In his large-scale video installation An Invitation to Disappear, the French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière intertwines human history, natural disasters, and global economics into a striking visual and acoustic experience. Between the baroque splendor of the gallery and the powerful video presence, Charrière creates a space where image, sound, light, and rhythm merge into an artistic unity, exerting a captivating effect.
An Invitation to Disappear , filmed in Southeast Asia, simulates an unusual rave in the middle of a monoculture palm oil plantation. A camera pans through endless rows of palm trees, accompanied by hypnotic nature sounds and techno beats developed in collaboration with British DJ and producer Ed Davenport, aka Inland. Fog, flashing strobes, and overwhelming sounds transform the palm grove into a kind of "melancholy party zone," where the absence of people further intensifies this atmosphere. The film responds to the historic volcanic eruption in Indonesia that plunged the world into darkness and extreme weather in 1816—a climate crisis remembered in Europe as the "Year Without a Summer." On the premiere night of An Invitation to Disappear, the film's composer, Inland, will provide a danceable fusion of visual art, techno, and house music in the historic Orangery Square of the Herrenhausen Gardens.