Anri SALA, "If and Only If"
- idzia13200
- Mar 18, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 2
Anri SALA, If and Only If
📍The Tower, Luma Foundation, Arles
▪️ Installation iDzia : video projection cinemascope, sound
Anri SALA, "If and Only If"
If and Only If (2018) is an immersive work that invites the viewer into a poetic reflection on time, music, and nature, while offering a reinterpretation of an essential piece of classical repertoire. Inspired by Igor Stravinsky's Elegy for Solo Viola, the artist Anri Sala takes us on a singular journey, a visual and auditory metaphor of a subtle interaction between two seemingly opposing elements: the slow progress of a snail and the agility of the musician, embodied by the renowned violist Gérard Caussé.
The cinemascope video projection transports us to a visual space where a snail, at an excruciatingly slow pace, crawls the entire length of the viola bow. This seemingly innocent movement gradually disrupts the delicate balance required by the musician’s performance. The sound, with its deep and emotional resonance, feeds off this improbable interaction between the animal and the instrument. The snail’s movement becomes a metaphor for the silent yet decisive influence that subtly disturbs the perfection needed in music, while also symbolizing slowness and patience in a world where such virtues are often overlooked.
The piece takes the form of a monologue, yet the pursuit of a tactile interaction between the two distinct entities evokes a hidden dialogue, a fragile and intimate relationship between the elements. The fact that the snail’s movement interferes with the execution of Stravinsky's Elegy for Solo Viola creates an interaction that is silent but incredibly present, almost imperceptible—a subtle conversation between the artist and nature.
Through If and Only If, Anri Sala encourages us to reconsider music as a dialogue—not only between the musician and the instrument but also between the artist and the environment in which they exist. The film beautifully illustrates the essence of Stravinsky's composition, where every note resonates with the surrounding space, and every sound, no matter how insignificant, alters the balance of the whole.
Displayed at La Tour of the Luma Foundation, this work is a tribute to the fragility of creative balance and an invitation to reflect on the role of detail in artistic creation. A sensory experience that challenges the viewer to consider the power of the artistic gesture, however subtle it may be.
#AnriSala #IfAndOnlyIf #Stravinsky #ArtExhibition #LumaFoundation #SoundAndVision #ContemporaryArt #GérardCaussé
From June, 26, 2021 to May, 01st, 2022
Comments