Sublime. The tremors of the world / Tadashi Kawamata. Under the Water – Metz

Sublime. The tremors of the world
Vibration, stupefaction, “delightful horror,” to quote Edmund Burke, are a few words to qualify the experience of the sublime: this singular feeling of attraction mixed with terror that we experience when we are confronted with the outburst and power of the elements. Born at the heart of the 18th century, this aesthetic and philosophic concept weaves the main thread of a reinterpretation of humanity’s passionate history with nature. Gathering over a hundred artists, architects, and filmmakers worldwide, from Leonardo da Vinci to Rosa Barba, including, among others, William Turner, Susan Hiller, Dove Allouche, Werner Herzog, Lars von Trier, Robert Smithson, Agnes Denes, or Ana Mendieta, Sublime. The tremors of the world offers a dialogue between ancient and contemporary works. It explores the ambivalent and persisting attraction for the “Nature too far” (Victor Hugo) and catastrophes.

At a time of ecological upheavals and alarmist statements, the exhibition also explores two radical changes in the concept of the sublime: the spectator realising his partial responsibility in the disordered world, and the catastrophe itself, now invisible under the effects of our activity. Lastly, the exhibition evokes the resurgence, since the ’60s, of a rekindled bond with nature… An aspiration for re-enchantment, a quest of fusion, reviving a more contemplative iconography of the sublime.

In this journey fluctuating between a philosophy of the 18th century and a contemporary vision, the aesthetic questions cross paths with actual ethical positions and ecological debates. The road outlined by the artists’ investigations—successively watchers and exhibitors—illuminated by a small light perceivable by those who are attentive to it, sheds lights on the tumultuous history of a ravaging and ravaged passion between an occupying species and its ecosystem.

Reviews, archives, geographical, and volcanologist documents enhance the exhibition to sketch out a genealogy of these tremors of the world.

A program of events and performances by international artists—Danish artist Mette Invargtsen, Swiss artist Pamina de Coulon, American artist Anna Halprin—will accompany the exhibition.

Curator: Hélène Guenin, Centre Pompidou-Metz, assisted by Hélène Meisel


Tadashi Kawamata. Under the Water – Metz
Within the framework of the exhibition Sublime. The Tremors of the World, Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata recreates for Centre Pompidou-Metz one of his masterful pieces, Under the Water.

The site-specific installation consists of a rogue wave made of reclaimed wood bits and furniture, which seems to spill through the gallery, sweeping away everything on its path, doors, windows, chairs and drawers. Lights from the ceiling break through the cracks, adding to the visitors’ feeling under the water, leaving no breathe.

Silent memorial to the 20,000 missing Japanese who disappeared during the earthquake and the tsunami in March 2011, this spectacular and threatening installation resonates with the gigantic wave that dominates the Forum, generating a moment of astonishment.

Born in 1953 on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, Tadashi Kawamata lives and works in Tokyo and Paris. His works have been presented worldwide during the last 30 years.

Tadashi Kawamata is represented by kamel mennour gallery.

Curator: Hélène Guenin, Centre Pompidou-Metz, assisted by Éléonore Mialonier


Still on view
Cosa mentale
Until March 28, 2016

Coming soon
Musicircus
April 20, 2016–July 17, 2017


Only 85 minutes via high-speed train from Paris.