Studio XX is pleased to host artist Josée Brouillard with her project À l’∞, from January 6th to March 2nd, 2014, as part of the residency program.
Collaborator: Pierre Électrique
À l’∞ is an installation work comprised of a custom fabricated curved LED screen. This screen, at human scale, is fixed on a pivot. When activated by a motor, the screen traces a circular trajectory measuring 6 feet in diameter.
The LED lights are used to display video images. By blinking, the light pixels reveal a minimalistic human body at scale. This body walks, runs, exhausts itself, falls, rises and resumes its course in the opposite direction. In actuality, the human body does not move in the space. The rotating movement of the screen gives the impression that it runs in a circuit, that this body moves in the physical space. A sound environment accompanies the sequence of images and the emotions which are represented. The sound revolves in the space following the course of the screen.
The character embodies several emotions which are transmitted through its physical reality, by the simple actions of running and falling. At times energetic, at times desperate, the gesture of running becomes a poetic image of human states of mind.
Artist statement
Based in materials exploration, the work of Josée Brouillard aims to extend the limits of the video medium, in particular modes of diffusion. These technologies of display are her primary interest. She constructs alternative displays from modified or custom made electronic components. This process is similar to bricolage.
Her apparatuses attempt to change the reading of the video image, giving it an unprecedented aesthetic, not connected to time. The images are stark, black and white, high contrast and low resolution; in her work light is the central element. It sculpts the video image and imposes itself in the physical space. It aims to distance itself from traditional two-dimensional video displays.
The human body is often represented in her videos. The body executes simple, slow and repetitive movements to express different states of mind. The spectators are able to identify with and empathize with the body, extending themselves into the piece, they construct a fictive bridge between the video space and physical space. Her work engages the spectator in an unexpected visual and emotional experience.