Smoke and mirrors

A hand slides against the fogged window, drawing five trembling people, who soon come together. A cloud of steam bursts at the edge of half-open lips. The detail of a profile is reflected in the rear-view mirror. A flash projects a silhouette on a window. It’s night…

Both props and sets, smoke and mirrors generate stories of tension, whether they belong to the register of romanticism, eroticism, magic show or film noir, or even horror. Their troubles blur the lines between well-being and discomfort, familiar and unknown, falling asleep and alert, OCD and luxury.

Through a new series of drawings and ceramics, Louise Aleksiejew and Antoine Medes propose to explore these moments of latency that precede any narrative peak. A vicarious abandonment to torpor, fatigue and second states, which mark the need to create moments of respite in the middle of a society with sometimes painful hyperactivity.