Lick in the Past, 2016
The latest artist to join Lisson Gallery in 2017, Laure Prouvost (born 1978, France) explores notions of language and translation in her multidisciplinary practice. Embracing linguistic complexity and the limitations of communication, Prouvost creates films and installations that reveal fantasies, question comfort zones and propose new freedoms. For Lick in the Past (8 mins 25 secs), the artist follows a group of teenagers cruising through Los Angeles while nonchalantly discussing dreams and desires, as filtered through their environs. These trance-like confessions and conversations are inter-cut with images of squid and fish, which – together with glimpses of Prouvost’s body and the landscape of LA – form a poetic road movie about the vague promises and wistful possibilities of youth. The film is installed within a sea of detritus trapped in poured resin and viewed from bucket seats within a scattering of tropical pot plants, resembling the aftermath of a pool party. The visuals are accompanied by a hip-hop soundtrack composed by LA-based producer WYNN.