Images in the night

Source: Frans voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2008 i, published on Thursday, December 18 2008.

"Images in the night" - 14 nights full of images at the Grand Palais from December 18th to 31st, 2008.

agenda

From 18 till 31 December 2008

Practical

Grand Palais

Free entrance

www.lefresnoy.net

To close the European Cultural Season and the French presidency of the European Union, visual arts in all their forms are taking pride of place for 14 nights in a row: photographs, films, videos, interactive installations and projections by artists from all over Europe… This completely innovative retrospective on audiovisual and multimedia creativity focuses on technological innovations from the last 10 years. NICTs - new information and communication technologies - have developed considerably. We have moved from mobile telephony to 3G technology, from dial-up connections to fibre optics, from analogue to the digital age and numerous creative and broadcasting formats have emerged: MP3, Divx… all new methods of communication and expression for our societies.

As in every major technical or technological evolution, artists have caught on to these new media to turn them into new channels for expressing their vision of the world. Artists at the cutting edge of the latest technologies have turned these media into fundamental elements of the creative work.

More than 140 works are presented: existing ones (some of which are already enjoying certain recognition) as well as commissions from famous artists. All occupy the space in a spectacular way. Projected onto the ground, the walls, alcoves, glass, and even the outside of the building, all the images which have marked the art world over the last 10 years fill the main hall of the Grand Palais, which is transformed into an immense kaleidoscope of images. An unmissable landmark of light right in the heart of the capital, the event is open to the general public and is recognized as a major popular festival on an international scale during the last fortnight of the year.

Simultaneously, a seminar on "Speed Limits" and three round tables on "The relationship between culture and business, developments and perspectives" is organized during the day.

Opened in 1997 in Tourcoing and run by Alain Fleischer, Le Fresnoy national studio of contemporary arts is dedicated to audiovisual and multimedia creativity. It includes an international training centre, a production centre offering professional working conditions to both well-known artists and young designers, as well as a regional, national and international distribution centre.