Permutation (1999) is a variable algorithmic projection configuration which at times, functions as a stand-alone installation and at others is transformed into a performance.
This flexibility is integrated into the modular design of our artist-made video sequencer which runs either independantly with a certain unpredictability or is manipulated by us. Our program can create or be used to create infinite image associations in real time. Inherent in this algorithm is a relational database, which permits instantaneous access to any of the thousands of shots on the computer, allowing us to experiment live with the temporal articulation between images and their subsequent spatialization.
As for the images, we have introduced a certain level of indeterminancy by asking other artists to film for our collection following precise rules which function as improvisational templates. Each time we receive these shots, an important aspect of our work is deciding on naming conventions and types of classifications. All shots can simultaneously be classified into many different categories giving rise to multiple ways of accessing any one shot.
In contrast to a film whose temporal sequence is hard-coded into its material support, with our program sequences become paradigms where each shot position is a placeholder for possible variants.
Naming and classifying play a crucial role by defining ranges within which a certain randomness can come to play, allowing image associations to be both unexpected and meaningful. Within the program are a number of sub-routines, each of which operates on the shots according to different methods and with varying levels of randomness. As the collection is navigated in different ways at different times, the spectator’s experience is one of fluctuations over time. Ideally, one would return several times to see the new order of events.
The images are projected in space so that temporal development of the sequences is spatialized onto several screens, giving rise to articulations from one screen to another. For each exhibition space, we explore a new projection configuration inviting spectators to construct different readings by collecting fragments and creating juxtapositions during their physical displacement around the room.
Each new presentation is cause for rethinking of our practice, honing our tools, and reworking our methods.
Exhibitions
- Espace Multimédia Gantner, Bourogne, France, 2004
- Artis, Den Bosch, Pays Bas, 2000
- Le Lieu Unique, Nantes, France, 2000
- Centre Georges Pompidou - during the exhibition Monter / Sampler - L’échantillonnage généralisé, 2000
- Galérie éof, Paris, 2000 (with the participation of Véronique Wilmart for the sound composition)
- Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle, Paris, 1999
Texts
- Paul-Louis Roubert (in French)
Entretien, le site de la Société Française de Photographie, 2007
Articles
