Casseurs d'Images 1993-2004 (part 2)

Copyright artist(s) and courtesy argos

Artist(s)

Year

1993-2004

Duration

00:25:10

Original format

DVCAM

Color

col.

Color system

PAL

Availability

Distribution
Collection

- Arpenteur: A caterpillar is crawling over a geographical map, exploring the borders of the surface.
- ’Tourner’ (2): A man is carrying a beam on which the camera seems to be attached. The floor and his shoes are squeaking. The camera rotates around and around the man.
- ’Pigeons’: A bunch of pigeons are being filmed in close-up while they are trying to eat.
- ’Pianiste’ (extract): Filmed from above, a beggar with a Casio keyboard on his lap. A few cents in the dish. Street noise. The beggar pretends that he is playing. The Casio’s sample tunes : Mozart’s ’Turkish March’ for instance. Passers by don’t notice his make-believe. They don’t truly see him. When others would tend to shut their eyes, the spectator keeps them wide open.
- ’Footballeur’: A man is playing football while sitting down. He keeps the ball bouncing in the air with his feet. The people on the street seem rather irritated by this old football player.
- ’Chute d’une Chaise’: A wooden chair is falling from a stone staircase. It bumps and breaks. This gesture poses the artistic act as one of mutilation. Defacing everyday objects in this way alters the way in which we perceive them.
- ’Disparition d’une pelote de ficelle’ (extract): A ball of string is a dense object, formed by string rolled around itself. By pulling the string, you hollow out the ball from the inside. In the end it will lose its solid structure, its carapace will melt away and eventually vanish.
- ’Mikkado’: A clenched fist holds a bundle of mikkado-sticks. They can both be considered as cores. Each core is threatened by extinction. It hangs on, concentrates, contracts. The denser it becomes, the more imminent its extinction. The hand opens and the sticks spread out on the table.
- ’Arbre et Pluie’: Rain against a window. Through the window, through the droplets, we see a tree. This everyday image, usually overlooked, points out the poetic contrast between a continual time and a specific one.