History, Oblivion, Fragility (Storia, Oblio, Fragilità)（2017），Resin, polyester、 neon light、gold patina, aluminum，64 × 73 × 25 cm、64 × 73 × 25 cm、65 × 80 × 28 cm，Courtesy of Galleria Fumagalli

French artists Anne and Patrick Poirier, who refer to themselves as architect-archaeologists, have been visiting, searching for, collecting and making inventories of sites and vestiges of ancient civilizations from when they first worked together in Rome in 1967. Their artistic practices are deeply rooted in their passion for travel, sometimes in the form of wanderings, as well as their discoveries of the heritage of humanity. 

These three works from Anne and Patrick Poirier were first realized for the exhibition “Dystopia,” which was presented in 2017 at Galleria Fumagalli in Italy. The works are installed as a triptych, though they were actually conceived as individual works. Realized in polyester resin and wrapped in gold leaf, each pupil is engraved with a word that is illuminated from the back by a colored neon light. The three words are “History” (red), “Oblivion” (green), and “Fragility” (blue). 

The artwork address issues related to memory, the past, and ruins as traces of the past in the present, frequent topics in the art of the Poiriers. The three eyes appear as fragments of classical statues: during their time in Rome, the artists encountered marble statues of mythological figures that seemed to follow them with their eyes. These works present their gaze, and seem to be discussing the clash between light and darkness, consciousness and unconsciousness, rationality and irrationality, balance and chaos. These fragments therefore refer to a knowledge that stems from the ancient world and lingers on in our unconscious.