Aurélie Ferruel & Florentine Guédon base their artistic reflection on an anthropological perspective. Humans, their history, memory, and knowledge are the driving force behind their work. To better understand this, they conduct fieldwork, immersing themselves in a friendly and collective environment. Since 2010, they have been meeting with groups, clans, and tribes, both familiar and unknown, deciphering their customs, traditions, rituals, costumes, dances, songs, culinary specialties, and all the specific characteristics that define them. The two artists attempt to capture the objects, gestures, myths, and codes that structure the micro-societies they immerse themselves in.
Aurélie Ferruel & Florentine Guédon's approach, combining anthropology and contemporary creation, resonates with the artistic cycle Lili, la rozell et le marimba (Lili, the rozell, and the marimba); inviting them to take part seemed relevant and promising for future exchanges. Their research residency will last two years and will be informed by encounters and stories gathered from professionals and amateurs at fine arts museums, the Musée de Bretagne, the University of Rennes I, and the Ecomusée de la Bintinais.
In collaboration with La Binquenais middle school, La Criée is developing a twinning project entitled Where I am, where I come from, where I am going. Students discover museum collections and contemporary art exhibitions at La Criée, sharing the artists' research and creative processes during meetings and workshops.
In 2019-2020, middle school students are exploring the question “where I am, where I come from” by collecting curiosities from museum collections and their environment, with a view to creating, together with the artists, “the collection of amazing researchers.” Inspired by the students' imaginations, Aurélie Ferruel & Florentine Guédon produced a sound creation during the first lockdown, Jolie Crâne, which combines songs, testimonials, and stories that blur the lines between fiction and reality.
In 2020-2021, the students and artists will focus on “where I'm going”: based on the materials collected, what kind of creation can be imagined? Aurélie Ferruel & Florentine Guédon have chosen to focus their research on parasitic animals; they collect popular, historical, scientific, and artistic stories referring to unloved animals in heritage collections and invite students to imagine and build their habitats.