L’enquête des nuisances

At the origin of this project is a species that is considered a “nuisance” in the city of Laval: the white grub. The larvae of the June beetle lives primarily in the manicured lawns of large residential developments. The increased presence of this “invasive” insect, like the discourses and practices that seek to eradicate it, speak of territorial ownership. Starting from the hypothesis that this hazardous cohabitation between humans and the white grub signals an erosion in the practice of territorial domination in “post-colonial population areas,” (Dalie Giroux), the artists examine the wild facts and unexpected relationships that have made this larvae a “nuisance.” Perhaps the question should be: can we change how we belong to the land when the world is falling apart?

Upon encountering the “vile” protagonist that is the white grub, wild fabulations are hatched. If the larvae is a figure of radical otherness, the polar opposite of human beings, it nonetheless brings us back to the earth, to the humus, and replaces humans at the centre of other worlds (animal, plant, microbial, etc.).

Part fiction, part scientific research, a metamorphosis takes place with the white grub, but also with the actions and words of those with whom it builds its living environment. Therefore, we must not only observe the larvae, but also its observers. Between sensorial ethnography and documentary fiction, this nuisance inquiry reinvests the suburban imagination by fabricating an allegory of non-anthropocentric collaboration.