Invisible College Stroud Presents : The Art, Ecology and Science Fiction Talks, with Agnès Villette.
Introduced by Dr John Cussans
Agnès Villette will be speaking about her current project: ‘Alien of the Species’ `: a photographic series about 12 invasive insects that have recently arrived in Europe. Confronting interviews of entomologists and environmental humanities theorists, the project maps the complex entanglement of human / animal relationships within disrupted ecosystems subjected to global warming and mass migrations.
The introduction in our ecosystems of the Asiatic Hornet, Anoplophora, the Boxwood moth or the Palm tree Weevil opens complex narrations of global Capitalism, bio war and damaged ecologies where insects invite us to rethink the polarised relation of nature and culture. Building on the media coverage of the disappearance of insects, 'Alien of the Species' interrogates the discrepancies between how the scientific and environmental humanities create narratives about the underlying the interconnectedness of the world we share with insects.
Agnès Villette is an artist photographer and film-maker working between London, Normandy and Paris. Her work explores environmental, technological and social issues with a specific focus on nuclear environments and the Anthropocene. Her projects have included ‘The Dark Orne’ (2012-2016) documenting the rewilding of the Orne river in Normandy; ‘Betabunker’ (2018-19) a project about how former nuclear bunkers in Sweden are now being used to house computer server farms; ‘Haunted', a photographic installation concerned with our paradoxical relation with the nuclear industry, energy dependency and the unresolved politics of nuclear waste; and ‘Liberland’, a film and photographic sequence about a group of radical, libertarian crypto-currency traders who created a ‘Free State’ on an area of unclaimed land between Croatia and Serbia in 2015.
£5 on the door.
Agnès will also be available to give studio visits while she is in Stroud between 11.00 - 16.00 on Saturday 8th June. We ask a small donation of £15 for a 45 minute visit. If you would to meet with Agnès to discuss your work/portfolio, or ask for more information, please contact John Cussans on jcussans@gmail.com.
