For Swallowed, his fourth solo exhibition at Galerie Poggi, Bertrand Lamarche proposes a scenography that might recall the aesthetics of spectacle and event production: his tripods, cables, and projectors create a setting that paradoxically evokes a backstage environment while simultaneously transforming the space into a kind of kaleidoscope or optical machine. Swallowed borrows its architectural motifs from modeling but multiplies them into a kind of general visual feedback loop. The exhibition features three new real-time video installations along with a selection of recent films. Engulfed in darkness, the space appears punctured by windows opening onto a "city," where facades, filmed from a low angle, are animated by large illuminated signs evoking megacities, their promises, and their legends. Each installation consists of an architectural model topped with a motorized sign. These models are filmed live, and their image, projected onto itself, creates a luminous distortion and a mise en abyme effect on the projection screen, where the shadow of the model is also cast. These signs, without an obvious destination, display a series of enigmatic texts or words that evoke psychological states, bodily sensations, or an introspective dizziness.

Excerpt of the Press realease of the exhibition at GaleriePoggi, 2024 (FR)