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Julian Charrière
미드나잇 존 Midnight Zone | 2024 | 56’
© The Artist / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
© The Artist / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
Synopsis
Midnight Zone transforms the deep ocean into a theatre of drifting light. At the center of the work is a Fresnel lighthouse lens, slowly lowered through the water column above the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast abyssal plain stretching between Hawaii and Mexico. Suspended in darkness, the lantern behaves like an artificial star, casting a slow, rotating beam that attracts constellations of deep sea creatures. Glistening fish, slow moving sharks and other elusive and bioluminescent species circle the light, momentarily revealing a rich yet threatened ecosystem that usually remains beyond human sight. The region is increasingly targeted for deep sea mining because its seabed holds dense deposits of polymetallic nodules rich in nickel, cobalt and manganese, minerals essential for contemporary battery technologies. Rather than illuminating the mineral rich seabed itself, Charrière turns attention to the life that inhabits the waters above it.
About the artist
Julian Charrière is a Swiss-French artist based in Berlin whose work explores the cultural histories and geological forces that shape the planet and our understanding of it. Working across film, sculpture, photography, and installation, his practice often begins with field research in environments transformed by human activity, including melting glaciers, nuclear test sites, deep-sea ecosystems, and mining landscapes. Combining scientific observation with poetic speculation, Charrière creates immersive works that evoke both wonder and unease, prompting reflection on the histories of exploration and the extractive logics that shape how the Earth is seen and inhabited. His work has been exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions at Museum Tinguely, ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Palais de Tokyo, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Langen Foundation, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (MAMbo), and Aargauer Kunsthaus. His work has also been presented at the Centre Pompidou, Fondation Beyeler, the Mori Art Museum, and several editions of the Venice Biennale. In 2024, Charrière became the first recipient of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.