Maurice Benayoun, Dominique Moulon – Maurice Benayoun / Open art: 1980-2010

Maurice-Benayoun

Nouvelles Editions SCALA, Centre des Arts Enghien les Bains, book+dvd, ISBN-13: 978-2359880465, 196 pages, 2011, French, France

This monograph celebrates thirty years of activity of one of the most well known French media artists. It was produced in conjunction with his retrospective exhibition “Out of The Dump” at the Enghien-les-Bains art centre. The chapters weave their way through dozens of artworks, organized into major concepts and methods of realization. After the early works (where he was already looking to develop audience interaction), we move into the nineties and witness a growing skill and passion for 3D rendering in a visionary early animation series called “Les Quarxs” (whose genesis and development is well explained in a documentary video included on the attached DVD). The book manages to give sense to Benayoun’s prolific output, guiding the reader through the telepresence “Tunnels” series (undertaken in Paris and Montreal) and the most celebrated of his immersive works: “World Skin, un safari photo au pays de la guerre” where the act of taking pictures in a digitalized war environment has a series of aesthetic and functional consequences. Other directions are skilfully explored, including his “mechanics of emotions” series, and an important project started in 2006, which marks another important turn: “The Dump” a blog where the artist puts all his unrealized and early projects, a kind of open notepad with ideas that he shares with the web. The enlightening video archive on the DVD makes investigating Benayoun’s considerable catalogue that much easier.

Still Moving by Maurice Benayoun