Solar Lab – Juliette Bibasse & Joanie Lemercier (FR)
Residency period: June 2024
Our month-long residency at La Becque was devoted to the Solar Lab project, a field of experimentation and research around the sun. We developed several prototypes for an artistic installation to be presented in 2025 at mudac – Musée cantonal de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains in Lausanne as part of The Solar Biennale. We also carried out theoretical research to structure future Solar Lab projects.
The magnificent setting of La Becque and the Swiss sunshine in June enabled us to test low-tech custom modules and kinetic devices that activate luminous optical effects. We sketched out several sun-activated visual inventions as a way of questioning our dependence on fossil fuels. By focusing our attention on the sun’s abundant and sensitive energy, these prototypes feed and spread new low-tech imaginaries, both artistically and as tools for a wide range of uses (architecture, design, humanitarianism, etc.). — Juliette Bibasse & Joanie Lemercier
Invited at La Becque as part of a residency with Plateforme 10, Solar Lab is the new research project by French independent curator Juliette Bibasse (b. 1984) and French artist and climate activist Joanie Lemercier (b. 1982). Based in Brussels, Juliette Bibasse and Joanie Lemercier run Studio Lemercier, whose work focuses on the projection of light in space. Using unconventional projection surfaces such as misted water or other bespoke media, much of their work is inspired by nature and questions the representation of the world through code, mathematics, science and technology. This fascination with nature goes hand in hand with Joanie Lemercier’s personal involvement as an environmental activist, a commitment that in turn feeds the studio’s work. Today, the Studio focuses on developing artistic installations that question the sustainable uses and processes of technological tools in relation to environmental issues.
Solar Lab, La Becque, photo Aurélien Haslebacher