If the Soil Could Speak
10.2 – 26.3.2023

Works of
Gabrielle Duplantier, Andrea Buzzichelli, Hanne Van Aasche

Curated by
Steve Bisson

Orari
Sunday 4:30pm–7:30pm

Lab27 opens on February 10 at 9:00 p.m. with the exhibition "Se il suolo potesse parlare (If the Soil Could Speak)”, featuring photographs by Gabrielle Duplantier, Andrea Buzzichelli, and Hanne Van Assche. From its very title, the exhibition seeks to overturn the anthropocentric vision that dominates our society, giving voice to the earth and allowing a different, perhaps therapeutic, narrative to blossom—one that might heal some of the world’s afflictions. Like parables drawn from the land, these works invite viewers to find analogies—and, in doing so, their own stories—by exploring the interplay between image and reality.

A reversal of perception is staged by Andrea Buzzichelli in the Casentinesi Forests National Park through the recycling of the “hidden” imagery captured by the Forest Rangers’ camera traps. He reveals the intrusive nature of the human gaze in a compelling nocturnal vision that speaks of humankind as a voyeur—one who confines nature within reserves and, in doing so, denies his own. His series “Inhabitants” restores the title of true residents to animals and trees, questioning science as an infinite frontier that, through technology, claims the right to probe and explore the cosmos by any means and for any end. The work also serves as an homage to George Shiras III, a pioneer of wildlife photography.

The earth’s lament then carries us to the far eastern reaches of Siberia, to the remote region of Yakutia, known as Russia’s treasure chest for its abundance of natural resources. According to an ancient Siberian legend, God spilled a sack of treasures over this part of the country. A thick layer of permafrost covers vast reserves of coal, gas, gold, and diamonds. Here, in the frozen grip of an endless winter, lies the small mining town of Udachny, named after the nearby “lucky crater”—a chasm more than 600 meters deep, the world’s largest open-pit diamond mine, providing both work and hope to the local population. All around stretches a frozen paradise of dense taiga and immense tundra plains: sturdy pines, rushing rivers, and towering mountains. Few people choose to live here, but Belgian photographer Hanne Van Assche has sought to give them a face.

The “lowlands” of Gabrielle Duplantier form an incidental ballad of landscapes battered by gusts of wind, and dramatic figures sculpted by time. Powerful yet delicate, the French artist’s work thrives on natural contrasts: light and darkness, youth and age, grace and brutality, hope and death—all emerging in the uncertain melody of existence. The unexpected, the serendipitous—photography as a gaze upon the unforeseeable. Duplantier’s practice reflects an awareness that what originates from the earth ultimately returns to us, as it forms the enduring backdrop of destiny. It falls to us to perceive this presence in others and within our relationships, without asserting it in a coercive or hostile manner.

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