France at the Venice Biennale 2015
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
Revolutions
French Pavilion, Giardini
9 May – 22 November 2015
Curator: Emma Lavigne
The choice was made by the French Institute, who oversee the French Pavilion at the Biennale, in concert with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture and Communication.
Known for installations that are as much auditory as visual, Boursier-Mougenot is an artist and composer based in Sete. First trained as a musician at the Conservatory for Music in Nice, he began his career as a composer for the Pascal Rambert theatre company. His most well known piece, from here to ear (1999-2014), fills a room with chromatically tuned, amplified electric guitars and flock of finches. The birds create sound both through their own calls and their interaction with the instruments. The resulting aleatory music recalls John Cage’s compositions, and a sonic environment that has its roots in everything from the 1960s experiments of La Monte Young to the more recent work of artists like Susan Hiller.
Boursier-Mougenot’s project at the 2015 Biennale, titled “Revolutions,” will be curated by Centre Pompidou curator Emma Lavigne.
Born in 1961, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot is a musician by trade. He is represented by Paula Cooper (New York) and Renos Xippas (Paris, Athens, Geneva), but teamed up with Emma Lavigne, curator of the Centre Pompidou, for the competition. Their project for the French pavilion, entitled Révolution, is described on the Institut’s website as “an organic, sonorous island“.