Drawing on the collection of stones, minerals, and fossils inherited from her rock-enthusiast grandfather, Sofia Lautrec explores the notion of collecting and the act of accumulation that it entails. When and how does a collection begin? How does an intimate relationship develop between the collector and the collected object?

In both art and science, amateur collections play an important role in the discovery of new elements and the advancement of certain fields of research. How does a private, intimate form of preservation, which serves as an act of remembrance for the individual, become a matter of collective interest?

Drawing at times on scientific and sociological figures such as Roger Caillois, Gaston Bachelard, and Dorothy Vitaliano, Sofia Lautrec develops a project situated between art and science. Through poetry and artistic practice, she explores the notions of “geomythology” and “stonelore,” drawing a parallel with “lore”: the collective body of stories created, particularly online, which serves as the foundation for a modern mythology in the age of post-reality, and as a symptom of the human need to “make imagination.”

By playing with the modes of display found in museums, Sofia Lautrec develops a series of sculptures and installations that question systems of object classification, as well as the hierarchies of value that define them.

Stones, metal, and poems: a pebble found along the roadside becomes a precious stone in the laboratory, an invaluable substance in the collector’s display case.

Sofia Lautrec will also present, for the first time, a collaborative work with Paul Charmes, an object designer.

To explore these different fields, Sofia Lautrec is supported by the scientific expertise of the Géosciences laboratory.