Nicolas Aubagnac
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fairy weaving
the mythical elven forest from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"
It all started with a photo I took in Sicily in the archaeological park of Agrigento:
Around the Temple of Concord, this monument of the purest ancient Greece, rose majestic pine trees whose branches seemed like lace carved against the sky, which had become almost white from the heat…
And then this image reminded me of a reading memory from my teenage years:
the description of "Lothlórien", the forest that shelters the kingdom of the elves where Elrond reigns alongside Lady Galadriel…
Do you remember? The Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien! A monument of literature.
So, this photo and this book became intertwined in the weaving of an imaginary forest of fantastic grace.
“Under the night the trees stood tall before them, arched over the road and stream that ran suddenly beneath their spreading boughs. In the dim light of the stars their stems were grey, and their quivering leaves a hint of fallow gold.”
The Lord of the Rings – Volume II, Chapter VI, J.R.R. Tolkien
L = 88.60 in | H = 59 in
Dialogue between creator and machine
Nicolas Aubagnac explores the textile medium through the particular technique of the jacquard loom, a mechanical weaving process invented in the 19th century.
With the support of a workshop that has preserved period machines, Nicolas Aubagnac confronts the mechanical logic of jacquard with the poetry of his naturalist photos.
«"I find it interesting to entrust the construction and interpretation of my original document to a mechanical process, accepting the element of randomness it contains and the poetry that can result from it."»
