Laure Prouvost presents new film installation at 2022 Busan Biennale

3 September 2022

Running from 3 September – 6 November 2022, this year's edition of the Busan Biennale looks at the hidden stories embedded in the history and urban structure of Busan, and connects them with a modern global reality.

Titled 'We, on the Rising Wave', the Biennial focuses on migration, women and labour, urban ecosystems, technological change, and spatiality, using the metaphor of the wave to express the flow of people into and out of Busan over the years, its turbulent history, and its interconnectedness with the wider world. These themes are, however, also used as central axes for exploration of events and situations specific to Busan.

Laure Prouvost's Four For See Beauties (2022) was commissioned by Kiasma, Helsinki for ARS22, and is shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Busan as part of an immersive installation, accessed after passing through a tunnel of palm trees. In contrast to the coolness of the sea in autumn and the heat of the sauna depicted in the video, the lowly-lit, red exhibition space is warmed to human body temperature – a representation of the inside of a womb.

At once seductive and jarring, Prouvost's approach to filmmaking employs layered storytelling, quick edits, montage and wordplay and is composed of a rich, tactile assortment of images, sounds, spoken and written phrases. Recalling stages of transformation in human life, this installation invites the audience on a journey to water, against the process of human evolution, and to once again experience a space dominated by the senses of touch and sound, asking: How does it feel to be a newborn again? How about swimming in the sea like a fish again?

The Busan Biennale continues through 6 November. Find further information on Laure Prouvost's presentation here.

Laure Prouvost, Four For See Beauties, 2022 (film still), HD video, 15 min 14 sec © Laure Prouvost. Commissioned by Kiasma Museum, Helsinki for ARS22.