Udo work of art so as not to forget. On the site of the Arjuzanx nature reserve, in Morcenx-la-Nouvelle, three columns made of cofalit (inert material resulting from the vitrification of asbestos) are in place to recall the industrial past of the place. At a height of four, five and six meters, “Les 3 flamboyantes” were designed by the artist Valérie Rauchbach. A sculpture which will be inaugurated on September 28, 2024 to pay tribute to people who died following the inhalation of asbestos fibers.
From 1959 to 1992, the establishment of an EDF thermal power station played a considerable role in the development of this area of the department. At the height of its industrial activity, more than 600 people were employed on site to extract lignite from the mine. However, after an EDF board meeting on March 27, 1987, the decision was taken to shut down this unit. On February 26, 1992, it was disconnected from the national electricity grid after thirty-three years of activity.
Deadly poison
Jacques Ducout, now retired, was one of these workers. A member of the local union of the CGT Haute Lande, he initiated this project. He wanted to “give free rein to the artistic gaze” to pay tribute to the 129 victims, including 41 recognized by Social Security as “occupational asbestos disease”. “I didn’t want a simple stele,” confides this former electrician.
The former 2,500 hectare mining site, which became property of the Department, has since been transformed into a nature reserve and a place with numerous tourist activities. Thanks to this achievement, a whole part of the history of the site will be highlighted. “We wish to show that human beings are capable of transforming this deadly poison which has caused and continues to cause victims into a harmless product. »
It was during a meeting in Uzeste (33) that Jacques Ducout met the artist Valérie Rauchbach. Originally from Paris, the one who is used to working with volcanic sands was tempted by this experience. “I was sensitive to the story of these men. » To create this work of art, she tried to answer this question: “How can we pay homage to those, the half-living, men, women, in suffering, who wither away and slowly die out little by little, painfully, out of breath? »
The asbestos vitrification process, carried out using a plasma torch from the company Inertam, based in Morcenx-la-Nouvelle, makes the cofalit, the transformed product, sometimes friable and sometimes solid.
Matthew Sartre
Cofalit, this material similar to charcoal in its black color, the sculptor did not know it. She needed to tame it. “I carried out numerous tests in my workshop. I finally opted for something quite raw, in which you don’t really feel the human hand. » Indeed, this subject is full of complexities. The asbestos vitrification process – carried out using a plasma torch from the Inertam company, based in Morcenx-la-Nouvelle – makes the cofalit, the transformed product, sometimes friable and sometimes solid.
Interactive work
Finally, these three columns symbolize the chimneys of the old EDF power station. To go a little further in the creative process, the artist chose to integrate LEDS into the material to “gently animate it, like breathing”. She also teamed up with Jean-Marie Lavallée, inventor of an interactive music concept that won a prize in the Lépine competition, to bring this work to life and make it more “interactive”.
Depending on the viewer’s position and distance, sounds and voices will be triggered. “Sounds of machines. Then, as they get closer, the sounds will transform into human voices. The objective is to immerse oneself in the middle of these sculptures and to make people aware of what happened here,” explains the artist.
For Valérie Rauchbach, the opportunity to create this sculpture represents something important in her life as an artist. “There are rare moments when his work becomes accurate and relevant. This is exactly what I feel here: a perfect conjunction between history, place and artistic creation. »
Program
Saturday September 28, from 9:30 a.m., reception at the Site House of the Arjuzanx Nature Reserve; 10:30 a.m., intervention by personalities, including Lionel Lasserre, secretary of the CGT local union; 11:30 a.m., unveiling of the work and musical interlude by Myriam Lafargue and three musicians from the Lubat company; 12 p.m., reception.
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