CURSE OF KNOLEDGE
a weekly series of on-line artist-talks held by the congregation of The New Media Lab of Alexandrinsky Theater, Institut français de Saint-Pétersbourg and Moscow gallery “Here at Taganka”.
Conceived during Focus program of the Chroniques Biennale (Marseille, 2020), it responds to the lockdown times in what comes to questions of artistic communication, presentation and representation. In course of regular colloquiums, Russian experimental artists and curators Anton Iakhontov and Andrey Bartenev together with French colleagues overview oeuvre of the latter, renewing and rearticulating concepts and practices of tools-and-art co-evolution.
20.01.2021 / Episode 1
Rocio Berenguer
Rocio Berenguer is a transdisciplinary artist: choreographer, dancer, director, author, and playwright. She deploys her universe in creations where she explores the hybridization of forms (shows, performances, installations) between different disciplines (dance, theater, music) in relation to new media (video, artificial intelligence, digital, social networks). Her creative/research work revolves around the writing of arts/science projects where the dramaturgy of the work integrates new technologies as part of the writing process.
27.01.2021 / Episode 2
Elise Morin
Trained at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Central Saint Martins College in London, and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, Elise Morin was born in 1978. She lives and works in Paris. She develops an interdisciplinary practice rooted in ecological thinking that questions our relationship to the visible and to types of coexistence. The design and production processes generate collaborations with scientists, local communities, engineers, musicians and philosophers. The choice of specific places and environments are intrinsic components of her work. They enable reflection on the relationship of creation to the common good, on the role of esthetics in understanding other perceptions of a damaged world. Her commitment to creation has been rewarded by the award of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Prize |USA| the Best of Lab art and sustainability 2012. Elise Morin has notably exhibited in France at the Centquatre, the Jeu de Paume, the Grand Palais, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the city of Bucharest, Moscow and the city of Tokyo.
03.02.2021 / Episode 3
Andrey Bartenev
Andrey Bartenev: painter, graphic artist, designer, fashion designer, author of several well-known sculptural performances, "Botanical Ballet," "The Snow Queen "," mineral water "," The Royal Family returns "," Hunting for the seal "in Manhattan Express and others.
Artist working in the genre of synthetic performance. Bartenev's works have been exhibited at the largest Russian and foreign museums, his works are in the best collections of modern art worldwide. Acted as a co-author projects with outstanding artists and filmmakers of our time, including Andrew Logan and Robert Wilson.
10.02.2021 / Episode 4
Filippo Fabbri w/ Laurent Karst
Composer, orchestrator, researcher, Filippo FABBRI conceives the sound universe of films, theatre plays, contemporary art installations and events by focusing on the relationship between sound, space, body and mind. Born in 1980, he obtained a Bachelor of Computer Engineering in 2002 and a Masters in Systems Engineering in 2005 at La Sapienza University in Rome. He is particularly interested in micro-nanosystems and intelligent materials, obtaining in 2009 a doctorate in applied physics at the Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics of the École Polytechnique and, subsequently, a doctorate in Systems Engineering at the 'La Sapienza University in Rome. At the same time, he completed his piano studies, he studied musical composition and orchestration at the H. Berlioz Conservatory in Paris, and advanced music writing and composition techniques at CRR93 d'Aubervilliers.
Laurent KARST is an architect/designer, graduated from the Strasbourg School of Architecture and the Domus Academy in Milan in industrial design. Winner of the Villa Médicis prize in 1995 for research on the use of industrial waste, he then worked in various international architectural firms, including the Jean Nouvel agency.
At the same time, he developed, in collaboration with the architect Serge Eloire, a series of sculptures immersed in the sea "Amphitrite I" and a monumental cybernetic urban sculpture project for the Compagnie Parisienne de Chauffage Urbain "La Fontaine à vapeur du Gand Verre".
17.02.2021 / Episode 5
Mathieu Pradat
Based in Marseille, Mathieu Pradat inscribes his practice within the growing interaction between real and virtual worlds, seen as new territories for stories aiming to bear stories, knowledge and emotions. He explores various immersive interactive narrative forms. His works (The Roaming, Proxima, The Dog) have been selected and awarded throughout the world. Mathieu Pradat is CEO of La prairie productions. He teaches immersive narrative in various universities around the world including Montpellier-3 (France), UDLA (Ecuador) and is also a trainer in VR at La Fonderie de l’Image (France). Mathieu currently works on a PhD thesis in Ensad Lab, Spatial Media Group (PSL University France).
24.02.2021 / Episode 6
Adelin Schweitzer
Born in 1978, Adelin Schweitzer lives and works in Marseille. He graduated in 2004 from the College of the Arts in Aix-en-Provence and pursued from there a polymorphic artist career at the crossroads between immersives performances, audiovisual experiments and new technologies. Adelin is part of a cutting edge artistic filiation of Rimini Protokoll, Tinguely, Marc Pauline from S.R.L or still Stelarc. Drawing from science-fiction imagery and cognitive sciences the artist designs over time the outlines of a singular forward-looking universe.
03.03.2021 / Episode 7
Jeremie Bellot / AV Exciters
Originally from Orléans, Jérémie Bellot studied Cinema as well as Architecture studies in Grenoble then Strasbourg, he became State Architect and devoted himself to his artistic practice. Architect and digital artist, co-founder of the AV-Exciters collective in 2012, specializing in architectural projection mapping and light installations, Jérémie Bellot is also co-founder of Strasbourg’ Fab Lab AV Lab opened in 2013.
Since 2014 he has been the artistic director of SAS AV Extended and works with Anne Sophie Acomat within Studio DAAO on the development of micro-architecture and furniture design. In 2019, he founded the « Ateliers Eclairés », Makerspace in Strasbourg and is president of the association; the same year, he became curator for the festival Constellations in Metz. In 2020, he co-founded the project « Château de Beaugency, Digital Art Center » and ensures its programming and artistic direction.
10.03.2021 / Episode 8
Aoi Nakamura, Esteban Fourmi
AΦE is an Ashford-based dance company founded 2013 by dancers and choreographers Aoi Nakamura and Esteban Fourmi. Their work incorporates new technologies into the theatre experience to bring audiences closer to the art of dance.
AΦE is the UK’s only dance company touring internationally with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). They are pioneers in their sector offering a new perspective on dance for audiences of all ages. The company’s first major commission WHIST received its sold-out world premiere in April 2017 and has since toured to over 10 countries. In 2018, Sadler’s Wells commissioned AΦE to create an Augmented Reality Dance performance called 0AR. The company is currently working on developing their new production REBOOT, an Artificial Intelligence led production pushing the boundaries of live performance.
http://www.aoiesteban.com/
16.03.2021 / Episode 9
Vera Martynov, Andrew Graham
Vera Martynov, a visual and performance artist. She works as an independent artist and creates spatial installations, site-specific performances, works with contemporary music. She is the co-founder of the Dmitry Кrymov Laboratory, where she worked as a scenographer, a costume designer and a performative artist from 2004 to 2013. From 2012 to 2015 she was the artistic director at Gogol Center and the co-author of its chief director Kirill Serebrennikov’s concept of the Gogol Center (Moscow). 2016 — 2018 she was artistic director of the New Space, an interdisciplinary project run by the Theatre of Nations, which is aimed at uniting contemporary artists of all fields to create a new cultural environment. 2018/2019 — curator of the "2 сцена / To Stage"— the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theatre's experimental program (St. Petersburg). Vera Martynov was twice a resident at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center (2012, 2013), Individual Bursaries Program 2017-18, Professional Development in the UK (2018). She has multiple awards, including INNOVATION, state award for contemporary art (PROJECT OF THE YEAR), GOLDEN TRIGA of the Prague Quadrennial, The Edinburgh International Art Festival Award (with the Dmitry Krymov Laboratory), and THE GOLDEN MASK AWARD for Best Set Designer.
Andrew Graham
For eleven years, Andrew Graham lived in London, where he worked with renowned artists and companies, including Joan Jonas, Tino Seghal, Simon Forti, Mike Kelley, Xavier Leroy, Rosemary Butcher, Aurelia Thiérrée and Victoria Chaplin. In 2013, he joined Candoco Dance Company where he danced pieces by Trisha Brown, Rachid Ouramdane, Hetain Patel, Thomas Hauert, Alexander Whitley and Jerome Bel. He founded in 2019 the company L’AUTRE MAISON in Marseille, dedicated to choreographic practices that are inclusive and accessible to everyone. In the same year, he was invited by Russian director Vera Martynov to co-create the OMORFOI video installation and design for the 18th century Russian ceramics exhibition for the Hermitage foundation, in Moscow and Hanoi. In October 2020, he was invited by the Biennale Manifesta13 to co-create a program of works with the AOZIZ network, a network of organisations focused on inclusive practices in Marseille.
His choreographic practice makes room for embodied encounters. It takes the language of inclusion and makes it exist in the material realm. It is a place centred on practice, focused on the connections between people. It makes no judgement about what ideal bodies should be like, but rather cultivates aesthetics and styles grounded in connections.
24.03.2021 / Episode 10
Alexandrine Stehelin
Alexandrine Stehelin is an AR/VR/XR producer. She honed her skills at BUF Company as production coordinator for international projects (visual effects and animation). She joined Small Bang as a line producer in 2015 and produced with Pierre Cattan the scrolling graphic novel Phallaina by Marietta Ren (Small Bang/France Télévisions - Nouvelles Ecritures 2016), and Fugue VR, a collective experience mixing dance and VR directed by Michel Reilhac on a choreography of Yoann Bourgeois (launched during the Lyon Dance Biennale, 2018). At Lucid Realities, she accompanied with Chloé Jarry the creation of a XR experience by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster: Endodrome (HTC Vive Arts/Venice Art Biennale/Lucid Realities, 2019). She joined the digital department of the Institut français in 2019 to encourage the distribution and promotion of VR immersive experiences, video games, digital mediation and cultural innovation internationally, working closely with the French cultural network abroad. Alexandrine has just moved to Aix-en-Provence where she accompanies the distribution of immersive artworks at the intersection of living arts and VR. She has recently joined Lucid Realities to develop and produce XR projects.
http://lucidrealities.studio/
31.03.2021 / Episode 11
Armando Balice
Armando Balice is a composer, improviser, co-founder and director of the musical creation association Alcôme. The poetic and symbolic dimension of the “black” permeates his music. After graduating the Besançon conservatory in saxophone and getting a musicology degree, he has started to study electroacoustic composition, firstly with Jean-Marc Weber at the Chalon-sur-Saône conservatory, then at the Boulogne-Billancourt Artistic Department with Denis Dufour and Jonathan Prager, and eventually at the Marne la Vallée University in partnership with INA GRM. He teaches electroacoustic composition at the Nanterre conservatory and works with “La Muse en Circuit” as a guest teacher.
07.04.2021 / Episode 12
Jeanne Susplugas
Born in Montpellier. Live in Paris, France.
“Actively engaged but without being militant, Jeanne Susplugas' approach points to the all the forms and strategies of confinement to question an individual's relation to himself and to the other.” (Philippe Piguet in Semaine 13.13) The media she explores allow her to consider various aesthetic terms that determine someone in an obsessive world, who is in turn confused or reassured, concerned or serene, solitary or with complicity.
Her films have been shown in numerous festivals as Hors Pistes (Centre Pompidou, Paris), Locarno International Festival, Miami International Festival, Festival Images à Vevey (S), Les Instants Vidéos à Marseille or Les Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid.
Articles have been written about her work in Art Press, Art in America, New York Times, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Flash Art, L’œil, Beaux-Arts Magazine, BT, Pulse, Corona Boreal...
In 2013, she received the Opline prize for contemporary art, having been nominated by ORLAN and in 2015, she got the Artsper/Philips Price.
21.04.2021 / Episode 13
Pierre Friquet
Sorcerer's apprentice, Pierre Friquet aka Pyaré is a digital artist, creating immersive worlds. His intent is to make people reconnect with their own bodies and senses of self through art and technology. His work focuses on immersive experiences (interactive VR, dome film, AR filters, aquatic VR ...). His works have been covered by Wired, Vice, Forbes, Verge, CNET… and received awards at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Kaleidoscope Festival and Filmgate festival. His latest original VR work is SPACED OUT, a first of kind because it puts visitors into in a pool while being in VR , and selected at Sundance New Frontier 2020. Recently he directed the most attended multi-users VR social live concert for Jean-Michel Jarre. I have consulted for directors and artists such as Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marc Caro. After having lived in India, South Africa and Canada, he is now based in Paris.
28.04.2021 / Episode 14
Margherita Bergamo
Margherita Bergamo Meneghini, alias Telma Ha, is a dancer, choreographer and producer born in Padua, Italy.
She has been dedicated to contemporary dance and completed studies in Choreography at the Dance Conservatory of Barcelona (CSD Institut del Teatre) after a professional career with the Italian rhythmic gymnastics team.
She also studied at the faculty of philology at Ca' Foscari University in Venice, and at the faculty of history at the University of Barcelona. In 2017, she moved to France and founded Compagnie Voix. In this framework, she began a research creation on dance and technological applications. Her piece “Eve, dance is an unplaceable place”, combining dance and Embodied Virtual Reality, co-produced by Compagnie Voix & Omnipresenz, received with co-creator Daniel González the Laval Virtual Award Recto VRso (France), the Grand Prix VR at the Kaohsiung Film Festival (Taiwan) in 2019, and it is selected in the Catalog of the Digital Department of the Institut Français.
12.05.2021 / Episode 15
Gaëtan Gromer
Gaëtan Gromer - sound artist working with technologies, born in 1978 // live and work in Strasbourg (France).
Driven by the extension of the artistic domain by new technologies as well as by the many questions they raise, Gaëtan Gromer conducts a creative activity at the junctions of composition, performance and multimedia installation.
He questions the social and environmental impact of technologies, the political technocentric discourse and the production of information. He mainly uses the power of suggestion and immersion of sound to express his gaze on the world, a particular point of hearing, a way to «say» with the sound.
He often merges his work with other artistic and technical disciplines. This takes place within the technological arts collective Les Ensembles 2.2, of which he is the artistic director.
19.05.2021 / Episode 16
Public talk: Ecosystem of French digital ar
Hannah Loué — Project Manager, Digital Creation Division – Digital Department, Institut français,
Emmanuelle Faucilhon — Regional audiovisual attache Russia / Kazakhstan at Ministère des Affaires étrangères français,
Géraldine Taillandier — vice-president of HACNUM (also director of Saint-Ex culture numérique - Reims),
Mathieu Vabre — vice-president of HACNUM (also director of Seconde Nature / co-director of CHRONIQUES - Aix-en-Provence/Marseille)
https://www.institutfrancais.com
26.05.2021 / Episode 17
Charles Ayats
Charles Ayats obtained a Master’s degree in Interactive Digital Experience from the École de l’image Les Gobelins in Paris. As an interactive designer of web documentaries for ARTE, he creates participatory experiences, often enriched with game mechanics to facilitate transmission of knowledge, exemplified by Type:Rider (2013) on the history of typography. Always on the lookout for new formats to tell his stories, he is awarded for his various VR and AR experiences: SENS VR (2016), 7 lives (2019), Scream VR (2019), M.O.A (2020).
02.06.2021 / Episode 18
Clément Claudius
Clément Claudius (b.1985 France) based in Berlin.
The artist’s work is something like a mix of street artistry, photography, performance and mostly conceptual art in reality.
The menu is served with a hint of poetry, a dash of philosophy, some politics and sweet critics. Most of the productions have little twists of humour that engage in a dialog with the viewer.
For him, a strong artwork is about the harmony between the message and the aesthetics, kind of like a beautiful person has nothing to do with beauty but is about the symbiosis between her body and her soul. Because individual realization often comes from collective inspiration, thank you, even if you don't know why.
https://www.clementclaudius.com/
