Central to the Cosmos et Vanitas exhibition is a series of 24 paintings, one for each hour of the day, that Ylva Snöfrid created during a trip to the Jungfraujoch research station in the Swiss Alps. It is the highest research station in Europe, where scientists observe the atmosphere, climate, stars, snow, and glaciers. Ylva Snöfrid describes this expedition as a metaphysical ritual, an artistic quest to understand her place, and that of humanity, in the universe. The journey took her to the highest possible point, close to the vast cosmos.
At Jungfraujoch, Ylva Snöfrid performed a ritual where she set up her paintings in a spiral on the glacier, offering them up for contemplation by the mountains and stars. Like Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, the spiral of paintings placed on the snow could only truly be seen from above.
As part of the exhibition at the Institut suédois, Ylva Snöfrid will perform a similar ritual four times on October 17. Instead of protecting the paintings from contact with the exterior, Ylva Snöfrid will exhibit six of them in the garden, placing them directly on the ground, connecting them to the earth and the vastness of the sky in the heart of Paris.
Useful information
- The rituals will take place at 7:20 am, noon, 7:40 pm and midnight and will last about 40 minutes each.
- Admission free, prior reservation required: