The Grey Shape of the City is an immersive audiovisual installation by Adrien Châtelain, combining analogue photographs with spatialised field recordings captured in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
The images show brutalist architecture in Pripyat being gradually swallowed by plant life and
capture radiation artefacts – usually invisible – as bright white lines and dots. The piece focuses on nature’s reclamation of structures, giving visitors a glimpse of a post-human landscape. The project engages with the role of the natural world in the face of human-caused damage.
Visitors are encouraged to consider the long-term impact of human habitation, challenging our anthropocentrism.
Adrien Châtelain is a multidisciplinary artist with portfolio work including music, soundscapes, analogue photographs, audiovisual installations, Foley and software. Their work focuses on the interaction between humans and nature; decay; gender; and the impact of technology, with an emphasis on texture.
Metropolis Contemporary Art Gallery 