Serac VI: Moulin Vert
The title of this piece is most obviously a reference to Toulouse-Lautrec’s well known painting ‘Le Moulin Rouge’, and the great differences of subject are part of the point here. Whereas ‘Le Moulin Rouge’ is the name of a cafe– the red mill– and the concerns of the painting are people and their relationships, the moulin here is a glaciological term, and the concerns are rather the relationship between people and the natural world. Even the colors emphasize this– the arrogance of red to be contrasted with the connotations political and otherwise of the word green.
More InformationAs for all members of the series Sérac, the intellectual and visual point of departure for ‘Le Moulin Vert’ are glaciers, with their attendant power, majesty, beauty, and profundity. Other members of the series have addressed the energetic interface between rock and moving ice; this piece¹s references include the glaciological feature called a moulin, where surface meltwater carves a vertical channel down through the foliation of ice to the bedrock and subglacial streams beneath. These can be dramatic and unforgettable, and the metaphorical implications tie in to the aspects mentioned in the series statement.
Other references include dichotomic seeds (like beans) germinating, and any perceived visual suggestion of human form is quite intentional. The real point, after all is not just celebrating nature’s beauties, but commenting on and pointing up our relationship, or lack thereof, to it.