Displace

Displace explores the process of entering into a dialogue with soil as a living entity. It offers an intimate insight into Elena Khurtova's artistic research and process during her residency at 3bisF, on the site of Montperrin Psychiatric hospital in Aix-en-Provence, and delves into her personal connection with displaced soils. Extending the sensitive experience of touching red and yellow soils into the materiality of the book, Elena Khurtova and graphic designer Tariq Heijboer experiment with those very soils as pigments for a duo-colour offset printed book. With essays by writer Amelia Groom and the artist, Displace addresses the materiality of soil through an interplay of imagery, text and tactility. This project was initiated and presented as a performance and installation at 3bisF Contemporary Art Centre located in Montperrin Psychiatric hospital in Aix-en-Provence (France) during the Manifesta Biennial in 2020.