dreamlike aquarium chamber of 'kissing fish' at thaddaeus ropac paris invites visitors inside it

"The layered condition of Ariana Papademetropoulos' Water Based Treatment produces a subtle but persistent disorientation. The viewer, typically outside the artwork, is placed within it, while the fish circulate freely beyond the enclosure. The installation gestures toward the concept of Umwelt, proposing that perception is always partial and contingent."

"A sound work by Nicolas Godin, half of the music duo Air, audible only within the chamber, draws from 1970s ambient therapy recordings, isolating sound while vision is filtered through water, glass, and the continuous movement of fish."

"The transparent boundaries of the aquarium recall the fairytale references of the exhibition at Thaddaeus Ropac Paris Marais, from Cinderella to Snow White, invoking objects that preserve and isolate simultaneously. Here, however, the visitor occupies the position of the enclosed body, held within a state of suspension that is both controlled and ambiguous."

Glass Slipper, Papademetropoulos' first solo exhibition in France at Thaddaeus Ropac Paris Marais, centers on Water Based Treatment, an interactive aquarium where visitors enter a transparent enclosure and lie down while kissing fish circulate freely. Nicolas Godin's ambient sound work, audible only inside the chamber, draws from 1970s therapy recordings and filters perception through water, glass, and fish movement. Large-scale paintings depict unstable encounters between domestic interiors and natural phenomena, while sculptural telephone booths and erupting microwaves explore invisible forces and mediated experience. The installation invokes fairytale references and the concept of Umwelt, destabilizing human-centered vision and proposing that perception is always partial and contingent.

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