La racine perdue
La racine perdue, la pere de mon pere. St. Johannes Evengelist Kirche, Berlin, 2008 - From left: I) Root extracted from the Buchenwald Camp II) Video Installation projection on 3 screens 8' 40" in loop III) Audio installation 1'58"
After years of working on the destruction of nature, the recognition of the French State of certain deported persons' capacity as victim led me, to film my father in search of his father at Buchenwald concentration camp. This work would lead to the creation of the installation (video and sculpture) "La racine perdue, le pere de mon pere" (Grief authorises Memory, Simone Veil); inspired by this quote, a work on grief which gives authorisation. Man is freed and can finally live. The wound heals and the next generations are "authorised to live in peace" (Konrad Adenauer).
This work was the subject of several exhibitions: Y92 New York 2007, Berlin 2008, BNF Paris 2010, Memorial of Compiegne deportation 2011. At the same time as the installation mentioned above, I was also working on a sound performance in which a cello which hasn't been played since 1944 is used as a metaphor for this grief. The pores of the wood open up once more, gradually freeing the notes from the sickness, the silence. Memory frees the next generations from the weight of suffering in silence: Ecritures Silencieuses exhibition, Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris 2010. Violoncelle performance by Adrian Brendel.
