It can be difficult to admit the idea of landscape as fictional artifice, as if it were a contradiction of our own internal experience. But the fascinating work of French artist No\u00e9mie Goudal (b. 1984) subtly compels such a rea\u00adlization through infinitely complex structures and her evolving theoretical approach. Her labyrinthine installation on the museum\u2019s ground floor invites the public to stroll among a selection of her recent photographs. Goudal was born in France but studied art in London, where she still lives, and her work draws much of its inspiration from the history of science. After exploring our ever-changing relationship to the sky, her three past series have focused on our equally inconstant comprehension of the Earth\u2019s origins, or what was not called \u201cgeology\u201d yet, at a time when humans believed mountains to be eternally static. Her Soul\u00e8vements [Uprisings] and D\u00e9mant\u00e8lements [Dis\u00admantlings] series remind us, however, that the craggy face of the Earth is always changing. The Telluris series is an expression of humanity\u2019s obses\u00adsion with understanding our surroundings, as if taming the land with equa\u00adtions could make our existence less fragile. Goudal seeks to make the viewer an active participant, not only through the immersive settings she devises to display her work, but also through her unique style: her photographs are most often shot in large format and lack any spatiotemporal markers, with a layering effect. On first glance, they seem to evoke American landscape photography. But the artist has left a careful trail of clues that quickly make it apparent that their purpose is not documentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n