Les Lapidiales at Crazannes (Charente-Maritime). A constantly evolving art space in former Turonian stone quarries.
© N. CHARLES
Painting
From the 19th century onwards, geological landscapes became major subjects for painters. Cliffs, mountains and fields of sandstone boulders inspire many artists who seek to portray the powerful emotions they feel when confronted with the beauty of nature. Sites such as the cliffs of Etretat and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire have inspired painters, including Delacroix, Monet and Cézanne.
Music
Some stones can produce sounds when struck. These resonant stones, known as lithophones, have been used for thousands of years. Even today, musicians still explore these natural instruments to create new works. Nicolas Frize, for instance, who in 1990 created several stone concerts using entirely mineral instrumentation made up of samples borrowed from BRGM.
Sculpture and architecture
Stone is one of the oldest materials used in sculpture and architecture, from prehistoric sculptures to the works of great artists such as Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin. In contemporary architecture, some buildings are directly inspired by mineral forms, such as the Kinémax pavilion at the Futuroscope in Poitiers, designed by Denis Laming in 1983 and representing giant quartz crystals, or the National Museum of Qatar, in the shape of a desert rose, designed by Jean Nouvel.
Photography
Much more recently, the art of photography has also focused on the mineral environment, as various artists show. Jean-Éric Fabre and François Sagnes have worked on this theme. This is also the case for Antoine Berger and Karreg Hanter-Vare, geologists who don't hesitate to put their scientific work on hold to devote themselves from time to time to their second passion.
The phantasmagorical animals sculpted in the granite rocks of Rothéneuf (Ille-et-Vilaine) by Abbé Fouré between 1894 and 1907
© P. GRAVIOU
Literature and cinema
Geological landscapes also inspire stories. In literature, authors such as Jules Verne and Guy de Maupassant describe cliffs, caves and mountains to create spectacular backdrops.
The cinema also uses these environments, as in Jurassic Park and the Lord of the Rings.
New artistic expressions: Comics and video games
Geology comes to life in the speech bubbles and drawings to illustrate memorable landscapes, like those in the Blueberry albums by Giraud and Charlier. It becomes an educational vehicle for explaining the exploitation of mineral resources and the issues associated with the energy transition.
Recently described by some as the 10th art form, video games appeared in the 1950s and 1960s and made their mark with iconic titles that took advantage of geology to plunge millions of people into marvellous landscapes, populated by dinosaurs or spectacular geological formations (volcanoes, mineral deposits, mountains, caves, etc.). Geologists are now getting in on the act by creating the geological maps for some video games.
Cover of Issue 29 of the Géosciences journal
© BRGM
Géosciences No. 29: Talking about Earth
“Talking about Earth” may seem to be a surprising expression for a scientific journal. However, it is by telling this story that the geological history of our planet is most clearly understood. And when faced with the amazing phenomena that led to the formation of the rocks beneath our feet, it is often wonder that dominates.
This 29th issue of BRGM's Géosciences journal takes a slightly different angle from its predecessors, exploring the beauty of the landscapes that surround us, inspiring the arts through science, passing on the Earth sciences to young people and the general public, and protecting our geological heritage.
