The Plankton Chronicles Project is a documentary series, (20 episodes in english, french and spanish) combining art and science, revealing the beauty and diversity of planktonic organisms. Plankton samples are collected and photographed at the Villefranche-sur-Mer Oceanographic Observatory and on board expedition vessels, using the dark field technique and macro lenses or microscopes equipped with cameras. Christian Sardet from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sharif Mirshak and Noé Sardet (Parafilms, Montreal) have created these films for the past 10 years and have gathered an extensive database of images.

The Plankton Chronicles started as part of the Tara Oceans Expedition Project, financed by the CNRS, UPMC, and is now independantly runned as a science outreach and art project through exhibitions, interactive instalations and more…

Plankton Exhibitions

 

Invisible Worlds

In 2019, we inaugurated the Plankton Chronicles exhibit at Eden Project in Cornwall, Great Britan. The new Plankton space in the Invisible Worlds exhibition was opened to the public. With Christian Sardet we gave talks and ran a plankton imagery workshop with the public.

Video
 

Plankton Ballet

Our immersive 360 film explores the drifting world of plankton, revealing cosmic protists, frantic amphipods, voluptuous pelagia and swarms of pluteus larva, and ends with a spectacular bloom and a bioluminescent bang! The film was co-produced by Parafilms and The National Natural History Museum of Paris. Created by François Guinaudeau, Noé Sardet and Evantias Chaudat. Monthly and yearly exploitation licences are available.

The show
Featured on French TV
 

Plankton Mandala

The Plankton Mandala is an interactive installation which allows to browse through a large plankton video database. The application is very playfull and informative and is a great addition to museums. It was originally created for Nausicaa, an aquarium in northern France. This project was developped with Biologist Christian Sardet and Iregular Studio.

Demo
 

Living Plankton exhibition

Twenty large prints and films were presented in this interior/exterior exhibition at the Maison du Développement Durable in Montreal. Production by Parafilms. Coordination by Krystel Papineau. Our generous partners : Mirazed, Ecomaris, Fondation David Suzuki, Oceanographic Observatory of Villefranche-sur-Mer and Tara Foundation. This exhibition is available for rent, please contact us for more info.

 

Cartier Foundation

During the collective exhibit "Le grand orchestre des animaux", our plankton exhibition created by Christian Sardet & the Macronautes, made of large format prints is presented at the prestigious contemporary art venue in Paris. The photos are accompanied by a video installation by Shiro Takatani and Riyuchi Sakamoto that created a beautiful meditative garden using our plankton footage.

Exhibition
Interview Sardet & Takatani
 

Kyotographie Festival

Our Exhibition Plankton: A Drifting World at the Origin of Life is presented at the International Photographie Festival Kyotographie. 15 photos by Christian Sardet & the Macronautes (Sharif Mirshak & Noé Sardet). Large format prints are presented in a stunning way in an elegant dimly-lit scenography. The Kyotographie team worked hard to produce the exhibit.

Plankton Chronicles @ Kyotographie
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