Mumbai is her lab, nature her playground

You live and work in Mumbai Your creations have been praised for a deep synergy with ecology and the planetrsquos survival How and why did this sensibility emerge I spent my childhood by the sea in Bretagne France We would sail go fishing dive and live according to the rhythms of the tides So I have always looked at nature as something which we should value protect and also fear sometimes Soazic Guezennecrsquos works at Studio X Could you tell us about the Utopian architectural project that you will showcase as part of the India Design Week I have created an artistic Real Estate Company ldquowhich gives nature the city it deservesrdquo After noticing the gap between the concept of the nature city plugged by the real estate ads and the reality I have decided to take those slogans and design architectural projects which would reinstate nature in the city To sell them using the same classical supports of communication that real estate does mdash like naturersquos revenge For this project you intend to work on an imaginary fertile city where nature is integrated instead of being phased out Is this possible Luckily I am not an architect or an urbanist who has to deal with the reality I donrsquot pretend to give solutions or even make criticism As an artist I use imagination and dreams to reinvent reality I hope that while seeing my project people will question their vision of nature because the definition we give to nature determines our relationship to it and how we treat it in our cities What do we call as nature Is it what the ads are selling us a domesticated plot of land between four walls is it the wild untamed entity by opposition to the culture is it something scary or useful In the West we have preserved nature by controlling it In a city under construction like Mumbai I see great opportunities to invent a new model with the right conditions for nature to develop itself freely without fences What is the singlemost crucial aspect that plagues Mumbairsquos multiple diverse ecosystems Greed But this is not specific to Mumbai it is true all over the planet As a creative person concerned about the earth around us what will get the common man to help solve Mumbairsquos problems People in power should be the first to be involved by providing services education and making laws with the right examples Then the commoner might take interest and follow Art can play its role Itrsquos what I am trying to do by exposing people to Utopia make them dream of another vision and maybe try to act on it You use different forms of expression paintings videos and installations how do you dabble across these with similar intensity I am a creative person trained as a painter and a sculptor and I have never stopped learning I am also familiar with the corporate world as I founded and ran a communication company for a few years Medium doesnrsquot matter Your words are more important For this project I wanted to make a parody of a real estate company so I had to use the same media that you find in a real company ie videos models brochures etcu00a0In the studio I have shown a great variety of objects drawings and sculpture which I have collected as a preparatory work over three years I wanted to show the process of creation not the pieces Some may seem less achieved others are only the beginning of something but they all have their importance in the process of creation Look at it as a whole installation not an addition of single pieces Why did you make Mumbai your home It was a family project We wanted to live and experience abroad so my husband started to look for a job somewhere on the planet and he had an opportunity in Mumbai Desire for change and chance brought us here but when I arrived I felt that it was the exact place where I was supposed to be For someone who works on the tension between city and nature Mumbai is a wonderful lab I am still amazed to explore it but also happy to be able to escape in nature sometimes Soazic Guezennersquos installations will be on display on March 8 at Studio X Fort u00a0