Memoire en mutation: from fragment to embodiment

In the video Mémoire en mutation (Memory in Mutation ), matter precedes the image. A ceramic piece, shaped by Asmea Laraqui, carries within it a silent memory: that of gesture, of transformation, of earth subjected to fire. This work, autonomous in its sculptural language, becomes here the starting point for a radical transposition, a migration towards the living body.

L'oeuvre Mémoire en mutation par la céramiste Asmea Laraqui, exposée à la Galerie Éclats Art Contemporain. Photographie Claude Gauthier

Matter becomes life

Through photography and AI-assisted post-production, ceramics transcend their status as mere objects to become adornments. Porcelain transforms into a dress that embraces a ballerina's body like an organic extension, almost a second skin. The mineral becomes mobile, the static becomes choreographic. The body, in turn, becomes a vessel of memory.

This shift is not insignificant. It prompts a reinterpretation of the relationship between matter and identity. The ballerina, a figure of discipline and grace, embodies a tension here: that between the rigidity of ceramic and the fluidity of movement. The resulting image does not document an actual performance, but suggests its possibility. It exists in a liminal space, between sculpture and dance, between reality and fiction, between trace and projection.

In this dialogue, the contributions remain distinct yet deeply intertwined. Asmea Laraqui's ceramics retain their plastic integrity, while Claude Gauthier 's photographic and digital work acts as a revealer, a conduit. Artificial intelligence, far from erasing the initial gestures, becomes a tool of translation, amplifying the symbolic scope of the work.

Images extraites de la vidéo Mémoire en mutation, illustrant la métamorphose de l’œuvre d’Asmea Laraqui en une ballerine vêtue d’une robe texturée, directement inspirée de la sculpture.

Thus, Mémoire en mutation is not limited to a hybridization of media. It offers a reflection on the survival of forms and their capacity to inhabit other bodies, other narratives. What was object becomes presence. What was memory becomes movement.

The ceramic work Mémoire en mutation is on display at the Galerie Éclats Art Contemporain , as part of the Contrepoint exhibition , offered by curator Monia Abdallah , professor in the art history department at UQAM.