At the Musée Mer Marine in Bordeaux, visitors are greeted by a shark with its mouth wide open. A few steps back and their heads raised, they can also be surprised by the imposing skeleton of a whale lying on the roof terrace. The museum has installed the stainless steel sculpture, signed by the artist Philippe Pasqua, in order to alert on the urgency of protecting the oceans. “We want to draw attention to the issues of the oceans and their inhabitants, reports to Sud Ouest Norbert Fradin, founder of the museum. By installing a work of art on a roof, we question, we question, perhaps we also disturb a little… The important thing is that we pass on a message, in this case that of the protection of the oceans, fauna and flora”. The steel carcass rests on the last two floors under construction, intended to accommodate the offices of the building. The curious can see it from the Bassins à Flot.
Since June 8, the private museum has been presenting the “Planet or plastic” exhibition, in collaboration with National Geographic. The temporary space traces the history of the material since its invention as well as the issues related to its consumption. Also highlighted are innovations and solutions that address the climate emergency. “This fourth work by Philippe Pasqua in the museum raises more and more visible alerts from the outside to the issues of the marine environment. The sculpture of the shark at the entrance to the museum, the founder of the museum told Sud Ouest, denounces the practices of mutilation of these species whose fin is cut off for trade and which end up dying. Inside the museum, the megalodon mouth tells the story of an extinct species that lived in our region. Right next to it, the artist exhibits a container of glass jellyfish, pointing to the invasion of this species linked to water pollution.
By presenting the emaciated silhouette of the whale, the Musée Mer Marine warns about the plastic footprint left by man in the oceans. In 2023, between 75 and 200 million tonnes of plastic would be in the ocean. This waste can remain in water for decades before degrading. They pollute marine spaces, and moreover, disturb the species that live there.
“You have to alert, but going through emotion is more effective. Explaining that fish ingest plastic, and therefore we too, is good, but it affects less than if we use the symbol of an animal as majestic as a whale as a vector”, specifies Norbert Fradin at Sud Ouest. Moreover, the sculpture of the cetacean is unnamed. According to Philippe Pasca, this initiative “leaves a certain freedom of thought. No one is guided, everyone makes their own interpretation of the subject without being influenced.
“I really like Pasca’s work,” the MMM director told Sud Ouest. He has talent, he is committed to the preservation of the environment. His monumental sculptures, as well as his paintings, are generous and give his works a frank side, his message is essential. Aesthetically, I like this raw and refined side”. Sensitive to the ecological cause, he has exhibited his work all over the world: at the Ahlers Foundation in Germany in 2009, at the Patrick Painter Gallery in Los Angeles, at Gallery 604 in Korea, or at the Oceanic Museum of Monaco in 2017 .
