Artist: Pierre Huyghe - Aquarium Project

I had no chance to see Pierre's work in person, so I did some research online. The first time I saw he work was about 1 year ago. During the time I tried to find an opportunity of internship or part-time job in Aquarium Architecture. One of Pierre's work was on their website. 

Here is the introduction I found on Wiki about this artist:

Wiki: Pierre Huyghe (born 11 September 1962) is a French artist who works in a variety of media from films and sculptures to public interventions and living systems.

Huyghe has been working with time-based situations and has explored the exhibition process from the 90’s. His works imply such diverse forms as living systems, objects, films, photographs, drawings and music. In recent years, he has created self-generating systems, including living entities and artifacts, in which emergence and rhythm are indeterminate and exist beyond our presence. Taking the exhibition and its ritual as an object in itself, Pierre Huyghe has worked to change the paradigm of this encounter, exploring the possibility of this dynamic experience.

Nevertheless Pierre's work is more from the art prospect, while I am trying to do some artful design. Because he is also working with live ecosystem that it is worthwhile to study his work.  Pierre showed one of his aquarium in Frieze 2011. 

Frieze Project: Pierre Huyghe’s aquarium was a live ecosystem that hosted a specific narrative created for Frieze Art Fair. This narrative was enacted by particular seawater creatures selected as the players in Huyghe’s aquatic performance. —— This is also what I am planing to do. I would like to let animals and plants in my work become actors, playing certain roles in the environment I create for them. However, it is quite often that I could not combine the design of the environment and their role well enough. Sometimes, it is like when I am satisfied with the environment, but there are no certain role for them to play. In a word, it is not easy to balance these two aspects and create a harmony relationship. Perhaps this is one of the ultimate problems I need to solve.

While the conditions in which the players coexisted were constructed within a fictitious narrative, the behavioural relationships between the players were real and not scripted. —— The interesting part for me is that even a role has been given, but the player's action is actually out of control. And that is something I would like to observe for a long time.

Recollection, 2011. Live Marine Ecosystem, Glass Tank, Filtration System. Photo: Guillaume Ziccarelli

Pierre: For this specific tank, the sculpture of Brancusi's Sleeping Muse will rest at the bottom of the tank. It is a shiny head reflecting the surroundings. A giant hermit crab will live within the muse's head and will transport its home all around a brutal landscape. As I was saying, I'm focusing on the animals' behaviours, the biosemiotics. I try to exploit the very basic or essential animal behaviour or need and try to match these behaviours in constructed situations.  ——This is one way of thinking. I realise that perhaps I put more efforts in constructing environment. I probably should use more of their behaviour to create interesting narrative, rather than design the environment first and try to fit them in, is it? Cause I cannot twist their behaviour, even I am not intended to against their nature. But there is some disharmony in the way I am thinking.

Here are another serious of work. 

Pierre Huyghe: IN. BORDER. DEEP at Hauser & Wirth London (2014)

Review by Bill Clarke: Further into the space are three aquariums, filled with water and plants taken from Claude Monet’s ponds in Giverny. Monet’s ponds were artificially engineered into being in 1893 and became the subject of his Nymphéas series. The aquariums are made of glass that hides their contents when they aren’t illuminated; when they suddenly do light up we see water lilies, and salamanders and fish darting for cover. (We also read that the lighting sequence is  based on the weather conditions recorded at Giverny between 1914 and 1918 when Monet produced the Nymphéas works, but knowing such minutiae about the work doesn’t seem to add much.

Visually, there is a sense of poetry, stillness and mysterious beauty in his work, with misty water, and unconventional lighting system giving lower illumine and curious colour. I especially like the one with salamanders. Someone suggested that maybe I should make the tank I made less like commercial aquarium. I believe I can get some inspiration from here.

I only stepped into fresh water tank, since I know more about this field. While Pierre did many works to do with marine tank. To me, marine tank is another mysterious complicated world. Maybe it is time or in the future for me to corporate with experts who know better. I mean for sure that people have different division in terms of work, and it might be impossible or not necessary for me to become an expert in fish keeping and aquascape. We all need to work with others, but somehow until now I still kept a feeling that I should all do it by myself. Perhaps I should switch a bit.