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36
Les Prairies's artists
DOVE ALLOUCHE
L’origine de la source I et II, 2012. Courtesy of the artist and galery Gaudel de Stampa, Paris.
The medium of Dove Allouche's images present a puzzle. It is not clear how
they were made nor, in fact, what they really show. The mystery arises from
the sometimes-obsolete techniques that he uses. For Les Prairies Allouche
has executed a series of ambrotypes, using a very old process, as well as two
drawings. Les Pétrifiantes explores some special caves that Allouche used as
natural 'dark rooms'. Just as stalactites and stalagmites are formed by slow
sedimentation of calcium carbonate, the photographic technique (ambrotype)
chosen by the artist for this series is a process of deposit and petrifaction. The
ambrotype was invented in the mid-19th century. One side of a glass plate is
covered with a thin layer of collodion, and dipped in a silver nitrate solution.
After exposure the plate is then developed and fixed. One side of the glass
negative is coated with black varnish to restore the image. The process itself
coincides with the subject of the image, i.e. matter being formed. The two
drawings were executed in pen and ink and graphite from a 1940 stereoscopic
plate. To give the impression of relief, the technique required a simultaneous,
slightly off-centre double shot. The first drawing faithfully reproduces the
left-hand view; the second reproduces the negative of the right-hand view. The
inversion gives a back and forth effect, an inverted depth in which the Origine de
la source appears to be alternately behind us and in front of us.
H. M. tr. J.H.
Born in 1972 in Paris (France), where he lives and works.
Co-production
Les Ateliers de Rennes 2012,
Frac Bretagne.