Etienne de France

The series of artworks Solifluxion are inspired by the industrial area of the city of Chelles (suburban city of Paris) and its surroundings.
Concrete batching plants and railroads were built close to the Marne river and the Chelles canal, a site where human traces dating back to around 300,000 BCE have been excavated. In a context marked by the building works of the Société du Grand Paris and real estate pressure, the artificialization of lands and soil is accelerating, leading to flooding and landslides.
A series of photographs and poems depict other possible interactions with the river: hybridization, in which through reciprocity, agriculture, architecture, arts and transport systems form alliances with these waters and their plant species. While drawings depict possible future shapes of the Marne’s course freed from canals and dams, the work Structures projections allow us to reflect on the function of a sculpture that is both a herb drying rack and a cinematic device.
At the heart of the production process for this series of works lies an investigation into the coherence of the materials used: the oak comes from forests and a family sawmill in the Yonne region (Burgundy), while the paper is handmade from locally collected plants.

Structures projections, sculpture and herb drying rack:

Drawings and photographs: