Remedy for Solastalgia 

Searching for a culture of care in a disorienting world, Remède à la solastalgia – remedy for solastalgia – brings back natural landscapes that no longer exist to their previous state, before damage from climate disruption. With these illusions comes newfound consciousness. 

The title of this piece contains the word “remedy,” a sort of dressing that momentarily heals the wounds of landscapes gone but not forgotten, which did once actually exist. And then there’s the world “solastalgia,” which is the phenomenon of no longer recognizing a familiar landscape due to changes wrought by climate disruption and human activity. 

Donning a VR headset with a feed transmitted onto a screen, Raphaël Gouisset investigates our real environments through a virtual prism. This digital space becomes a metaphor for our paradoxes. We see how climate disruption is affecting nature, but no changes are made. Can one achieve a new state of consciousness by putting on a VR headset? 

Cover © Raphaël Gouisset,Théâtre de L’Élysée

Production

Concept and performance: Raphaël Gouisset
Lighting design: Jacques-Benoît Dardant
Technical management: Jacques-Benoît Dardant or Pauline Millet
Outside artistic eyes: Valérie Cordy and Émilie Birraux
VR development and support: Antoine Vanel
Music composition: Damien Brégère
Production & distribution: Emilie Briglia

Production: Les Particules

Co-productions and residency support:
Maif Social Club – Paris, La Fruitière Numérique – Lourmarin, CCO La Rayonne – Villeurbanne,
Local Committee for Mental Health of Bron-Villeurbanne, Lieu Multiple Espace Mendès France – Poitiers, Château de Goutelas, La Fabrique de Théâtre (SPAS Hainaut, Belgium), Théâtre de l’Elysée – Lyon

Creation support: SCAN Fund – DRAC and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, and the City of Villeurbanne