Fall 2014 in Paris... nearly too much!
We intended to prepare a synthesis, but there are so many announcements on this Fall, that we shall limit this first post to a minimally commented review (we give the links, just click to have the last news of the actors). For comparison with last year , see our last synthetic post for 2013.
Work in progress
Galleries. A newcomer: Di Marino
After Charlot and Denis René, a third player is trying it's luck on digital art in "Le Marais" (Paris 3d district), N. Marino was until now dedicated to kinetic art, but attacks in force with its Bit Form show (no connection with the NYC gallery Bitform). It presents five artists, four of which were yet well known digital artists, some with brand new works:
Pedro Morales. La tête en bas. Interactive with cell phones (Mobile tagging art).
AntoineSchmitt. Ranger Déranger (2014). A graphic variation on Schmitt's pixels games.
Edouart Sufrin. Field. A powerful magnetic field, controlled by a rock crystal
Flavien Théry. Dual. Wave and particle at the same time. A third reality
Santiago Torres Compositon couleurs (2014 c). Conceptually simple, graphically cool and happy.
Later on this fall, Di Marino will expose Hans Kotter and its works works on light. Nealy digital...
Galerie Charlot keeps on its rise to the digital art stars. After Sommerer & Mignonneau (no new works, but several works that had not yet been seen in France, like The Value of Art (2010)). Then Eduardo Kac and his famous bio-art breakthrough.
Denise René Espace Marais will dedicate a show to Elias Crespin (Oct. 17 - Jan 3).
On the right bank (rue Mazarine) Olivier Waltman keeps supporting artists like Alain Le Boucher, not only for the collectors market, but also for some luxury works providers.
Fairs. Actively preparing October
FIAC is of course central with its position in the Grand Palais (23-26) and ils large surfaces. Until now, Digital art has had a quite timid presence there. Will 2014 see our fiels widen?
Show-off. curated once more by Dominique Moulon will certainly be the top for digiral artists and their galleries.
YIA will open on Le Carreau du Temple ( 23 atà 10:00 - 26 octobre 2014 at 18:00).
Art Attitude seems to be the nem name of Slick (22-26)
Art Elysées and Design Elysées (23-27).
The growing success of digitally oriented galleries on the main art market gives new hopes to our artists. Until recently, they could be considered as strongly depending on public structures (local communities, universities, art schools, museums). They can now hope for a full recognitition... and income from the market. They owe that to the courageous determination of some galerists, among which Charlot was the first.
But that could have negative side effects. To sell in galleries and to collectors, they have to make smaller, simpler and cheaper works. That is clearly visible on the artists promoted by the galleries. So they must devote more time to a production increasing in number, and less time for free research and creation.
Fortunately, other actors enter the scene, with possibly important budgets and vaster environments.
New kinds of actors, global digitization
We have seen a new kind of digital art presentation with Le Musée passager (see our post). They don't announce new projects for Fall 2014 or 2015.
But the most impressive installation of digital art is not in a gallery or a museum, but in a commercial mall near Paris, Le Qwartz (sorry, website only in French). From a digital art standpoint, the most impressive is the digital track, with ten large interactive works (we give links to the artists as present in diccan)
Raymond Interactive Mille et une 3D
Mâa Berriet : Qwarz move (produced by Raymond Interactive);
Digital slaves. DIgital Graff.
Mehmet Akten. Webcam piano. Body paint
Marie Sester. Access
Wild shores. Astrophonia.
Camille Scherrer. In the woods
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The Years Midnight.
More that this particular realization, the important fact is the coming a new kind of actors. Raymond Interactive is a firm dedicated to point-of-sale ditgization and digital commerce. And it is a subsidiary of Saguez and Partners, nearly a sort of new urban planners. Its woks are visible also at La Défense espalanade and at the SO Ouest mall in Levallois.
With other places such as the Kinetic building in Boulogne-sur-Sine, we see emerging some kind of a global digitization of our spaces.
Top world firms bet on digital art
A typical example is provided by Google, as shows the short animation film Duet, by Glen Keane (who presents his work in Paris, for the Paris ACM Siggraph (sorry, but the hall is fully reservated and no new inscriptions possible).
From a strictly digital animation standpoint, this film has the surprising feature of having been producec entirely by hand by Keane. But,typical of our transmedia era, the film has been computer processed to allow an immersive visualization on cell phones. See a presentation on Carton Brew.
Public institutions don't give up
In spite of difficult budgetary issues, public French insitutions, and notably several town councils, keep supporting digital art , sometimes with important means mainly through universities, art centers and festivals.
We shall attempt a list in a furter post or edition of this one.
DICCAN'S PARTNERS:
Paris ACM Siggraph, the French chapter of ACM Siggraph, worldwide non-profit organization of computer graphics.
