What’s New on the Art Scene

Exploring the Ephemeral

For this week’s edition, we will look at upcoming artworks while exploring the theme of the ephemeral.

The Last of the Sea Women is a 2024 documentary directed by Sue Kim depicting the lives of a small percentage of elderly women. The haenyo is a group that have a particular and uncommon job led by the inhabitants of the Jeju island in South Korea; this declining community dive into the waters in order to gather seafood to feed its population.

Progressively, the documentary addresses ecological issues and emergencies, shedding light on the decision made by the Japanese government imposing for the radioactive contaminated water to be released in the Korean waters, which they will protest against alongside with a younger generation of haenyo (composed of only 2 women), using their influence and visibility to allow exposure to raise awareness on the matter, popularising their works.

Aapo Huhta - Gravity

“They are simultaneously both painfully corporeal and infinitely distant, almost like visual echoes from another dimension.”

Aapo Huhta is a renowned Helsinki-based photographer, selected as one of the Top 30 Under 30 photographers by Magnum Photos in 2014, whose work blends documentary practices along with experimental techniques.

After obtaining a Master’s degree from Aalto University of Arts and Design in Helsinki, Huhta’s work gradually started focusing mainly on depicting the human condition and the exploration of personal introspection. His approach to photography relies on a willingness to get lost in his art, even more in his recent series “Gravity” where he focused on chemical distortions in the darkroom.

A true master of analogue photography, he uses optical distortions in this series of work to make bodies stand out of a black background, almost portraying them as part of a liminal, frozen in time type of space. Using real life models as well as photographs of mummified remains of 16th-century Sicilian catacombs, Huhta creates deformed like bodies, pushing the viewer to put into question the fragility and complexity of human life as an ephemeral experience.

The Taste of Things, Trần Anh Hùng, 2023

The Taste of Things directed by Trần Anh Hùng Selected to compete for the Palme d’Or of the 74th edition of Cannes Festival, this film is a mix of comfortness both for the eyes and the belly. The film follows the story of Eugénie, a talentuous cook working for and with gourmet infamous cook Dodin Bouffant, an imaginary character based on the 1924 novel written by Marcel Rouff. The warmth of the colour palette of the film’s setting and decor paired with the-unfortunately only conceivable through the imagination- appealingness and aestheticism of the homemade cooked meals brings a peaceful atmosphere in which we are obliged to be immersed in.

Echoing to Babette’s Feast, the ephemerality of a given moment is pictured differently and more explicitly as the season in which the majority of the film unravels takes place during spring and summertime, before declining as a dramatic event happens, changing the prominent colour and bringing a much colder environment to the experience of the film. Furthermore, the relationship between Eugénie and Dodin developed after 20 years of living together, before the inexorable expiry date. Love through food and the action of eating is a great metaphor; there, love is expressed through the attention brought to the carefully cooked courses, knowing it won’t last but still can’t help to fulfil the urge of demonstrating it.

JR’s Upcoming Transformation of the Pont Neuf

‘I wanted it to become a sculpture for the first time, but an ephemeral one.’ - Christo

JR, also known as Jean-René, is a world renowned and celebrated contemporary artist whose practice regularly becomes parts of the urban landscapes of megalopolises. Currently mostly known for his large-scale photographic installations, JR is yet to take on Paris one more time.

Indeed, as early as September 2025 and as a celebration of the 40 years old wrapping installation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, JR will bring his own touch to this city landmark with a large-scale installation, turning the space into a stone-like cave. Only shaping the banks of the Seine for two weeks this installation draws inspiration from the quarries which supplied Paris of its famed stones. The juxtaposition of the rough and organic texture of the work against the perfectly symmetrical and orderly Paris horizon aims to provoke a reflection on the city’s evolving and distancing relationship with nature, but also with architecture. JR’s practice aims to bring new frames to the way we observe our surroundings, and he aims to do just that once again with this new upcoming work: “Art is a transformation, and a way of renewing the way we look at the world around us”.