Sabrina Ratté
Inflorescences
Canadian artist Sabrina Ratté challenges the traditional understanding of the boundaries between technology and nature with a unique artistic perspective. Her latest art series "Inflorescences" will be exhibited at Fotografiska Shanghai from 28th March 2024 to 23rd June 2024. Through four videos and four sculptures, the exhibition takes viewers into a hypothetical future where plants, mushrooms and unknown creatures coexist with abandoned objects by humans.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
“Inflorescences” is Sabrina Rattér's bold vision of future ecological symbiosis. By reshaping electronic waste into a vibrant art form, it directly questions our view of "waste" and the definition of "regeneration" in a society driven by consumerism. In this world of human absence, electronic waste is no longer viewed as useless, inert and forgotten debris, but has evolved into the "cradle" of new relationships with life. The artist uses 3D scanning technology and Blender animation software to digitize discarded electronic devices and transform them into part of a new ecosystem that coexists with mutant organisms in nature. These "creatures" obtain three-dimensional forms through Blender, showing organic growth and unpredictable mutation forms similar to flowers or fungi.
The four sculptures presented in the exhibition are made fromlectronic waste found by the artist in different locations, and incorporate screen and light elements to echo the living entities depicted in the video, providing the audience intuitive experience of transforming discarded items to life symbiosis in the future. The future of our planet may depend on our ability to see the value in discarded objects, and to find beauty in the fusion of the organic and the technological.
With a glimpse into the incredible symbiosis of technology and nature, we left with a sense of wonder and the question: What role will we play in shaping this symbiotic future? In the exploration of the integration of art and technology, and the symbiosis of technology and nature, “Inflorescences” provides us with an answer with possibility, while also leaving more questions for us to explore.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sabrina Ratté is a Canadian artist based in Montreal. Using an array of technical tools, such as 3D scans, analog video synthesizers, and 3D animation, her formal approach serves as the foundation for the creation of ecosystems that manifest across various platforms, from interactive installations to series of videos, digital prints, sculptures, or virtual Reality. Exploring the convergence of technology and biology, the interplay between materiality and virtuality, and the speculative evolution of our environment, her work is influenced by the realms of science fiction, philosophy, and theoretical writings. Ratté portrays worlds devoid of humans, where forgotten remnants continue to evolve and forge new relationships with the ecosystem.
Her work has been exhibited in institutions such as the Laforet Museum in Tokyo, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Centre Pompidou in Paris, the PHI Center in Montreal, the Chronus Art Center in Shanghai, the Max Ernst Museum in Brühl, and the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. She has presented solo exhibitions at Gaîté Lyrique in Paris and Arsenal Contemporary Art in Montreal and New York. Notably, her work is part of the collection at the Montreal Contemporary Art Museum. Ratté was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in Canada in 2019 and received the award in 2020.