Fragile Monument

At an altitude of 2200 meters, the Rhone glacier has become both an object of scientific study and an important touristic site of the Swiss Alps. An eloquent indication of a predicted disappearance, it is covered with textile mosaics to protect it from solar radiation. If, according to the promoters of the project, these covers contribute to reduce the acceleration of the glacial retreat, this practice remains disputed by the scientific environment. Evocative of an enigmatic setting, of shrouds or temporary refuges, the deployment of these survival blankets represents an attempt to control the landscape by humans in a context of climatic upheaval. In an immersive work of image and sound, Fragile Monument explores the scales of temporality specific to the glacier, the water, the mineral environment and their entanglement with human rhythms. By questioning models of future ecologies, the work focuses on our complex relationship with an altered nature, where states of hybridity, vulnerability and sublimation are combined.

DirectorJean-Maxime Dufresne, Virginie Laganière

EditingVirginie Laganière

Sound RecordingVirginie Laganière, Jean-Maxime Dufresne

CameraVirginie Laganière, Jean-Maxime Dufresne

Sound mixingNicolas Dubé

MusicVirginie Laganière