Close-up: Pauline Julier

Pauline Julier is a Franco-Swiss artist and filmmaker whose work explores the complexity of the relationships between human beings and the environment. Combining documentary, theoretical and fictional elements, her films and installations examine the connections between scientific discoveries and mythological narratives, offering shifting perspectives on our place in the world. Pauline Julier will be at Bozar for a Close-up on her film work and to present her new installation The Island That Wasn't, the result of two years of residency at Bozar. This event is organised as part of the European programme STUDIOTOPIA.

In collaboration with scientists, Pauline Julier has explored the definition of the “living” through two perspectives: one scientific and the other rooted in mythology. The project The Island That Wasn't examines how contemporary scientific research, based on rigour and curiosity, is permeated by a dimension of imagination and desire, making it a powerful narrative force capable of shaping our future. Taking as its starting point the notion of a “phantom island” – an imaginary territory that haunted sailors for centuries – the artist films the island of La Palma, where the myth of San Borondón physically overlaps with the astronomical observatory hosting the Terra Hunting Experiment programme. At a time of climate collapse and increasing fragility of terrestrial ecosystems, the search for exoplanets has intensified. This search is accompanied by a broader human desire: to find a refuge or an origin – the lost Paradise. Pauline Julier’s proposal seeks to place the certainty of myth in tension with the rigour of scientific calculation.