Sven in Gaspé

EXHIBITION

Plongeons

Sven, Montreal, Québec | pixetoile.com

Plongeons is an augmented reality project designed from historic situations deflected from their real context.

At first glance, isolated characters seem to plunge willingly in an environment not quite reassuring yet not specifically hostile, only totally empty. Solid, pure and intact, the monochrome backgrounds echo the blue and green screens used for cinematographic special effects inlay.

These photographic remixes reminiscent of World War II, the first nuclear tests and the space conquest bring to the surface of our memories residual images of a significant event’s recollection. With the project’s dedicated app, each composition becomes an artwork something like a Russian doll. Mobile devices reveal enriched content by interposed screens and add a parasite dimension to the initial composition.

The art of falsification is now in everyone’s reach thanks to image processing software and even more so with the numerous photo editing applications available for mobile devices. Tampered with / cropped / tricked broadcasting is nothing of a new concern; its possibility is now simply widespread and democratized. Visual fake news is no longer reserved for experts.

With augmented reality effects, the artist fastens our collective memory at the tipping point between documentary truth and fictional manipulation.

The augmented reality iOS application of Plongeons is free for download in the App Store.

This project is created in collaboration with Paul Gascou-Vaillancourt, developer.

This project is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Exhibition at Rencontres

Plongeons

Stefan Buridans, a.k.a. Sven, has been living and working in Montreal since 2007. A graduate in film studies (ESEC, Paris), he has a particular interest in the visual print left on our collective memory. His research in digital arts is the result of professional audio-visual experiences and invites the spectator to cross the indefinite space between an image’s perception and interpretation.

A founding member of the Mouvement Art Mobile (MAM) in 2012, Sven initiates events in the public and digital space. He promotes in the institutional and academic fields the recognition of a contemporary notion of mobility in art. With the MAM, Sven is the commissioner of Mobilisations, the first Canadian mobile art retrospective, of which he managed the catalog’s publication.

His first solo exhibition, Plongeons, a device integrating augmented reality, is currently touring in Québec art centers and cultural houses.