"L’archéologie des Fluides " or FLUID ARCHAEOLOGY
JULY 19 TO OCTOBER 27, 2024, MUSÉE D'ART ET D'HISTOIRE, 11 A.M. TO 6 P.M. TUESDAY TO SUNDAY AND 12 P.M. TO 9 P.M. THURSDAY
At the dawn of the twentieth century, numerous studies on (para)normal psychology and altered states of consciousness, on the bangs of purely rational interpretations of subjectivity and artistic modernity, began in Geneva. At a time when the metaverse revolution and augmented reality are shaking up our perceptions, these are questions that were already being asked by archaeologist Waldemar Deonna, who directed Geneva's Musée d'art et d'histoire from 1922 to 1951.
With Archaeology of Fluids the MAH was inspired by his original thinking on the power of works of art to transport us, even virtually, through the ages : auras and halos, the magnetism of objects and the reanimation of images from the past, the hypnosis of the gaze and the ecstasy of the senses.
To tell this story of fascination, the MAH has invited art historian Pascal Rousseau to explore the power of works of art to captivate our attention. With the help of American artist Tony Oursler and his fascinating archive on the visual imaginings of hypnotism, he invites us to rediscover the Museum's collection from a new angle, highlighting our relationship with objects and their hold on our gaze. What fascinates us in a work of art or any other object? Can we travel through the time and space that separate us from their more or less distant origins?