A film
The first project is a double projection film synchronizing the straightening of a poplar tree that was tilted into the sphere of the PIAF and the body of a performer, Emilie Pouzet.

The idea of building spheres comes from the fact that trees grow very, very slowly. It takes long weeks – sometimes even months – to observe their growth process and be able to measure it. Suppressing phototropism cannot be done simply by switching off the light, because trees need this energy every day in order to grow.

The originality of spheres is their ability to create an environment of isotropic light; that is an environment where light shines in the same way in all directions. Therefore, with appropriate programming, we can create a day-night rhythm where a tree receives light energy from the top, bottom and all sides. Phototropism is no longer possible!

How does a tree move with only the perception of gravity and proprioception left?
A purpose-made tree support allows the pot to be tilted horizontally while keeping in the nourishing of soil throughout the experiment. A digital camera fitted in a small hole in the sphere, and controlled by a computer, allows the recording of images of our tree’s slow movements in time-lapse, at a regular rate.
The sphere served as the starting point for our collaborative work: a long tilting experiment with a poplar tree illuminated at 360 degrees in June 2019.

In parallel, the -deceptively simple- idea I had developed was to compare the plant’s perception of the boundaries of its own form and gravitational pull with human perception of the same physiological phenomena.
Emilie Pouzet is a performer and curator of the dance and performance programme of the Emmetrop association in Bourges. IIt appears, working with her that this movement attempt is not only an exercise involving the muscles, but also allows a real reflection on how the plants move, with each leaf evolving according to its own perception. It suggests our human relationship to gravity and physiology. In this aspect, this experience is similar to BMC's current contemporary dance practices - body mind centering. Proprioception takes also part of the sensitive concepts developed in this field.

Using archive images, Emilie acquainted herself with the movements of a shrub straightening itself up in order to transform them into human movements. An almost impossible task, since our bodily structure is obviously very different from that of a poplar tree.
The performer must mentally project herself into this movement, try to grasp its complexity and to enter a different time, since a sequence of movements made by the human body in about four minutes for the Vertimus film lasted more than two weeks for the plant, at the rate of one image every ten minutes.

The performer has to project himself mentally into this movement, try to grasp its complexity and enter a different time frame, since a sequence of movements of the human body lasting around four minutes for the film Vertimus took more than two weeks for the plant, at a rate of one image every ten minutes.