The works that follow are inspired by Jean-Henri Fabre’s Souvenirs entomologiques, particularly the pages devoted to the observation of spiders. They draw a parallel between animal and technological predation strategies. Three common spiders and a cocoon — each representing, through their characteristics, an age of life.
Birth: the Cocoon
/The advent of digital technology, the decline of analog, the Apollo XI mission.
“…Moving up and down in a gentle oscillation, shifting slightly in every direction, the living shuttle, swollen with silk, weaves a pouch whose wall merges with the dry leaves around it. Partly visible, partly veiled by its supports, the work is of a pure, matte white. Its shape, molded into the angular interval of the close leaves, is that of a small cone, recalling, on a smaller scale, that of the Silky Orb-Weaver.” Excerpt, Series IX, Chapter 5.
Size: 130 × 70 cm
Adolescence: the Misumena
/The boldness of Punk culture, the mischief of the spider.
“…The ogre loved his children; he ate those of others. Tyrannized by the belly, beasts and men alike, we are all ogres. Dignity of work, joy of living, maternal tenderness, torments of death — none of this matters when it concerns others; the essential thing is that the morsel be tender and of fine flavor.” Excerpt, Series IX, Chapter 5.
Size: 200 × 200 × 140 cm
Adulthood: the Banded Orb-Weaver
//With the participation of a primary school class (CE1) for the imagination and creation of a sound bestiary using recycled objects.
“…Soon rise tall edifices of silk, betrayed at a distance by the shimmering of threads that dawn has turned into strings of dew. The children are dazzled by these glorious garlands, momentarily forgetting their oranges. For my part, I am not indifferent either. It is a splendid sight — the labyrinth of our Spider, laden with the tears of the night and illuminated by the first rays of the sun. Accompanied by the blackbirds’ sonata, this alone makes it worth getting up early.” Excerpt, Series IX, Chapter 15.
Size: 200 × 200 × 100 cm
Maturity: the Clotho
//Ninety years of French song around the theme of love, interwoven with sound phrases drawn from Albert Roussel’s The Spider’s Feast.
“…Raw matter has its disconcerting secrets — witness radium; living matter has its own, even more marvellous. Nothing says that the suspicion inspired by the Spider will not one day become, in science, a demonstrated truth and a fundamental theorem of physiology.” Excerpt, Series IX, Chapter 16.
Size: 150 × 50 × 15 cm
