Cathédrales hermétiques consists of a series that was born from a book published in the 1950s by the ministry of tourism to promote spiritual architecture in France. Aëgerter selected interiors over the scope of ten centuries to explore the different architectural modes of provoking a spiritual experience.
In this body of work, Aëgerter silkscreened three photographs of a Romanesque church (Saint-Benoit-sur- Loire, 10th century), a Gothic church (Coutances, 12th century) and a modern church (Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc, Nice, 20th century) with a black layer of ink reactive to the heat of the sun. Later she included in this series the three Provençal sisters of Ciestercian architecture: Sénanque, Silvacane
and Le Thoronet, whose architectural design echoed her meditative quest.
These church interiors begin in darkness and are slowly revealed when exposed to sunlight, like photography in a darkroom; a cycle that takes about an hour.
Through this juxtaposition of eras, Laurence Aëgerter pays tribute to the monumentality of these works of art. She shifts the history of architecture but also that of the photographic technique. Yesterday’s immutability meets today’s fleetingness. Laurence Aëgerter herself says that she builds “small monuments to Time”. But with this imperceptible temporal experience, she creates and invites us to a temple of meditation and contemplation.
Fannie Escoulen, independent curator
(Purchased by the Netherlands Museum of Photography, 2021)
Exhibition at the Petit Palais "Ici, mieux qu'en face" - solo show (06/10/20 - 09/05/21) - catalog edition.
Rencontres d'Arles, 2019 - catalog edition / Actes Sud.