This work is part of the project ‘Dead River’ (2022-2023) by the artist Tanja Engelberts. ‘Dead River’ reveals the layered threats to the ecology of Arles, France, and its surroundings. The ceramic work ‘We Pool’ is based on an image of the basin where the Rhône Glacier melts and becomes a river. This project was selected in 2023 for the international festival Rencontre d’Arles.
For ‘Dead River’, Tanja Engelberts worked with the Rhône, which has been altered by its interactions with hydroelectric facilities and the chemical industry. She examines the river from an animistic point of view and tries to imagine what it’s like to be a fast-flowing river that slowly accumulates Anthropocene-era artifacts over a 600 kilometer stretch. This landscape is steeped in chemical waste and is gradually disappearing due to the effects of climate change.
Engelberts made photographs from the perspective of the river itself, focusing on the junction of water and riverbanks – sometimes it’s a natural barrier, but more often stone or concrete. Along these riverbanks, she found a clay-like substance that she incorporated into her works. Engelberts created relieves on the basis of laser cut photographs of the river and pressed clay into them. She then glazed her ceramic landscapes with clay sourced from the Rhône – typical for the work of Engelberts, the subject and object become intertwined within the artwork.