Born in 1965, Strasbourg, France Lives and works in Paris, France and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil A towering figure extends wiry, colorful arms, or appendages, into the air. Alienor, created in collaboration with writer and philosopher Paul B. Preciado, embodies a potential extraterrestrial encounter. The work reimagines Le Corbusier’s The Modulor (1946), a study of human proportions in the tradition of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, through which both sought to define harmonious measures of the human body. Alienor reimagines The Modulor through a queer and critical lens. It is a portal, a study of nonhuman and nonnormative proportions, and an homage to the legendary historical figure Eleanor (or Aliénor) of Aquitaine, the Queen of France (1137-1152) and England (1154-1189). Blending historical and speculative futuristic narratives, the sculpture is emblematic of Gonzalez-Foerster’s long-standing fascination with science fiction, cosmic life and interstellar communication. Both a portal and an invitation for mystical transformation, Alienor contemplates our potential encounters with alien others.
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster blends fiction, historical inquiry, and speculative futures. Since the 1990s, she has explored different sensory and cognitive modalities and relationships between bodies and spaces. Expanding traditional notion of artworks, Gonzalez- Foerster creates what she calls “chambres,” “interiors,” “gardens,” “attractions,” and “planets.” Paul B. Preciado is a philosopher and curator known for his work on gender, sexuality, and the politization of the body. His writings challenge traditional notions of identity and sexuality.