Gravity Flow is an installation by Douglas Mandry at the Pavillon Sicli in Geneva. Its centrepiece is a set of five “crystals” on a bed of sand that reproduce the shape and dimensions of shapes within glacial crevasses, based on data gathered using scanners inserted into these ice cracks. Made from recycled glass to reflect the impurity of polluted ice, the sculptures bring the inside of the glacier out into the open. The installation also features a series of large rubbing paintings on canvas – produced directly on the surface of glaciers – affixed to self-standing frames. This technique results in colourful, abstract, organic patterns guided by the form and texture of the ice itself.

Douglas Mandry was born in Geneva in 1989. He previously lived in Vaud Canton and is now based in Zurich. He graduated from ECAL University of Arts and Design, Lausanne, in 2013. Mandry often collaborates with experts and scientists, producing works that blur the traditional lines between mediums and disciplines and prompt us to rethink how we understand and perceive the world around us. Using glass, wildfire-scorched wood and other found materials, and accessing closed-off locations such as government warehouses and deep cavities under glacial ice, he employs tangible traces of the modern age to challenge our conscience, both conceptually and physically.

Surface Tension, Douglas Mandry © Pavillon Sicli, Photo : Julien Gremaud

Douglas Mandry, Gravity Flow, 2022