waters. This results from sewage discharge, agricultural run-off, industrial waste and massive discharges of nitrogenous fertilisers from livestock and intensive agriculture. When they decompose, these algae become toxic by producing high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide (H2S gas). These extreme concentrations of algae cause oxygen depletion in the environment, an imbalance in ecosystems and a loss of biodiversity. When the algae are not collected, they leave behind morbid landscapes with a frozen appearance, as if out of time.
Alice Pallot’s photography reminds us of the fragility and unpredictability of the tested natural world, but also a glimpse of the unseen potential beauty. The work Algues Maudites also questions the possibility of creating a space and a moment of rebirth through a «fauna, flora, soil» balance that has been broken.
Alice Pallot integrates the notion of anticipation into the photographic medium by capturing a natural phenomenon: the reality of anoxic environments (without oxygen), in which we could not survive as human beings, and by imbuing them with a science- fictional imagination. By playing on the elements of uncertainty that accompany the anticipation of a near future, she gives the viewer keys to the essential questioning of the preservation of ecosystems in the face of its exploitation and the imminent decline of biodiversity.
The first part of the research took place in Brittany (Côtes d’Armor), where Alice Pallot met Yves-Marie Le Lay from the environmentalist association Sauvegarde du Trégor. Together, they travelled the land to take samples of sand containing black putrefied juice from the decomposition of algae, which were later observed under a microscope by the CNRS in Toulouse. With his team, they carry out inventories of the species impacted by the decomposition of the algae.
According to the ecologist, the tides clean the surface, the beaches become «sterile», there are no more shellfish and biodiversity has disappeared. Yves Marie Le Lay emphasises the need for awareness and wishes to alert the public authorities and the population. Alice Pallot translates the ecologist’s metaphors through her language and photographic codes. Among the visual metaphors: «behind the green, there is the black», «Black tides are the new green tides...», the «sterile» beach. Alice Pallot gathers waste, seaweed recovered from the beaches of Brittany in order to use them as photographic filters. The scene is then viewed through the prism of pollution. This creates an immersive experience of the polluted natural world, while alluding to the potential world we are moving towards.
The second part of the project takes place in Toulouse, in the Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement laboratory, with the scientist Joséphine Leflaive and the CNRS. Alice Pallot cultivates microalgae and cyanobacteria on photographic prints such as archival images of coastlines invaded by algae or dead animals asphyxiated by H2S gas. Alice Pallot then extends the action of the toxicity of these organisms which even affect the photographic material.
At the same time, Alice Pallot and Frédéric Azémar - a scientist at the CNRS Occitanie Ouest - create an artificial aquarium saturated with a proliferation of algae reproducing the phenomenon of green tides, in order to observe the change from an oxic ecosystem(life forms dependent on oxygen) to an anoxic ecosystem (not needing oxygen to live) through the process of decomposition of algae.
- Constance Nguyen
photos of the book
technical information
publisher : Area books
2023
dimensions : 16 x 24 cm
2023
dimensions : 16 x 24 cm
about Alice Pallot
Alice Pallot is a French photographer currently working between Paris and Brussels. She started her photographic courses at ENSAV La Cambre in 2013. Alice Pallot graduated her Bachelor’s degree and her master’s degree at ENSAV La Cambre in Brussels in June 2018.
That same year, she took part in an exchange programme at ECAL (Lausanne, CH) and won the Roger De Conynck prize, since when she has exhibited in European institutions and galleries.
Alice Pallot is an artist photographer who uses the medium of images to question the impact of human activities on the environment. Her images are imbued with a science-fictional imagery, revealing issues that have remained invisible.
Alice Pallot conducts anticipatory surveys of the territories she investigates alongside scientists and ecologists: the photographer questions the near future by capturing the materiality of reality. By popularising the scientific data she gathers in the course of her investigations, Alice creates her own language, through the narrative of phography medium.
Through expeditions, experiments and research, she questions the links between the sciences developed by human beings and their impact on our constantly changing natural environment. In doing so, she points to questions and ambiguities that are intrinsically linked to our times. Playing with the perception and ambiguity of the different scales that scientific tools can bring, Alice Pallot creates images without retouching. The photographer creates an immersive experience of the polluted natural world, taking stock of the sickly beauty of a world damaged by the Antropocene era.
That same year, she took part in an exchange programme at ECAL (Lausanne, CH) and won the Roger De Conynck prize, since when she has exhibited in European institutions and galleries.
Alice Pallot is an artist photographer who uses the medium of images to question the impact of human activities on the environment. Her images are imbued with a science-fictional imagery, revealing issues that have remained invisible.
Alice Pallot conducts anticipatory surveys of the territories she investigates alongside scientists and ecologists: the photographer questions the near future by capturing the materiality of reality. By popularising the scientific data she gathers in the course of her investigations, Alice creates her own language, through the narrative of phography medium.
Through expeditions, experiments and research, she questions the links between the sciences developed by human beings and their impact on our constantly changing natural environment. In doing so, she points to questions and ambiguities that are intrinsically linked to our times. Playing with the perception and ambiguity of the different scales that scientific tools can bring, Alice Pallot creates images without retouching. The photographer creates an immersive experience of the polluted natural world, taking stock of the sickly beauty of a world damaged by the Antropocene era.
book in my collection
publisher : Area books
2023 (1st edition)
500 copies
signed
2023 (1st edition)
500 copies
signed