Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did

Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did, Installation view: Des Présents Inachevés, Les modules du Palais de Tokyo - 12th Art Biennale de Lyon, France, 2013

With Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did Julian Charrière creates architectural structures whose surface is gradually covered by patterns of decomposing matter. Inside a steel and glass showcase, the artist displays small bricks made of plaster, fructose and lactose, which are moistened with water from major international rivers (the Saône, the Nile, the Yangtze, the Euphrates, etc.). Bacteria and mold progressively grow under the protection of the glass case. These constructions evoke mythological towers or architectural archetypes like the Tower of Babel. Through their rapid degradation they seem to actually belong to history.

Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did VI, Installation view: Des Présents Inachevés, Les modules du Palais de Tokyo - 12th Art Biennale de Lyon, France, 2013

Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did II, Installation view: Des Présents Inachevés, Les modules du Palais de Tokyo - 12th Art Biennale de Lyon, France, 2013

Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did VII, Installation view: Des Présents Inachevés, Les modules du Palais de Tokyo - 12th Art Biennale de Lyon, France, 2013

Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did, Installation view: The Figure in the Carpet, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris, France, 2014

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation
Controlled Burn
Panchronic Garden
Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA
Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem
Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art
Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows
We Are All Astronauts
Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus
Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017
Iroojrilik
Metamorphism
Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz
An Invitation to Disappear
Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie
Ever Since We Crawled Out
Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi
Tropisme
First Light
Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke
Terminal Beach
A Sky Taste of Rock
Clockwork
Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear
Somehow, They Never Stop Doing What They Always Did
The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories
Exhibition: For They That Sow the Wind, Parasol Unit
The Key to the Present Lay in the Future
On The Sidewalk
Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others
Panorama
Polygon
The Purchase of the South Pole
Future Fossil Spaces
I Am Afraid, I Must Ask You to Leave
Somewhere
Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, MASI Lugano
Exhibition: Future Fossil Spaces, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Where Waters Meet
Towards No Earthly Pole
And Beneath It All Flows Liquid Fire
Exhibition: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and Everywhere, MAMBo Bologna
In the Real World It Doesn't Happen That Perfectly
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Exhibition: Controlled Burn, Langen Foundation

Controlled Burn

Panchronic Garden

Exhibition: Erratic, SFMOMA

Exhibition: Soothsayers, Dittrich & Schlechtriem

Exhibition: Concentrations 63: Julian Charrière, Towards No Earthly Pole, Dallas Museum of Art

Thickens, pools, flows, rushes, slows

We Are All Astronauts

Exhibition: Weight of Shadows – Prix Marcel Duchamp 2021, Centre Pompidou

Exhibition: Towards No Earthly Pole, Aargauer Kunsthaus

Exhibition: Viva Arte Viva - 57th Venice Biennale 2017

Iroojrilik

Metamorphism

Exhibition: An Invitation to Disappear, Kunsthalle Mainz

An Invitation to Disappear

Exhibition: As We Used to Float, Berlinische Galerie

Ever Since We Crawled Out

Exhibition: First Light, Galerie Tschudi

Tropisme

First Light

Exhibition: Pitch Drop, Sies + Höke

Terminal Beach

A Sky Taste of Rock

Clockwork

Objects in Mirror Might Be Closer Than They Appear