Laure Prouvost's film 'The Way the Soul Waves' is a reinterpretation of the myth of Icarus. In this version of events, the moment Icare-Us-Elle burns her wings on the sun and falls from the sky is the starting point for a poetic tale. As she plunges into the blue waves of the Mediterranean, she transforms into a magical anemone. Moving alongside her, we discover a shimmering and peaceful underwater world, one where everything floats and drifts as if in a dream. For this film, Laure Prouvost initiated a collaboration with a team specialising in underwater video production to capture the beauty of the seabed off the coast of Marseille and the choreography of the freedivers, who were specially costumed for the occasion. In Laure Prouvost’s liquid world, everything transforms, everything becomes hybrid: objects, either real or in glass, appear between the fingers of the anemone, then liquefy, disappear, and then reappear a little further away. A lazy jellyfish undulates with the waves, a fish-man uses his divining rod to find an unlikely spring hidden behind the seaweed. With hopes for a more empathetic and collective future, the film subtly critiques a male-dominated and individualistic society whose relentless pursuit of progress and consumption is ultimately leading to its own downfall.

Executive production of the film Bluearth Studio, sound creation Michael Harrison, produced by Elliot Cole

Bio
Laure Prouvost was born in Lille, France and is currently based in Antwerp. In 2002, she received her BFA from Central St Martins, London and studied towards her MFA at Goldsmiths College, London. She also took part in the LUX Associate Programme. Solo exhibitions have been held at venues including ‘AM-BIG-YOU-US LEGSICON’, M HKA – Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium (2019) Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2018); BASS Museum, Miami (2018); They Are Waiting for You, Performance for stage at the McGuire Theatre, Minneapolis (2018); SALT Galata, Istanbul (2017); Kunstmuseum Luzern (2016); Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2016); Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2016); Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing (2016); Haus Der Kunst, Munich (2015); New Museum, New York (2014); Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City (2014); Max Mara Art Prize for Women, Whitechapel Gallery, London and Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia (2013); and The Hepworth Wakefield (2012). In 2011, Prouvost won the MaxMara Art Prize for Women and was the recipient of the Turner Prize in 2013. Prouvost was selected to represent France at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019.