Rapport de lois universelles #3, 2013

3 min 35 s, Fichier numérique (Apple ProRes 422 HQ), 16/9, couleur, silencieux


The film Rapport des lois universelles [Report on the Universal Laws] (2013) reveals the dual nature of matter—seemingly chaotic, yet meticulously calibrated. In the piece, we see a puddle of black oil bristling with countless pulsing, shifting spikes. This alien-looking substance is a colloidal solution infused with iron nanoparticles, poured by the artist onto a glass plate beneath which two variable-intensity electromagnets are at work. Polarized by the alternating pull of the magnets, the spikes surge and recede like battalions of opposing troops. Meanwhile, a delicate tremor runs through this mesmerizing wave, with the peaks rising and falling in response to changes in magnetic force. In this way, Hicham Berrada sculpted the liquid from a distance, playing on magnetism and gravity.



A few years later, the experiment continued with Les Fleurs [The Flowers] (2016)—a title that hints at the blurring of boundaries between categories, where mineral and vegetal forms appear to compete. These videos capture the blooming of iron nanoparticles, this time magnetized by a single field. Viewed from the front or side, a disc bristling with evenly spaced spikes emerges, evoking the tightly packed seeds of a sunflower. This intricate arrangement then explodes offscreen in a burst of particles before settling once again into its original order. By looping this cycle of order and chaos, the artist suggests that an immutable law of matter underlies every entropic state.



Hélène Meisel, 2020

Translated by Laurie Hurwitz