The Ruins of Fiction

The Vampire Squid from Hell (Vampyroteuthis Infernalis) is a mysterious species inhabiting the bathypelagic, or midnight, zone.
Rarely seen, it is surrounded by legends and speculation. Believed to be one of the earliest species to diverge from our evolutionary branch, its perception, intelligence, and means of communication remain foreign to us. Each cell of its skin gathers information about what it touches, and each cell also communicates with its surroundings. It has evolved as an apparent alien from us, a paradoxical entity, who lives with ‘the world on its skin ’.

The nest of the Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, a creature from the depths who has risen to the surface, offers a fleeting glimpse into its otherworldly existence. Through water and its haunting, ethereal chants, the nest evokes its ephemerality. Fragile, the nest resists becoming an imposed object, instead embodying a temporary act of resistance—celebrating fluidity and movement.

One can enter and sit with the sounds, smells, and colours reminiscent of the squid, like entering the ribcage of a ghostly creature. A string of smoke is pouring from the basin, and disappears before leaving the nest. Outside, a gelatinous blue form stands on copper legs—a ghostly remnant of the squid’s materialized body, which melted shortly after taking this finite, corporeal shape.

Juxtaposing Louis Bec’s drawings with the nest brings up questioning around authority.
Despite being spoof, their visual language, materi- al, and their appartenance to a scientific institute ground their influence. Those finite qualities are not compatible with the fluidity of the nested creature it wishes to encapsulate, leaving behind it a gelati- nous corpse and relics.