Laure Prouvost’s DIT LEARN is a learning process. Language as a communications means is not only reflected upon but fundamentally questioned in regard to its necessity. Does language represent our reality as we see it? What ideas do different words trigger in each of us? Can we even express what we see with words? The artist ultimately imagines a world without words.
Like in a waiting room, the viewers are asked by the masked artist at the beginning of the six-part video to take a seat. Resembling a memory game, seemingly random pictures of animals, plants, or everyday objects are gradually linked on a visual and auditory level with meanings that initially appear not to correspond with our viewing habits. What are at first simply individual words then turn into sentences. In this way, Prouvost not only creates a new language but also makes the process of identity formation through language comprehensible. Do we need words for what we are? We are asked to memorize all this and solve the code surrounding the objects. The voiceover, which is at times soft, at others resolute, gives the attendant instructions. The speed of the video that includes rapid cuts and pans, fade-to-blacks and close-ups, prevents longer deliberations or coming up with answers. Is it relevant in the end to have a name for all things?
Prouvost not only occupies the screen with her video, but also communicates beyond it. She directly addresses the viewers and establishes a connection through their proximity to the screen. We become protagonists of an interactive game. At the same time, the fade-to-blacks that resemble a curtain mark the border to the auditorium. The bizarre imaginary world that she creates captivates the viewers on different sensory levels, so that we seem to be able to smell the fish, although we can hardly grasp it.

Diana Storcks