Noémie Goudal's latest installation, The Story of Fixity, at Borough Yards in London, presents an immersive jungle scene on three large screens. The work features giant ferns, vine-tangled tree trunks, and sun-struck foliage, but the illusion is deliberately flawed, with visible rivulets and waterproof matting revealing the artifice.
The installation includes a soundscape by French electronic artist Chloé Thévenin, filled with insect noises and animal calls that evolve into electronic beats. Goudal's work explores ecosystems and water's role, but the artist prioritises illusion over naturalism, allowing the jungle to fade into abstract pigments over 15-minute cycles.
As the images dissolve, the screens' relief planes become apparent, and real water drips onto metal sheets on the floor, creating puddles. Goudal's mix of photography and film deconstructs itself repeatedly, but the piece remains a sophisticated theatre rather than an educational experience about nature.
