‘EUROPEAN LAB Expo’

Climate change and its consequences are the subject of scientific studies and political considerations. Moving away from this more or less rational approach, L'Oeil arpenteur with the support of the NGO Surfrider Foundation Europe which acts to protect the Ocean and the coast has chosen to approach climate change from a more cultural and sensitive angle focused on the everyday life in European coastal landscapes. Capturing the poetics of their provisional condition, the Aleascapes exhibition unfolds the indecisiveness of coastal landscapes from the coastal rivers of the city of Genoa in Italy to the Bay of Biscay coastline in France and Spain. The photographs reveal the astonishing mixture between short-term adaptation approaches using what appear to be derisory means, and collective strategies that attempt to contain risk through deception or force. This unlikely mixture of ephemeral actions and defensive fortresses shows how global warming is giving rise to the emergence of a specific culture, combining public policies and vernacular practices.