Visitors to London's Borough Yards are encountering an extraordinary artistic experience that challenges perceptions of nature and reality. French artist Noémie Goudal's The Story of Fixity presents a digital installation that immerses audiences in a manufactured jungle environment that deliberately reveals its own artifice.
An Immersive Jungle Experience
The installation features three large screens displaying dense tropical landscapes filled with giant ferns, vine-covered tree trunks, and sun-drenched foliage. The scenes appear remarkably realistic at first glance, with weathered rocks, mossy surfaces, and lush vegetation that invites viewers to lose themselves in the imagery.
However, the illusion quickly begins to unravel. Mist unexpectedly drifts across the greenery as if from an unseen source, while water droplets form puddles on the metal floor sheets beneath the screens. This physical water element slowly accumulates throughout the day, creating an ever-changing environment that blurs the line between digital representation and physical reality.
The Deconstruction Process
As viewers watch, the jungle scenes undergo a remarkable transformation. The vibrant green landscapes gradually fade into what resembles duo-tone illustrations from old encyclopedias, then further dissolve into multilayered collages that evoke both fertility and chaos.
The screens themselves are not flat surfaces but consist of multiple relief planes whose cut edges correspond to the shapes of the projected foliage and rocks. As the natural colours bleach from the images, these structural elements become increasingly visible, revealing the mechanical underpinnings of the artistic illusion.
Goudal employs filmed dyes and pigments in iron-rich reds, ochre greys, and tangy yellows that slowly slide down the screens. The effect resembles watercolour paint curdling and dissolving, creating what the artist describes as "pigmented abstraction".
Artistic Vision and Soundscape
The installation represents Goudal's complex exploration of ecosystems, water's fundamental role in nature, and human perception. Her work incorporates elements of biology and geology alongside scientific research concerning what she terms "fixed points" related to distances, depths, and how we interpret our environment.
French electronic artist and DJ Chloé Thévenin contributes a compelling soundscape that begins with authentic jungle sounds—insect noises, animal calls, and bird chirps—before devolving into electronic sizzles, percussive beats, and hollow echoes. This audio journey mirrors the visual transformation from natural representation to abstract interpretation.
The entire cycle of creation and destruction repeats every 15 minutes, creating what Goudal describes as a "constant flux" that questions how we understand the natural world and the processes supporting life on Earth.
The Story of Fixity continues as an ongoing Artangel commission at Borough Yards, offering London audiences a thought-provoking experience that challenges conventional boundaries between nature, art, and perception.
