The 2012 film Couers de silex by French artist Pauline Curnier Jardin takes place in the Parisian town Noisy-le-Sec which was bombed by allied forces in 1944. The narrative emerges with dreamlike undertones and presents the perspective of a modern community still recovering from its historical past while simultaneously preparing for survival in the future. Pauline Curnier Jardin introduces us to an ally, an occupant, a witch, a sorceress, a trainer and a child and through their roles we see how they limp from hidden injuries and demonstrate acts of protest and resistance. Couers de silex is a reminder of how the effects of war can never be completely buried despite the ambition to rebuild anew.
The songs in the film are sung by the artist herself and parts of the script come from poems by Charles Baudelaire and Emily Dickinson.
Photo: Still from video | Photo above: Vegard KIeven © Punkt Ø
BIOGRAPHY
Pauline Curnier Jardin (f. 1980, Marseille, Frankrike) er en Amsterdam-Berlin basert kunstner som arbeider med installasjon, performance, film og tegning.
Separatutstillinger og gruppeutstillinger, kommisjonerte prosjekter og filmvisninger inkluderer: 57th Venice Biennale, IT; Tate Modern, London (2017), UK; International Film Festival, Rotterdam, NL; Video Art At Midnight; Berlin, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, DE; Futura, Prague, CZ; Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam, NL (2018). Performa 15, New York, US; The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris, FR; Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zurich, CH; University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BR (2015). MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, US (2014). Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, DE; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR (2013). Centre George Pompidou, Paris, FR (2012). Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, FR; ZKM Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, DE (2010).
Curnier Jardin hadde recidency på Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam i 2015- 2016. Hun er vinner av the Dutch prize NN Award, var nominert til the Prix Fondation d´Entreprise Ricard og tidligere arbeider har blitt tildelt priser: Age D’Or, Outra Mirada, og Otto d’Ame blant flere. I 2017 ble hun kommisjonert av Frieze film og Channel 4 for å produsere kortfilmen Teetotum, sammen med Primitive Films, som hun nå skriver sin første spillefilm sammen med. De siste to årene har hun vært veileder ved the Dutch Art Institute og gjesteprofessor ved the Kunsthochschule Kassel.