Mériol Lehmann
at Miguasha National Park (Nouvelle)
EXPOSITION
De la friche comme résistance (Wasteland as Resistance)
Mériol Lehmann, Montreal, Québec | mlehmann.ca
Beginning in the 1950s, rural Québec underwent a profound transformation, with a move from subsistence farming to a productivist agricultural regime, notably because of state policies that actively favored the change. In the St. Lawrence lowlands, home to the finest land, dairy farms yielded to monocultures of corn and soybeans, crops that went towards feeding pigs and poultry in factory farms. The advent of mechanization and biochemical inputs made it possible to farm larger areas with less of a workforce and to significantly increase yields. In addition to these phenomena of specialization and intensification, the productivism was marked by the disappearance of small farms in favor of bigger ones, the latter adding considerably to their farmable area.
Farmers of that time optimistically hoped that the prosperity brought by these new agronomic methods would replace a way of life geared to hard labor. But in more remote areas, with their generally poorer soils, this regime change would instead mean an important agricultural decline, resulting in the abandonment of a high number of farms.
Rooted in extractivism and scientific thinking, productivist agriculture is an element of a paradigm in which the earth is a disposable resource. The technological solutionism of agro-industrial oligopolies suggests that we regulate nature in order to have stable and profitable food sources. Following mechanization and biochemistry, digital agriculture is the new front: detailed satellite cards mean tractors can be guided by GPS, and machines programmed according to the data collected.
In the summer of 2023, as part of the event Friches presented in Victoriaville, I did an artistic performance titled “Les foins” (Hay). As a tribute to those farmers who slaved away to turn the Appalachian foothills into farmland, I proposed temporarily restoring this wasteland to the function of its glory days, that of a place of nourishment. I made hay the same way as those who cleared it: manually, with a scythe, a pitchfork and a rake. A physical homage to the growers of yesteryear, to awaken the consciousness of today.
Exposition aux Rencontres
De la friche comme résistance (Wasteland as Resistance)
Born in Switzerland but a resident of Québec for more than 40 years, Mériol Lehmann is an artist who primarily uses photography, sound art and media art. In the form of exhibits, installations or performances, his work has been presented in multiple venues on five continents. The holder of a master’s degree in visual arts from Université Laval, he did doctoral studies at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, at their École Multidisciplinaire de l’Image. After devoting his research to a systematic approach to territory and to representations of contemporary rurality, his interest now lies in challenging the Cartesian nature/culture dualism and its impact on the ecological crisis.