Laurent Grasso
Laurent GrassoLow-Science Forest DwellerArt ReviewBy Maxence AlcaldeBack in 1962, in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,1 Thomas Kuhn returned to the idea of how various scientific communities have accepted cutting-edge technological-industrial gadgets (machines) over the years.In the 16th century — before the amateur-professional science split was consummated — questioning the scientific machine was secondary; it only came up when theological and philosophical objections were raised. As for scientific modernity, it developed around more and more sophisticated, costly and impressive tools, allowing each phase of research to invalidate or confirm previous hypotheses. But that history of science is not as linear as it may first appear. Meticulous observation of the trajectories of established, highly reputed scientists (Copernicus, Newton, Tesla, Einstein, etc.) shows that many of them individually cultivated, along side their research, a kind of secret garden scattered with strange machines invented to respond to parascientific issues. But for all of them, the central problem remained the same — producing instruments that recreate the most complete vision of our visible and invisible worlds, even if it was necessarily to the detriment of scientific orthodoxy of the time…Never Before Seen Forest ComplexWith his installation, The Horn Perspective (2009), Laurent Grasso offers a rereading of the real-visible dialectic. Enthroned in semi-darkness, at the center of an exhibition space, is a life-size reproduction of the Horn Antenna — a strange scientific shed, midway between a particle beam weapon and the camera obscura — conceived in the mid-‘60s by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. Legend has it that a Big Bang “sonorous fossil” was identified by chance from recordings made by the antenna.The back wall of the exhibition space serves as a movie screen, reflecting a dolly shot of undergrowth played in a loop. That projection constitutes one of the only light sources in the installation, plunging the viewer into a mysterious atmosphere. That peaceful forest view is regularly interrupted by an unspecified swarm, which is rendered even stranger by the powerful crackling sound that accompanies it. In Grasso’s work, the forest isn’t presented with the reassuring hallmarks of the romanticized form of nature found in idyllic tales. The Horn Perspective film is all about the “rational” forest; it’s an undergrowth arranged and organized by man — not animated by a romantic love of nature, but motivated by very pragmatic concerns (i.e., to provide raw materials). The Western forest is, first and foremost, an energetic reservoir, and only secondarily a pleasure forest or natural reserve. Even if The Horn Perspective’s domesticated, disciplined forest has ghostly spasms, it’s still a man-made machine.Sonorous FossilThe recurring sound interference, which at first seems aggressive, eventually melts into the scenery, meshing with a kind of experimental soundtrack. The forest and the imposing Horn Antenna merge when the perceptible trace of an enigmatically shaped sonorous fossil resounds.Paradoxically, Grasso’s work tosses an element of fiction into the grand narrative he examines. “What interests me are places where fiction becomes science, or science becomes fiction. Fiction in itself doesn’t interest me, and neither does science-fiction in itself. On the other hand, any points of flux, any new perspective put forth in new scientific theories interest me a great deal,” he reports.2 The artist at no time attempts to undermine the varied narratives that he organizes in his unique bestiary, as one would in a curiosity cabinet. Science, art, nature are just so many particles buzzing around the nucleus of reality, within which the amateur scientist of Newton’s day and the contemporary artist collide in a slightly Baroque way.Nevertheless, Grasso’s body of work isn’t confined to the construction of a scientific-novelistic fiction. Topicality is never far away. “In recent history, terrorists have started using archaic war techniques, basic techniques to defy this technological world — a mat knife, homing pigeons to communicate, the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. That endangers the entire Star Wars universe,” the artist confides.And it is precisely that Star Wars dimension, seen as postmodern update to Jules Verne tales, that is woven through Grasso’s work. In that way, beyond making viable esthetic objects in the art world, the artist intends to echo the world itself. And not only in the evanescent shape of a ghost.(QUOTATION):Science, art, nature are just so many particles buzzing around the nucleus of reality, within which the amateur scientist of Newton’s day and the contemporary artist collide in a slightly Baroque way.(1) Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, MIT Press, 1962.(2) Interview with Laurent Grasso and Michel Gautier, March 13, 2009.
