At first there was nothing

2018 – 2023
C-print on aluminium, print on plexiglas
Various dimensions

At first there was nothing is a collection of very large macrophotographies – images magnified up to 4000 times, capturing preparations no larger than a thumb. Each piece comprises several hundred images captured through the lenses of a microscope.

The preparations are the results of chemical and physical reactions giving shapes of infinite complexity to an initially homogeneous solution of which a tiny drop comes pressed under a square or a round cover glass. The solutions themselves are a mixture of substances characterized by their relative banality : food and beverages, pigments, cleaning products, medications, organic fluids. Yet, blended together in unlikely arrangements, left to evolve over long periods of time and finally magnified, these commodities become the extra-ordinary, unfolding into profound exotic landscapes.

S1110, blood and salt / Digital file, 400x400cm, 2023

S1224, ink and milk / Digital file, 400x400cm, 2023

S975, ink, mucus, bleach / Digital file, 400x400cm, 2018

S975, ink, sperm, ethanol / Digital file, 400x400cm, 2018

At first there was nothing was shown for the first time at les ateliers de Bellevaux in 2018 in the form of a large light box. On this occasion, two videos and a display of original samples were also presented. Additionally, a soundscape inspired by ancestral ritual chantings plunged the dark space into a meditative atmosphere.