julian.charriere

From the geological depths of time, the obsidian eye surfaces. A relic shaped by tectonic violence and volcanic pressure, its polished surface is an archive, a portal, and a witness. This is no ordinary artifact—it is a sentient aperture, oriented toward a present it neither belongs to nor fully acknowledges. Its gaze is unrelenting, a black lens through which the past surveys the constructed fragility of now. The obsidian eye does not see in frames; it sees in layers—geological, cultural, and existential. It deciphers the strata of our impermanence, categorizing human endeavors as nothing more than fleeting inscriptions on the skin of a planet still writing itself. Solarstalgia is on view until April 20, 2025, at the @arkenmuseum . #juliancharriere #arkenmuseum #solarstalgia #contemporaryart #Geological time #jennylund @marie_nipper #Volcano #obsidian Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany Photo by David Stjernholm

A flame, a ghost, a reflection—a distortion. The prism of hydrocarbons fractures and reshapes the fabric of modernity, scattering its realities into broken illusions. In the delirium of our addiction, we have lost our footing, bound to an endless cycle of extraction and entropy. Can we peer beyond this shattered mirror? Can we cross its threshold into dimensions untethered from collapse—toward a future less precarious? We are haunted by the echoes of the past, their shadows stretching across the fragile present. Yet, these ghosts are not merely remnants of what once was—they may be guides to what could yet be. Their presence challenges us to look beyond the distortions, to reimagine the path we tread, and to act with clarity and purpose. Solarstalgia is on view until April 20, 2025, at the @arkenmuseum as part of the NATURE FUTURE series. It continues my exploration of the fraught interplay between humanity, nature, and technology. The exhibition is kindly supported by: The Obel Family Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Beckett Foundation, and Pro Helvetia. #juliancharriere #arkenmuseum #solarstalgia #contemporaryart #naturefuture #jennylund @marie_nipper Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany Photo by David Stjernholm

„Stone Speakers“ opens portals beyond human senses, revealing a lithic symphony where Earth’s whispers and volcanic dialogues dissolve boundaries. This otherworldly soundscape unveils the profound forces shaping our reality. Experience „Stone Speakers“ at the @palaisdetokyo until January 5th. - « Stone Speakers »ouvre les portes de la perception humaine, révélant une symphonie lithique où les murmures de la Terre et les dialogues volcaniques abolissent les frontières. Ce paysage sonore d’un autre monde dévoile les forces puissantes qui façonnent notre réalité. Vivez l’expérience de « Stone Speakers » au @palaisdetokyo jusqu’au 5 janvier. - Curator: Daria de Beauvais 
Julian Charrière In Collaboration with Felix Deufel and Victor Mazon Stone Speakers, 2024 Artist introduction, Palais de Tokyo,Paris,France Copyright the artist; © ADAGP, Paris, 2024 Video by artbeats Courtesy the artist; DITTRICH&SCHLECHTRIEM, Berlin; Galerie Tschudi,Zuoz/Zurich; Sies+Höke, Düsseldorf

In this exhibition, the sun and its light become the central axis around which everything orbits—a force that connects the ephemeral to the eternal. Sunlight emerges in a multiplicity of forms, each charged with its own temporality and substance. It filters through the canopy of ancient forests, nurturing ecosystems that breathe life into the present. It glows across vast stretches of time, transmuted into carbon-rich deposits, fossilized memories of a primordial world that now fuel the engines of modernity. Each manifestation of sunlight holds a unique rhythm, embodying cycles of creation, transformation, and dissolution. Its energy, once fleeting and intangible, lingers in the solid blackness of coal. This luminous continuum underscores the interconnectedness of life and matter, evoking the delicate balance between vitality and entropy, presence and absence. Here, light is not merely a metaphor but a material force, a dynamic participant in the unfolding narrative of deep time. It threads together moments of brilliance and shadow, offering a meditation on the fragility and resilience of the ecosystems it animates. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the paradoxical nature of light: both a source of life and a witness to its eventual decay. The exhibition is kindly supported by: The Obel Family Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Beckett Foundation, and Pro Helvetia. #juliancharriere #arkenmuseum #solarstalgia #contemporaryart #naturefuture #jennylund @marie_nipper Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany Photo by David Stjernholm

Solarstalgia confronts the paradox of human existence: our dependence on the fossilized vitality of ancient worlds, precariously balanced against the fragility of our present time. These works span millennia, bridging epochs of flourishing ecosystems with a vulnerable present shaped by the exploitation of these buried life forces. Each installation draws viewers into a sensory dialogue between creation and decay, vitality and entropy. The fossilized energy that once nurtured primordial forests now sustains modern industry while simultaneously accelerating environmental collapse. By layering geological memory with contemporary ecological concerns, Solarstalgia reflects on the interconnected cycles of life, death, and renewal. In this poetic exploration of time’s depths, the exhibition holds up a mirror to human progress, urging us to confront the delicate balance between the enduring rhythms of nature and the fleeting trajectory of our current moment. The exhibition is kindly supported by: The Obel Family Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Beckett Foundation, and Pro Helvetia. #juliancharriere #arkenmuseum #solarstalgia #contemporaryart #naturefuture #jennylund @marie_nipper Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany Photo by David Stjernholm

Solarstalgia unfolds as a meditation on the entangled forces of deep time, ecological transformation, and human intervention. Immersed in shadowed landscapes that echo the Carboniferous wetland , the exhibition summons a primordial world where vast, verdant forests once thrived, their organic matter trapping sunlight that would, over eons, transmute into the carbon reserves fueling our addiction. The title fuses solastalgia—a term for the grief born from environmental destruction—with the enduring vitality of the solar, charting the alchemical journey of light into matter. At its core, the project interrogates this metamorphosis and its reverberations: the lush ecosystems of ancient epochs set against the scarred remnants of industrial extraction—desolate mines, abandoned rigs, and silent infrastructures. Solarstalgia is on view until April 20, 2025, at the @arkenmuseum as part of the NATURE FUTURE series. Gratitude to The Obel Family Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Beckett Foundation, and Pro Helvetia for their generous support. #juliancharriere #arkenmuseum #solarstalgia #contemporaryart #naturefuture #jennylund @marie_nipper Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany Photo: David Stjernholm

En OMR nos emociona anunciar la representación del artista suizo-francés Julian Charrière. La práctica de Charrière especula sobre historias alternativas a través del lente del tiempo geológico profundo, explorando cómo percibimos e interactuamos con el mundo natural en el Antropoceno. Desde su instalación inmersiva Earth Listens When You Speak en LagoAlgo, Ciudad de México, hasta Stone Speakers en el Palais de Tokyo, y su continua exploración sobre la extracción de recursos en Solarstalgia en el ARKEN Museum, Charrière desafía y expande los límites del arte contemporáneo. Estamos emocionados de presentar su obra en Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 este diciembre. ▶️ Desliza para explorar los momentos más destacados de los recientes proyectos de Charrière y descubre las historias que cuentan. - OMR is thrilled to announce our representation of Swiss-French artist Julian Charrière. Charrière’s practice speculates on alternative histories through the lens of deep geological time, exploring how we perceive and interact with the natural world in the Anthropocene. From his immersive installation Earth Listens When You Speak at LagoAlgo in Mexico City, to Stone Speakers at the Palais de Tokyo, and his ongoing exploration of resource extraction in Solarstalgia at ARKEN Museum, Charrière continues to challenge and expand the boundaries of contemporary art. We look forward to presenting his work at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 this December. ▶️ Swipe to explore highlights of Charrière’s recent projects and discover the stories they tell. #OMR #JulianCharrière #Welcome #ContemporaryArt #ArtRepresentation #ArtBaselMiami Portrait: Julian Charrière, copyright the artist. Photo by Studio Julian CharrièreJulian Charrière, Installation views, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024. Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany. Photo by Anders Sune Berg

Solarstalgia unfolds as a meditation on the entangled trajectories of deep time, ecological cycles, and human intervention within them. Set within shadow-drenched terrains evocative of the Carboniferous epoch, the exhibition transports to a primordial world—where ancient forests thrived in swampy wetlands, capturing sunlight that, across millennia, ossified into the carbon reserves igniting modern industry. The title, a fusion of solastalgia—the aching sense of environmental loss—and the inexhaustible force of the solar, charts the alchemical metamorphosis of light into matter. This transformation, and its reverberations, lie at the core of the project: a dialogue between the exuberance of ancient ecologies and the barren vestiges of industrial extraction—gouged landscapes, defunct mines, and hushed oil rigs. Through sweeping, immersive installations, Solarstalgia offers a confrontation with the paradox of human existence: our reliance on the fossilized life force of bygone worlds, set against the precariousness of the present. Spanning epochs, the works reach toward an uneasy reconciliation of vitality, entropy, and renewal. I am thrilled to announce that the show just opened in Copenhagen, and I want to extend my deepest thanks to everyone who attended the opening on Thursday. My gratitude goes to Jenny Lund, whose curatorial vision brought this project to life; to Marie Nipper, director of Arken; and to my extraordinary Berlin team—this exhibition is the result of their amazing dedication. Solarstalgia runs until April 20, 2025, at the @arkenmuseum as part of the NATURE FUTURE series. It continues my exploration of the complex interplay between humanity, nature, and technology. The exhibition is kindly supported by: The Obel Family Foundation, the New Carlsberg Foundation, the Beckett Foundation and Pro Helvetia. #juliancharriere #arkenmuseum #solarstalgia #contemporaryart #naturefuture #jennylund @marie_nipper Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany Photo by Anders Sune Berg

Join us tonight for the opening of Solarstalgia at @arkenmuseum !!!
Music program at Arken followed by an aftershow party at @kobe_cph , organized by @unearth.cph . I’m so excited to unveil my first solo exhibition in Scandinavia and deeply grateful to everyone who made this possible—especially Jenny Lund, the curator of the show, Marie Nipper, director of Arken, and my amazing team back in Berlin ❤️ The exhibition opens today at 6 PM and runs until April 20, 2025, at @arkenmuseum . Julian Charrière Installation view, Solarstalgia, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, 2024 Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2. Photo by Anders Sune Berg #JulianCharriere #ArkenMuseum #Solarstalgia #ContemporaryArt #AnInvitationToDisappear
#jennylund @marie_nipper

View Midnight Zone for one more week! From 6 PM to 10 PM, until the 01.12 at Playa El Tule, Tourist Corridor, Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S., Mexico as a public art presentation curated by @trucatriche . The project will then travel further to Europe, where it will be shown for the first time at @museumtinguely ,followed by @kunstmuseumwolfsburg , as part of the joint Midnight Zone exhibition. „Midnight Zone“ plunges us into the depths where light fades, and fragile ecosystems hang in delicate balance. Here, a trembling beam from a Fresnel lens reveals fleeting outlines of unseen worlds—an interplay of life and darkness that feels both distant and profoundly interconnected with our own. At the heart of this exploration lies the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ), a vast seabed rich in polymetallic nodules essential to modern technology. Spanning 4.5 million square kilometers between Mexico and Hawaii, it is also home to fragile, little-known ecosystems vital to global processes like the carbon cycle. Deep-sea mining threatens to upend these habitats, risking the intricate connections that sustain life on Earth. Through the lens of the Midnight Zone, we witness what might be lost: ecosystems thriving in defiance of the abyss, silently shaping the rhythms of our planet. By illuminating this unseen world, we confront the urgent question of how to protect the deep sea—an enigma shaped by humanity yet still beyond its grasp. Clip by @adil_schindler #deepseamining #clarionisland ##clarionclippertonfracturezone #midnightzone #deepsea #playaeltule #bajacalifornia #cabosanluca #foromardecortes #lighthouse

El artista suizo Julian Charrière presenta Midnight Zone, una instalación de video y escultura que explora los riesgos ambientales de la minería en aguas profundas para los ecosistemas marinos. Exhibida en Playa Boca del Tule, incluye una proyección al aire libre y una lámpara de faro personalizada capaz de sumergirse a 2,000 metros. La obra documenta expediciones en el Océano Pacífico e interacciones con la vida marina para reflexionar sobre el costo ambiental de extraer metales raros del lecho marino en la zona de fractura Clarion-Clipperton, cerca del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo. Plantea la pregunta: ¿Vale la pena la minería submarina frente a su impacto ambiental? — Swiss artist Julian Charrière presents Midnight Zone, a video and sculpture installation exploring the environmental risks of deep-sea mining on marine ecosystems. Shown at Playa Boca del Tule, it features an outdoor film projection and a custom-designed lighthouse lens capable of submerging 2,000 meters. The piece documents Pacific Ocean expeditions and interactions with marine life to reflect on the environmental cost of extracting rare metals from the seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone near Revillagigedo National Park. It raises the question: Is deep-sea mining worth the environmental toll? Julian Charrière Single Channel Video Installation and Customized Fresnel Lens Dates: November 15 - December 1, 2024 Exhibition Hours: 6 PM - 10:00 PM #midnightzone @julian.charriere @trucatriche — Photo Credits: Julian Charrière. Midnight Zone, 2024. Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany. Julian Charrière. Midnight Zone, 2024. Behind the Scenes, Baja California Sur. Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany. Photos by Adil Schindler.

The Midnight Zone led to the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ), located near the edge of the Revillagigedo Archipelago and its marine preserve. What captivated me was its vast scale and hidden significance. Spanning 4.5 million square kilometers between Mexico and Hawaii, this mineral-rich expanse of seabed is now at the center of a modern gold rush. Beneath its surface lie polymetallic nodules—small, potato-like metal conglomerates rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt, and copper, critical materials for the technologies shaping the 21st century.   Yet the rush to extract these resources comes at an immense cost. The CCZ hosts unique, little-understood ecosystems that are both fragile and largely unexplored. Mining these depths threatens to disrupt habitats essential to global processes, including the carbon cycle that underpins life on Earth. To exploit these ecosystems without fully understanding their intricacies is to take a perilous gamble with the health of the ocean and the balance of the planet.   A special thanks to @trucatriche and @capitancalcetin for their incredible support in bringing this project to life. I’m also deeply grateful to my amazing team, whose dedication made this film truly exceptional, and to everyone who contributed along the way.   ROV Operator and Camera: Antoine Drancey ROV Operator Assistance: Brieg Dufée Marine Engineer: Christophe LeClercq Underwater Camera: Adil Schindler Production Assistance: Runar Jarle Stray Wiik Underwater Guide and Safety Diver: Sten Johansson Production Management (Berlin): Hannah Weidner Onsite Production and Coordination: Tanya Johansson and Sten Johansson Boat owner and operator: Dora Sierra Boat owner and operator: Susan Long   Editor: Johannes Förster Editing Assistant: Leoni Faschian Compositing Artist Lead:  Sean Sams Compositing Artist: Kalle Max Hoffmannm Neil Reynolds Composition & Sound Design: Nino Theys Color grading: Julien von Schultzendorff Post production management: Johannes Förster Post production Management Assistance: Hannah Weidner   Midnight Zone, 2024 4K film, 16:10 aspect ratio, 3D ambisonic soundscape, continuous video loop, 56 minutes #midnightzone #deepseamining #clarion