Julian Charrière
Midnight Zone
Feb 4th – Mar 9th, 2025
Museo de Historia Natural y Cultura Ambiental, Mexico City
Curated by Pedro Alonzo
An Art Experience Addressing the Urgency of Ocean Conservation
Julian Charrière, known for his thought-provoking explorations of human interactions with natural environments through film, sculpture, and photography, presents Midnight Zone, his latest video installation, at the Museo de Historia Natural y Cultural Ambiental, thanks to the generous support of Fundación Coppel. Curated by Pedro Alonzo, this evocative installation, drawing from our imaginaries of the deep sea, environmental science, and art as an interpretation of reality, features a mesmerizing video projection and will be open to the public starting February 4 until March 9, 2025.
At the heart of Midnight Zone lies a custom-designed Fresnel lighthouse lens, an object that has long been symbolic of the boundary zone between the oceanic and terrestrial. Doubling as a diving bell, the lens makes a symbolic descent into the water column above the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone, casting an urgent light on a region not only home to rich biodiversity but which is under the imminent threat of deep-sea mining for polymetallic nodules – mineral concretions containing the rare earth metals believed critical for the transition to green energies.
Transformed into an abyssal dream machine, the lighthouse lens interacting with majestic sea creatures are the primary elements of the film, transporting us into a submerged landscape which has long lacked representation. Through an immersive cinematic journey, Midnight Zone invites viewers to confront the pressing realities of resource extraction while also celebrating the mysterious beauty and multiplicity of the deep sea. The large-scale video projection is a singular evocative experience; bringing a mesmerizing encounter with one of the least explored biomes on Earth to audiences in Mexico City. By merging art and environmental activism, Charrière emphasizes the role of emotional connection in the field of ocean conservation, specifically highlighting the ecological significance of the Sea of Cortez.
As Julian Charriere explains, “Deep-sea mining poses one of the most urgent environmental threats of our time. These remote abyssal plains hold critical metals for the 'Green Revolution,' but at what cost? We are extracting resources from largely uncharted ecosystems, risking unknown and irreversible damage. The deep ocean plays a vital role in Earth's processes, including the carbon cycle. As an artist, I feel a responsibility to draw attention to such places, especially when they are so far removed from our daily concerns. We cannot afford to ignore what we do not see; the stakes are too high.”
Concerns about deep sea mining have become more immediate in Mexico as initiatives to extract phosphate, a key component of fertilizer, threaten the marine environment and the livelihood of local fishermen in the Gulf of Ulloa in the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur.
Pedro Alonzo points out that, “Art has the power to create a much-needed emotional link between the viewer and the environment. I am thrilled to be working on a project which simultaneously brings the beauty and majesty of the undersea world to life and makes the public aware of the dangers of deep-sea mining off the coast of Mexico.”
The installation will open to the public on February 4, 2025, on view during Semana de Arte. The artwork will remain on view through March 9, offering visitors a unique opportunity to engage with themes of environmental preservation.
The public is invited to experience this captivating blend of art and ecology, as Midnight Zone addresses a critical issue pushing the boundaries of public art by challenging viewers to reflect on the fragility of our oceans and the responsibility we bear for their protection.
The artwork will also be on display as part of Julian Charrière’s solo exhibition Midnight Zone, opening June 2025 at Museum Tinguely, following which it will travel to Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, opening March 2026.
Pedro Alonzo is an independent curator. He has served as adjunct curator at Dallas Contemporary, ICA Boston, and the Institute of Visual Arts at the University of Wisconsin. He is currently a Lecturer in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he teaches a course on curating in public spaces. Alonzo specializes in exhibitions that transcend the museum walls. In 2017, he collaborated with JR on an installation in the U.S.-Mexico border and in 2022 Amnesia Atomica with Pedro Reyes in Times Square. He has also developed singular public art projects with Alicja Kwade, Claudia Comte, Doug Aitken, Sam Durant, Shepard Fairey, Oscar Tuazon and Jean-Marie Appriou. In 2024 Alonzo was part of the curatorial team of the Noor Riyadh Festival in Saudi Arabia. He is currently the artistic director for the inaugural Boston Public Art Triennial, scheduled for 2025.
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