Claude Closky
Journal
03/12/2005 t/m 02/04/2006
This autumn at GEM: the film Journal by award-winning filmmaker Claude
Closky (born Paris 1963), winner of the prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp, which
he received at FIAC, the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain in Paris. Closky
was also nominated in 2001, when the prize went to Thomas Hirschhorn. As
winner of Le Prix Marcel Duchamp, an exhibiton of his work will take place in
spring
2006 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Virtual world
Closky is known for his subtle, minimalist, playful work. He uses media familiar to
us from everyday communication: film, magazines and the Internet, combining
them with the images, sounds and use of language that go with them. He re-
articulates the words and images that appear in his films, playing with the rules,
codes and hierarchy to subtly change the meaning.
Journal is a 24-minute account of the world Closky has observed at his
desk over the past three months, consisting of rapidly changing images and
sounds (a different sound for each image) from the media. He derives all his
material from the Internet. Asked why he observes the world in this way, Closky
explains that this is his attempt to perceive the world more clearly. ‘The virtual
world ís my reality’, he says.
Strictly speaking, the images are all very similar, incorporating identical
codes, which erases differences in content. With this treatment, Closky
manages
to accentuate both the shocking nature and the uniformity and the cadence of
the images. According to Closky, the images are about us, about how we
understand the world and about everyday life. The short sound fragments that
accompany the images have become a language in themselves to
Closky.
Exhibitions
Claude Closky has exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Miró
Foundation in Barcelona, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne and the Tate Gallery in
Liverpool. He has also taken part in several Biennales.
