BLOOD-RED ALGAE, BY ALICE PALLOT, PHOTOGRAPHER

 

“An incandescent red light radiates and convulses the images. It de-realizes them. The photographs seem asphyxiated by the fluorescence of this disturbing red. This red is the wavelength most conducive to photosynthesis, the development of plants, certain bacteria and, last but not least, algae.” (Luce Lébart)

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                ©Alice Pallot

 

Alice Pallot’s long-term photographic work on and from toxic algae in Brittany, particularly in the Côtes d’Armor region, is fundamental.

 

It has already been commented on many times, has given rise to several exhibitions – first with the Résidence 1+2, in Toulouse, which initiated the project; at the Villa Perochon, in Niort; at the Hangar, in Brussels; at the MEP; at Paris Photo -, and seems to be constantly being extended/ramified/expanded.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                        ©Alice Pallot

 

 

With the third part of his research, Red Bloom, the second book in the CIVIS MARITIMUS series published by The Eyes, the Belgian artist further explores the double dimension of toxicity and possible dangerous enchantment – the images possess that sublime which Rilke identified with the beginning of terror – of these invasive algae, known as “cursed”, or “killers”, when, washed up on the shore, they begin to rot, releasing a fetid gas that can be fatal.

 

By Fabien Ribery

 

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