Etranges Exhibitions 2002 Benjamin Beaulieu //free\\

Two decades on, Benjamin Beaulieu’s 2002 project Étranges exhibitions still feels like a hidden doorway into the absurdist underbelly of early 2000s curatorial practice. For those unfamiliar, Beaulieu—better known today for his poetic installations and experimental publishing—created this series as a low-key, almost furtive intervention in how we frame “the strange.”

Attendees stood in silence, watching the mercury rise as their breath fogged the cold chapel air. There was no climax. No reveal. After fifteen minutes, an usher—Beaulieu himself, finally unmasked—would gently tap you on the shoulder and whisper: "Your turn is over. The next stranger is waiting." etranges exhibitions 2002 benjamin beaulieu

To understand the exhibitions, one must first understand the artist’s peculiar trajectory. Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, in 1975, Benjamin Beaulieu was a prodigy of the École des arts visuels et médiatiques . By 1999, he had gained a minor reputation for "taxidermy chronométrique"—the practice of embedding antique pocket watches into found animal forms. Two decades on, Benjamin Beaulieu’s 2002 project Étranges

Based on the keywords provided, specifically the name "Benjamin Beaulieu" alongside "Etranges Exhibitions" and the year "2002," the following report focuses on the exhibition of the artist at the Estranges Exhibitions event (a typo for the festival "Estranges Exhibitions") held in Lausanne, Switzerland. No reveal