Courants soniques

For the exhibition Courants soniques, the artists conceive of Espace 3353 as a ruin – a remnant of the last ice age – referring to Carouge’s stories and histories. Built on and around moraines, sediment deposited over thousands of years by melting ice, the city is connected to the Rhône Glacier and the Mer de Glace by 332 kilometres of moving water. From their sources, the Rhône and Arve flow through meadows, lakes, factories, towns, water bodies, crops and roads. Supplying the groundwater from which drinking water is drawn, propelling first mills and then turbines for hydraulic power, these rivers have long been envisaged as exploitable elements to quench our varied thirsts. 

And yet, in their depths, the traces of changing histories can be heard; geological and human whispers conjure up multiple clues to the effects of time on its territory. In a reenactment of aqueous metamorphoses, water from the Arve and Rhône trickles drop by drop to activate a sound sculpture, while a rough cavity hides stories told on its banks. Fragmented narratives are revealed through sound to evoke memories, either retained or lost in the melting.

Lisa Mazenauer (*1996) graduated from the ECAL after studying sociology and art history. Influenced by her family’s mining heritage, and navigating the intersection of geography, history and the extraction of raw materials, she weaves complex links between past and present. Through installations and moving image, she offers poignant reflections on the profound interaction between human ambition and the landscapes that we shape. She has recently exhibited at Galerie C, Matadero Madrid, Photoforum Pasquart, Videoex, MBAL, IPFO.

Emilie Moor (*1989) is a film producer and distributor. In parallel, her artistic practice combines writing, the mobilization of archives and sound-visual installation to question the social and environmental impact of industrialization in the Swiss Alpine valleys. She questions the national imaginary carried by these places from a geological and personal point of view. Courants soniques is her first exhibition. 

The exhibition includes a text by Stella Succi.