COALITION 15 years of art and ecology
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, COAL is joining forces with the Gaîté Lyrique to present a major multidisciplinary exhibition featuring…
Sunday, July 8 / Innocent Monsters -Interventions by Brandon Ballengée
Published on 5 July 2012
Sunday, July 8, at the Chamarande domain, from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Brandon Ballengée will carry out a study of the amphibians of the Chamarande domain. His research will focus on two aquatic areas of the estate: the marsh and the watercress bed.
On the principle of collaborative science, visitors are invited to participate in this study, alongside the artist.
Innocent monsters – The amphibians that the environment has sculpted
Its action meets one of the needs defined by the Biotope firm in charge of the studies for Chamarande: the monitoring of the animal populations present on the site (roe deer, snakes, frogs). Together, scientists, volunteers, visitors and artists will conduct field and laboratory experiments during the first two weeks of July to better understand the mechanisms responsible for frog deformities. The results of this research will be disseminated to the scientific community and will give rise, during the winter of 2012-2013, to an exhibition at the Domaine.
The artist
Born in 1974 in Ohio (USA), he lives and works in New York.
Brandon Ballengée focuses on bridging the gap between art and biology.
Both an artist and a research ecologist, he combines his scientific work on amphibians, fish and insects with the techniques of fine art representation. In 2001, he was named a member of Sigma XI, a renowned scientific research society.
For the past ten years, Brandon Ballengée has been studying population decline and amphibian malformations. These species are very sensitive to their environment and are biological markers of the state of pollution of waters and ecosystems. After having carried out actions in North America and England, he will continue for the first time his investigation in France in the wetland of the Chamarande Domain classified ZNIEFF 2 (Natural Zone of Ecological, Faunistic and Floristic Interest).
Internationally recognized, he has exhibited at the Geumgang Nature Art Biennale in Kung Ju (South Korea), the Venice, Perth (Australia) and Moscow Biennials of Electronic Arts, as well as at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and the Parco d’Arte Vivente in Turin.
Photo credit: Brandon Ballangée
