Cathédrales hermétiques, 2023

In the wake of the Cathédrales hermétiques series, the Centre des Monuments nationaux (CMN) gave me a ‘Carte Blanche’ at the Abbaye du Thoronet et Abbaye de Montmajour.
Four works emerged from my research, representing the crypt and abside at the Abbaye de Montmajour and the transept and cloitre at the Abbaye du Thoronet.
As in the previous series, I silkscreened the photographs as a monochrome with black ink reactive to the heat of the sun.
These church interiors are slowly revealed when exposed to sunlight, like photography in a darkroom.
This is a cycle that takes about an hour, before getting back to darkness together with the return of the shadow. The monochromatic surfaces are evoking a matte graphite or charcoal drawing.
 
“Laurence Aëgerter pays tribute to the monumentality of these works of art. She shifts the history of architecture but also that of the photographic technique. Yesterday’s immutability meets today’s fleetingness. Laurence Aëgerter herself says that she builds “small monuments to Time”. But with this imperceptible temporal experience, she creates and invites us to a temple of meditation and contemplation.”

Fannie Escoulen, independent curator.

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