French-born, Bristol UK-based artist Joanie Lermercier is one of the names most associated with projection mapping. But in a new video, the artist – who goes by the name ANTIVJ, which doubles as his audiovisual label – expresses just how he conceives these tricks of perception, as plays of shadow and light.
The work itself is beautifully documented here, interspersed with its surroundings, as an installation and (for Joanie) artist residency at Troy, New York’s EMPAC, not far upstate from New York City.
It’s not just an escape from the rectangle that motivates ANTIVJ’s work. The specific application of calculated (and sometimes exaggerated) illusion, and the awareness of those illusions, recalls the trompe-l’œil technique that saw its peak in Baroque and Roccoco art. And it’s movng to me to hear Joanie speak about the sensation that surrounds that technique; somehow, I’ve always found French artists and perhaps even the French language most articulate in appreciating ephemeral sensations in expression. (I certainly have found that in playing French music, so I at least have that personal connection, if imagined or otherwise.)
It’s beautiful work. And at the same time, I find it encouraging that you could close your eyes, listen to Joanie’s conceptual notions, and create something entirely different. This could well be a deep well of thinking about digital projection, in which three-dimensional illusion is far from novelty. Centuries of art certainly suggest as much – and this new digital work demonstrates that aesthetic can be independent from illusion.
Details of the video:
EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL
an installation by Joanie Lemercier
twitter.com/#!/JoanieLemercier
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a video by Jérome Monnot (cargocollective.com/jeromemonnot) and Vania Jaikin Miyazaki
Produced by Elefant Films
VISUALS: Joanie Lemercier
Additional visuals: Simon Geilfus
MUSIC: Monolake – Oomoo
PRODUCTION: Nicolas Boritch
Music used in the video report:
– Caribou – Children Play Well Together
– Nicolas Jaar – Wouh
Projects featured from 1:22 are all documented on antivj.com
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twitter.com/#!/AntiVJ
antivj.com/empac/
And more description:
Audiovisual installation by Joanie Lemercier
Painting, layer of projected lightInspired by the icelandic volcano, which wreaked travel havoc across europe earlier this year,
Joanie Lemercier presents the latest incarnation of its audiovisual mapping project
Painted directly onto a large wall, a wireframed scenery is slowly revealed by gentle light effects.
The audience’s sense are progressively challenged as optical illusions question their perception of space.