Frames, by Nicolas Clauss, generative video

Dec. 31, 2017 - May 6. 2018. Le Mans. More info. More technical info. Diccan's posts about Clauss.
Youtube video. Another Youtube video

Built as as an altarpiece in the perspective of the immense and so close St-Julien cathedral, the work lets a strange impression. It is inscribed alone in the volume of Quinconces-l'Espal, a vast contemporary glass theater recalling the nave of its geographical neighbor. The contrast is striking but the installation holds out while seeming lost in the immensity.

Frames is an assembly of videos displayed on eight wooden boxes; The videos are sequences of frozen portraits in saccades spread over time conditioned by the random program that encloses or releases them . Metaphors for the confinement or liberation of bodies, each video tells us about ourselves, annoys and fascinates us.

The material structure of assembled frames reminds us Nam June Paik. The way of dealing with lights and psychology of the characters evoke Velasquez and his portraits, for instance the buffoons.

This work is in line with the former created or directed by Clauss, from Flying Puppet to Endless Portraits and the Leonardo Dream Machine for iPad, and relives the energy emerging from these timeless creations. In this technological universe, the digital composes with the generative and takes all its place without saying it, allowing us to see and hear rare and attractive original compositions.

Yves de Ponsay