Downstream of Kaundorf bridge
Aquacanta
by
d-o-t-s (FR/IT)
With Aquacanta d-o-t-s (Laura Drouet, Olivier Lacrouts, FR/IT) propose to pay attention to the diverse stories that a body of water manifests or hides. Composed of two parts (1. a series of interactive sound sculptures; 2. a digital publication), the project takes the environment of the Sûre river, in Luxembourg, as the starting point for reflections about water as the repository of original narratives and varied manners of inhabiting the landscape.
Installed on the riverbanks, the series of sound sculptures – which are developed in cooperation with French artist-maker Hadrien Vénat – call for the attention and the poetic engagement of passers-by who are invited to come closer and listen to the water via the proposed objects. The shape and mode of interaction of each device suggests a different way of listening to the voice of the river.
The digital publication accompanying the installation invites the audience to explore this further with stories mixing reality and fiction. Nourished by conversations with specialists of various fields, the tales and interviews that make up the publication are thought as written accounts of the various relationships – lost, current and future – that humans and other-than-humans can establish with a body of water.
Storymaking workshop
Stories are circular by essence: as immaterial commons, they are shared and adapted over generations and are true lessons of resilience requiring little apparatus for their messages to be heard. With Aquacanta d-o-t-s adopt the practice of storymaking to produce and distribute new narratives that shall engage the audience in pro-active conversations and debates.
On the opening day, d-o-t-s propose a storymaking workshop to the local inhabitants and visitors. During the creative writing process, participants will co-create a story that shall highlight the Sûre river’s identity: from its history and geography to the human and non-human infrastructures built on it.
d-o-t-s is a nomadic curatorial practice founded by Laura Drouet (FR) and Olivier Lacrouts (IT/FR). The duo’s investigations focus on the diverse and questionable relationships that – through design – human communities establish among themselves, with other animals, plants, and landscapes. Defined by the participatory and interdisciplinary approach, d-o-t-s’ work spans writing, exhibition-making, hands-on workshops and design commissions. Recent and ongoing projects include: the touring exhibition Plant Fever (Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden – DE, 27.04-03.11.2024), the book Greenhouse Stories (Onomatopee – NL, 2023), the short dance-film Stork Fiction (2023).
Hadrien Vénat is an artist-maker based in the French region of Charente. Merging his different know-how in food, ceramics, and construction, he works both on self-initiated projects and collaborations with fellow artists, designers and performers. He is the founder of Modern Garage (2022), an atelier dedicated to architectural, design and ceramic experimentations that he established in a former car garage in the village of Saint-Christophe. Hadrien’s past experiences include: head of ceramic studio at the National School of Art and Design of Limoges (France, 2017–2022); head of workshops at Domaine de Boisbuchet (France, 2012-2017); artist in residence at El Taller de Radios Valencia (Spain, 2016).
« Aquacanta »
Concept & Design: d-o-t-s | Laura Drouet, Olivier Lacrouts, Hadrien Vénat
Designed as part of WaterWalls, Esch-sur-Sûre, 2024
Production : Esch(t)Kultur
Coordination : Services for Creatives
Phonoscopes
workshop with Hadrien Vénat
8.06.2024 | 14:30-17:30
Inspired by the Aquacanta installation and guided by French artist-maker Hadrien Vénat, participants will learn how to create unconventional listening tools. Conceived as curious portable accessories, the hybrid devices will be assembled using scrap materials — such as tin boxes, wires, strings, metal and plastic fastenings, cardboard, foam… — and will allow one to listen to the Sûre River and its landscape creatively.
Age : This workshop is aimed at children from 7 years old and families
Location: on the river banks, next to the Aquacanta installation.
Langues: french & english
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Dessine-moi la Sûre
with d-o-t-s (Laura Drouet, Olivier Lacrouts)
8.06.2024 | 14:30-17:30
Do you like to draw and imagine stories that mix reality and fiction? Guided by Laura and Olivier of the duo d-o-t-s, during this workshop you will be able to contribute to the creation of a large illustrated fresco which tells the life and history of the Sûre river and all its inhabitants: humans, birds, fish, plants... Open to everyone without age limits, this workshop invites participants to co-create a paper piece that will feed into the publication that d-o-t-s are preparing as part of their Aquacanta project.
Duration: continuously
Location: on the river banks, next to the Aquacanta installation
Age: for all
Language: french english
