Mapping

Mapping, 2015-2016. Françoise Dupré. Part of DORA PROJECT

Mapping is a mixed-media wall installation in two sections: Timeline and Moon Atlas. Mapping re-traces the topography of terror that connected two WW2 sites: London, a major V2 target and Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp in Germany. Layering, concealing and expending upon the topographical aspects of the sites, Mapping intends to visually mesh together space and time by combining the history and memories of Londoners, slave labourers and survivors of Mittelbau-Dora with that of rocket engineering and spaceflight.

Mapping was shown at Peckham Platform in DORA PROJECT Exhibition.

Timeline

Faced with the tangled and complex stories linked to the V2, multiple narratives that take us across continents through time and space, Dupré worked on a 4 meter wide and 2 meter high wall timeline. Timeline draws out, methodically and obsessively, multiple and detailed connections that link together nations as well as individuals whose lives were dramatically changed by choice or force through major WW2 and post-war events.

Moon Atlas

For Dupré. the toughest part of the project was the visual translation of the stories of Dora Concentration Camp and V2 victims. How does an artist respond to such horror? Those of you who are familiar with Dupré’s colourful artwork will be surprised to learn that the work being made is mostly done with graphite and lead pencils and dark blue ink on semi-transparent paper. Moon Atlas consists of layers of hand written words, fragments of technical diagrams, lists of WW2 sites of terror, textual description of concentration camp barracks, dates and places of London V2 attacks, names of Moon craters and landing sites. Moon Atlas is an unreadable translation of the unbearable. A ‘defeat’ for the artist. Timeline and Moon Atlas form a contrasting pair that combine factual data and the embodiment of human experience.

At Peckham Platform, Timeline and Moon Atlas were installed on opposite walls. Viewers were invited to to stand between, to interrogate, to decipher, to challenge, to be watchful and care for our histories, cultures and ethics. This is the legacy and ideal that Dora survivors are passing on.

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Françoise Dupré, Mapping, Moon Atlas, 2016. Text and drawing-based triptych wall installation. Handmade Japanese paper (Kozo), yellow and white engineering tracing paper, dressmaking squared paper, lead pencil, graphite, blue-black ink, red textile tape, pins. 245 x 320 cm. © Françoise Dupré and FXP Photography, London.

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Françoise Dupré, Mapping, Timeline, 2016. Text-based drawing wall installation. Lead pencil on cartridge paper, white textile tape, pins. 245 x 400 cm. © Françoise Dupré and FXP Photography, London.

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