Massot Gilles
Retro Specks / Future Pixs (station to station) - a
video and photo based time-sculpture installation by Gilles Massot
18 Dec 2004 to 27 Feb 2005
The exhibition will be composed of 2 main sections. The first component will
feature Massot's personal work and a video screening of the train journeys from
Singapore to Johor and back. From these two videos, still images will be
extracted and treated with sepia tone and bright digital colours to represent
the past and future of the train line and its surrounding landscape. The second
component will be a collaboration between the artist and the people living in
the districts surrounding the train tracks.
The interconnecting train line is a unique emblem of the Singapore-Malaysia
relationship - one that is historically rich, culturally diverse and politically
sensitive. It is also an idiosyncratic situation as observed by the artist
because "the section of the train line and the Singapore [train] station itself,
are Malaysian territory within Singaporean territory" and that paradoxically, in
administrative terms, one enters Malaysia before technically leaving Singapore!
Massot also perceives photography as a metaphysical entity because although it
is a direct reflection of reality, this perceived reality is made problematic by
the increasing manipulation through technology thereby producing a distorted
manifestation. However, this dual nature of reality and digital manipulation
effectively allows Massot to explore new dimensions of photography, consequently
opening up new channels for re-interpreting and re-exploring the railway line.
Still photographs are extracted from videos taken while the train is rolling and
are digitally manipulated to graphically age or "futurise" the film. These
images communicate to us about yesterday and tomorrow with the language of
today; thus resonating "retro specks" and "future pixs".
A French artist and Singapore PR, Mr. Massot has been based in Singapore since
1981 where he has actively contributed to the growth of the local art scene.
My Life as a Lamp Post
It’s exhibitions like this that really make you
wonder what goes on in an artist’s mind. What excites a person to consider the
feelings of an inanimate object? Well, Massot is French and, somewhere in his
dim and distant past, he obviously developed some kind of perverse emotional
attachment to lamp posts. This exhibition is a culmination of 25 years of his
obsession. With a series of photographic portraits of lamp posts on display,
Massot hopes to draw viewers into thinking about, I quote: “1. Who are lamp
posts? 2. What is their life like? 3. What does it feel like to be a lamp post?”
If you find this personification of the humble street lamp thought-provoking, or
amusing, trot down to Plastique Kinetic Worms (61 Kerbau Rd, Tel: 6292 7783)
between June 5-22 to view Massot’s entire photographic collection.
Gilles Massot's installation of impressionistic snaps of everyday objects rendered odd to the point of transcendence and strung delicately before us on wire (pop shots, The Substation and Alliance Francaise, June 4-20).
Gilles Massot's practice covers a
wide range of disciplines, styles and mixed media technics. His work as a fine
art practitioner has been exhibited in many Asian countries and France in
exhibitions often complemented by live performances. As a travel photographer
and writer, he has published extensively in magazines and just completed his
first book "Bintan, phoenix of the Malay Archipelago". He has also worked in the
event and entertainment industry, producing set designs, commercial exhibitions
and managing festivals.
Source: houseWORK project press release.