In the Petit Palais’ collection in Paris, Laurence Aëgerter discovered a series of tapestries, ‘Les Quatre Parties du Monde’ (the tapestry of the four continents), which were made in Amsterdam in the first half of the 18th century. Inspired by the allegories of the four continents – Europe, Africa, Asia and America – she developed a monumental collage herself.
Each element of the tapestry taken out of its original context symbolises the current state of the globalised world, which is subject to the inexorable rise in sea levels. To reinforce this message, the jacquard tapestry was woven with yarns made from recycled plastic bottles.
Using colour reproductions, Aëgerter initially made a paper collage in which she could alter her composition. She ultimately chose to add stripes to the background colours used in the original tapestries. Based on this design, Aëgerter and Stef Miero, a product developer in the TextielLab, went in search of the most suitable yarns for the project. They selected newly developed, almost silky yarns made from recycled plastic bottles, to represent our globalised but also vulnerable world faced with environmental pollution and climate change.
The work of Marseille-born artist Laurence Aëgerter consists mainly of photographic series, installations, community projects and artist's books, in which she addresses the permanent transformation that lies in the essence of things. Using historical records and existing images, from illustrated books to museum collections, she examines the archive that shapes our collective memory. Displacement and translation play an important role in her work. In recent years, she has shifted her focus to the fragile edges of the human mind. She applies her playful appropriation of images in collaborative projects involving, among others, patients with mental health problems, neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologists.
Laurence Aëgerter - Les Quatre Parties du Monde ‘Laurence Aëgerter : Ici mieux qu'en face’.
6 October 2020 to 9 May 2021, Petit Palais : Musée des Beaux Arts de la ville de Paris.
Lunettes Rouges. ‘Laurence Aëgerter, l’infiltrée au musée‘. Le Monde, March 23, 2021. https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/lunettesrouges/2021/03/23/laurence-aegerter-linfiltree-au-musee/
Diane Lisarelli. ‘Laurence Aëgerter, trames du temps qui passe’. Libération, October 26, 2020. https://www.liberation.fr/arts/2020/10/26/laurence-aegerter-trames-du-temps-qui-passe_1803532/
