Contemporary readings

Laurent Grasso, ARTIFICIALIS

From May 19th to July 18th, 2021 -

Musée d'Orsay

Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
75007 Paris

Laurent Grasso
*ARTIFICIALIS, 2020*
ADAGP, Paris 2021 / Studio Laurent Grasso, Courtesy Perrotin

As part of the exhibition The Origins of the World. The Invention of Nature in the 19th Century, French artist Laurent Grasso has been invited by the Musée d'Orsay to produce a large-scale work: ARTIFICIALIS.

This new film, shown on a monumental LED screen at the back of the museum's nave, questions the notion of exploration through new tools, capable of revealing an invisible world, to which we had no access until now.

It presents an ambiguous, spectral territory, undergoing mutation, where reality and virtuality are superimposed on one another, and where our reference points can no longer be discerned.

“The idea of artificiality has been in my work for a very long time. I’ve always tried to give a virtual form to the world, through aerial views, through color changes. Today the world is “derealizing” itself, detaching itself from reality. I have tried to capture moments when we no longer know where we stand, between the artificial and the natural. ARTIFICIALIS is the name of this hybrid, post-Anthropocene territory, in which reference points have totally dissolved.” (Laurent Grasso)

A film by Laurent Grasso
Music: Warren Ellis
Graphic creation: M/M (Paris)
Scientific advisor: Grégory Quenet
Editor: Félix Rehm
Special effects: Thierry Ardiller
Post-production editor: Christina Crassaris
Grading: Nicolas Guibert
Sound mixing: Vincent Cosson
Studio Laurent Grasso:
- Yan Tomaszewski
- Corentin Vendryes
- Min Cezar Hong
- Nicolas Lemoine
- Virginie Schmitt
Executive producers:
- Camera lucida productions
- François Bertrand
- Vincent Décis
Production company: Infinite light
Archives:
- Papa Sierra
- Aerialcollection
- Hope, GoodPlanet
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand
- 3D scanning and pointcloud
Animation by:
- ScanLAB Projects
- Chroniques du plancton
- Christian Sardet et Les Macronautes
- Shutterstock
- Adobe
- Getty Images
- Leica Microsystems

Produced at the invitation of the Musée d’Orsay, the film ARTIFICIALIS benefitted from the generous support of the American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay and the exceptional collaboration of PERROTIN gallery.

ARTIFICIALIS glossary by Grégory Quenet

Developed with Grégory Quenet, the project's scientific advisor, the glossary of ARTIFICIALIS summarizes the concepts and research underpinning the film

With the generous support of American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay