Philippe Parreno Anywhen, 2024
Anywhen, 2024, is a new iteration of an earlier video work by Philippe Parreno, created specially for his solo exhibition Places and Spaces at Pola Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan.
The film interlaces footage of a cephalopod with imagery of bacteria cells and movement of liquid and gaseous substances. The soundtrack features "No Queda Nada," a haunting song by Arca, a Venezuelan musician with whom Parreno has been collaborating since the exhibition Echo2 at the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection in Paris, 2022.
The cephalopod—or Giant Cuttlefish—was filmed in an aquarium tank located in Parreno’s studio in Paris. The aquatic creature is a recurrent motif in Parreno’s work, beginning with his 2003 film Alien Seasons. Using cells known as chromatophores—pigment-containing and light-reflecting cells—the Giant Cuttlefish can put on spectacular visual displays, changing skin color in an instant, as means of camouflage or communication. Parreno’s camera follows the cephalopod’s transformations, focusing on its eye and tentacles. At times covered with golden stripes, its skin suddenly switches to a darker, greyish shade, giving it a monstrous aspect.