Worm Hole

Roch-Cuerrier encountered the Worm Hole on a trip to the Aran Islands in Spring 2015. The rock formation is only accessible by walking, following a small hiking trail along the Atlantic ocean. The Worm Hole is a natural geological formation on the island of Inishmore, Ireland; in which sea water rises and falls with the tides. The event is strange and mysterious, the colorful water surfacing in the middle of the land. Its geometric and well-defined contours suggest human intervention, yet the pool was formed by the elements and time. The image gives us the impression of a dream or a portal to another reality.

seaside rectangular pool naturally carved in a rock formation
Julie Roch-Cuerrier, Worm Hole, March 2015

In a time of social and environmental upheaval, Worm Hole now takes on a meaning that goes beyond the poetics of its construction. The work invites us to take a new look at the world around us. Through the well-cut contours of the swimming pool, which at a first glance suggest the result of human intervention, the artist questions the anthropocentric view that we often have on the World surrounding us. She explores our relationship to landscape and seeks to better understand how we exist in the World, and how to better cohabit with it.

The movement of water, suspended in time and fixed in the photographic instant, prompts a pause: a moment of reflection. Contained between these seemingly monumental and immutable stone walls, the water of the sea, alive and in constant motion, questions our conception of impermanence. Through Worm Hole, the artist reflects on the possibility of materializing the lived and felt experience of time, emphasizing the intimate sensation we can have of it.

video projection of a seaside rectangular pool naturally carved in a rock formation
Julie Roch-Cuerrier, Worm Hole, video projection on leaning glass, 112 x 200 cm, 2′ loop
Installation view, Water, Never Apart, 2016