"I worked at Providenza on my future book, an astral meditation between contemporary art and philosophy, in which I attempt to rethink our relationship to the Cosmos today, and to defend the idea of political emancipation through the study of the stars."
In the excerpt below, Léa recounts her meeting with Charles, an arborist and chestnut specialist. His relationship with his land, and the knowledge he has acquired through it, illustrates the author's way of rethinking our relationship with the Cosmos, with Nature, with the Living.
"(...) Charles could read the landscape like an open book: recognize the age of trees, reconstruct their past, foresee their destiny. He could read bark. He knew about diseases: devouring insects (those little Asian wasps), canker and ink (the new disease caused by global warming), water stress. He knows how to cut a branch, at what angle, so that the wound heals properly, so that a protective pad forms around the wound. I'm struck by his use of surgical vocabulary, going so far as to speak of open-heart surgery, bypass surgery, vital arteries: sap like blood. Ultimately, he's talking about the presence of life or death in every body. "
Léa Bismuth
Léa has been an independent art critic and curator for more than 15 years and holds a PHD from EHESS. She has edited several books and is a member of AICA and CEA.
