Space Collection, Liège (B), “Abîmes”

2019

"Abysses" 2019

projection mapping on the ceiling // 5.1 Sound // Generative 3d Water // 2 projecters wide angle // Madmapper

3d Print from frame of 3D covered with gold leaf / gold-leafed

Created digitally without the slightest filmed image, Ronald Dagonnier’s video shows a black whirlpool. Its bubbling is supported by the din of agitated water. Reliefs produced by a 3D printer take up the most plastic moments. They freeze the movement of the swirls but preserve their force. The process materializes the computer calculation of an object that does not exist in our reality but reproduces some of its principles — those of a maelstrom for example — as in a reconstructed nature. The choice of gilding with gold leaf opens even wider the spectrum of interpretation. Dagonnier declares in this order of ideas that he is not bothered “that Abysses may be read outside of what I have placed in it: it would not disturb me that unpremeditated allusions be recognized in it, to the disasters of migrants for example.” Thus one can — perhaps out of convenience, fatigue or indolence — return to the poetics of the open work, according to which the message of an artistic creation would be ambiguous, would contain a plurality of meanings, and would offer its viewers the opportunity to project themselves into it freely.

That said, Ronald Dagonnier does not abandon us completely. In the figurative power of the reliefs, of the video, or by the title of the exhibition, he indeed delivers some indications. His work has to do with emptiness, the very deep abyss, drowning, asphyxiation, threatening energy, nothingness, frightening immensity, the power of unleashed elements, but also with an ordering in the genre of the Creation stories. And the artist confirms: “I am working on the Tohu Bohu.” Again, the question of confused agitation returns, but there is also the biblical meaning: in Genesis, the Earth is the Tohu Bohu, darkness on the face of the abyss, of which the video renders the worrying force, the ineluctable advance. It is a nature that envelops us and comprehends us; its extreme amplitude surpasses us; one does not analyze it; it is sublime.

Pierre Henrion, 2019.

"Abîmes 2019"

Réalisée numériquement sans la moindre image filmée, la vidéo de Ronald Dagonnier montre un tourbillon noir. Son bouillonnement est soutenu par le vacarme d’une eau agitée. Des reliefs produits par une imprimante 3D en reprennent les moments les plus plastiques. Ils figent le mouvement des volutes mais en préservent la force. Le processus matérialise le calcul informatique d’un objet qui n’existe pas dans notre réalité mais en reproduit quelques principes - ceux d’un maelström par exemple -, comme dans une nature reconstituée. Le choix de la dorure à la feuille ouvre encore plus grand le spectre d’interprétation. Dagonnier déclare dans cet ordre d’idées ne pas être ennuyé « qu’Abimes puisse être lue en dehors de ce que j’y ai placé : cela ne me dérangerait pas qu’on y reconnaisse des allusions non préméditées, aux désastres des migrants par exemple. » Ainsi peut-on - peut-être par facilité, fatigue ou indolence - revenir à la poétique de l’œuvre ouverte, selon laquelle le message d’une création artistique serait ambigu, recèlerait une pluralité de sens et offrirait l’occasion à ses regardeurs de s’y projeter librement.

Ceci dit, Ronald Dagonnier ne nous abandonne pas complètement. Dans la puissance figurative des reliefs, de la vidéo ou par le titre de l’exposition, il livre bien quelques indications. Son travail a à faire avec le vide, le gouffre très profond, la noyade, l’asphyxie, l’énergie menaçante, le néant, l’immensité effrayante, la puissance des éléments déchainés mais aussi avec une mise en ordre dans le genre des récits de la Création. Et l’artiste de confirmer : « Je travaille sur le Tohu Bohu ». De nouveau, la question de l’agitation confuse revient, mais il y a aussi l’acception biblique : dans la Genèse, la Terre est le Tohu Bohu, ténèbres sur la face de l’abîme dont la vidéo rend la force inquiétante, l’avancée inéluctable. C’est une nature qui nous enveloppe et nous comprend ; son extrême amplitude nous dépasse ; on ne l’analyse pas ; elle est sublime.

Digitally created without a single filmed image, Ronald Dagonnier's video shows a black whirlpool. Its swirling is supported by the roar of agitated water. Reliefs produced by a 3D printer capture the most plastic moments, freezing the movement of the eddies but preserving their force. The process materializes the computer calculation of an object that does not exist in our reality but reproduces some of its principles - such as those of a maelstrom - as in a reconstructed nature. The choice of gilding with gold leaf further widens the spectrum of interpretation. In this regard, Dagonnier states that he is not bothered "that Abimes may be read outside of what I have placed in it: it would not bother me if allusions to the disasters of migrants were recognized in it, for example, without prior intention." Thus, perhaps out of convenience, fatigue, or laziness, we can return to the poetics of the open work, according to which the message of an artistic creation would be ambiguous, contain a plurality of meanings, and offer the opportunity for its viewers to project themselves freely into it.

That being said, Ronald Dagonnier does not completely abandon us. In the figurative power of the reliefs, the video, or the title of the exhibition, he does provide some indications. His work deals with emptiness, a very deep abyss, drowning, asphyxiation, threatening energy, nothingness, frightening immensity, and the power of unleashed elements, but also with an ordering in the genre of creation stories. And the artist confirms: "I am working on the Tohu Bohu." Once again, the question of confused agitation arises, but there is also a biblical interpretation: in Genesis, the Earth is the Tohu Bohu, darkness on the face of the abyss whose video renders the ominous force, the inexorable advance. It is a nature that envelops and understands us; its extreme amplitude surpasses us; we do not analyze it; it is sublime.

Pierre Henrion, 2019.

Space Collection Liège, 2019.