The Loving Earth

"Love-struck earth" (a term used to describe dirt that sticks to boots) sketches a panorama of a contemporary and diverse rural landscape at a pivotal moment in its evolution. 

For years, the Deux-Sèvres region has been the scene of a struggle over water and its distribution. Today, this conflict centers on the construction of “water reservoirs” for some and “mega-basins” for others, and reached its climax in March 2023 with the Sainte-Soline II project. Beyond this region, these projects embody opposing visions of the future: on one side, exploitation; on the other, coexistence—in relation to living things, the land, and agriculture.

Rebekka Deubner focuses on what lies beyond the visible struggle in an attempt to grasp the underlying forces that drive it. She immerses herself in this territory and its ecosystems, both through solitary wanderings and through encounters with people who have an intimate connection to it. Through the changing seasons, she weaves together a panorama of interconnected gestures and spaces. Her aim is to reveal, in a single sweep, both the landscape and the hands that shape it. 

« What does someone who owns a piece of land feel? The question posed by ecologist Neil Evernden has nothing to do with sentimentality, but rather with the way our territory becomes part of us and we become part of it. This sense of possession involves assimilation and projection, a blurring of boundaries. » — Invasive Species , C. Curiol

Rebekka Deubner learns to interpret the space through conversations with the residents. They teach her that it is far from silent, that every element—body of water, plot of land, animal—speaks to her about the state of the land, about how it is inhabited, worked, or exploited by hand or by machine.