Dust to *dust

Dust to *dust by Marie Ilse Bourlanges & Elena Khurtova

Dust to *dust is the final chapter of a long-term project entitled The Sky is on the Earth, a series of interventions with the inherited archive of Jacques Bourlanges (Marie Ilse’s grandfather), author of an intriguing esoteric theory of a correlation between star constellations and French geography.

After working with this rich material for four years, Khurtova & Bourlanges create a final transformation of the archive: ‘letting go’ will be at the heart of their solo exhibition at Arti & Amicitiae. From monumental to intimate installations, their work explores the paradox between transformation and its inherent loss. The artist duo reflects on the purpose of preservation and archiving through series of sensorial experiences in constant change. The tactility of elements composing the exhibition echoes to the fragility of physical traces one may leave behind, as well as the ones superimposed on us and our physical environment by higher forces. Materiality gets intertwined with words and voices in an audio work contribution by Cécile Tafanelli.

On the opening night Khurtova & Bourlanges will launch two artist books, Sans Réponse and Raise, new iterations of their project The Sky is on the Earth.

This project is generously supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Mondriaan Fonds and Stichting Stokroos.