Cloud Control, an exhibition by artist Alexia Dreschmann

At the crossroads of science, photography, and poetry, the exhibition explores the human capacity to intervene in atmospheric phenomena. At the heart of this research, artificial cloud seeding—the injection of silver iodide particles to induce rain—becomes the starting point for a reflection on our desire to master the living world.

Drawing from meteorological archives, experimental photographic processes, and sensitive materials such as agar-agar-based bioplastic, the works blur the boundaries between scientific document and fiction. The images are altered and transformed until they lose their status as evidence, becoming objects where truth wavers.

The exhibition also examines the history of climate modification technologies, from 19th-century hail cannons to contemporary experiments, highlighting their ecological, political, and ethical implications.

Among the works presented, a garment made from the pattern of a 1960s trench coat, composed of vintage press articles and recent publications, evokes the human consequences of artificial rain modification experiments. Between protection, laboratory, and memory, it gathers the traces of a history that remains largely unknown.

Cloud Control questions our desire to control natural phenomena and invites us to rethink the relationships between science, power, environment, and image.

Supported by:
Les Ateliers Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris · Mairie du 13ᵉ arrondissement de Paris · Conseil de quartier 13e - 2 Butte aux cailles Daviel Boussingault