
OPERATION OPERATION | Solo exhibition of Samuel Bianchini
Ilan Engel Gallery, Paris: www.ilanengelgallery.com
17th March - 12th May 2012
77, rue des Archives | 75003 Paris
Parking Beaubourg | M° République or Temple
OPENING / VERNISSAGE : 17th March / Mars | 2PM - 9PM / 14h - 21h
What's More With Many, 2001. Samuel Bianchini. Centre Pompidou, Paris, January 2011
Photograph: © Samuel Bianchini - ADAGP
OPERATION OPERATION [ENGLISH - FRANĂAIS, CI-DESSOUS)
A crowd reacting to the gesture of a spectator (Whatâs More With Many, 2001), images of traders fighting against the market data constituting their own image (All Over, 2009), lone demonstrators to be synchronized on the screen (All Together, 2007); Samuel Bianchiniâs first solo show at the Ilan Engel Gallery deploys three of his installations in which gestures come entirely to the fore, whether they be figurative or âreally realâ.
Each dispositif in its own way brings into being a new framework of the image captured in its time, real time. Far from being merely the recall of a past reality (the celebrated that-has-been), these interactive images partly bring themselves into being before our eyes - most often, through our actions. Anchored in the present, their coming to life is governed by operations shared with their surrounding reality, whether that be - here - the gestures of their viewers, or those of traders spread out across the planet.
The gestures acquire sense to the extent that they are made, in the image or in front of the image, by the audience. As with Whatâs More With Many - between sport and politics- and All Over - traders or protesters - while ambivalence persists, leaving all interpretation (resolution) to the viewer, Bianchiniâs work is profoundly political, with constant questioning of our experience of becoming aware, of intention and of making a decision, alone, confronting a collectivity, confronting an activity emblematic of our societies.
Bianchiniâs works are conceived as Theatres of Operation, as productions of relations of forces, in no way limited to existence on-screen. Representation here is a matter of both images, scenes and of actions, operations: indexed to tangible reality and self-configuring in a ceaselessly negotiation relationship with the reality of th moment.
Bringing together these installations for the first time, the exhibition exemplarily embodies the reciprocal influence of the symbolic / purely operational which is constitutive of our mediatised era, impregnated through and through by the flow of data: operation operation.
OPERATION OPERATION [FRANĂAIS]
Une foule qui rĂ©agit au geste dâun spectateur (Dâautant quâĂ plusieurs, 2001), des images de traders en lutte avec les donnĂ©es boursiĂšres qui les constituent (All Over, 2009), des manifestants esseulĂ©s Ă synchroniser Ă lâĂ©cran (Tous ensemble, 2007) ; pour sa premiĂšre exposition personnelle chez Ilan Engel Gallery, Samuel Bianchini dĂ©ploit trois de ses installations dans lesquelles les gestes prennent toute leur part, quâils soient figurĂ©s ou bel et bien rĂ©els.
Chacun Ă leur maniĂšre, ces dispositifs mettent en Ćuvre un nouveau rĂ©gime de lâimage en prise avec son temps, le temps rĂ©el. Loin de nâĂȘtre que des rappels dâune rĂ©alitĂ© passĂ©e (le fameux âça a Ă©tĂ©â), ces images interactives se rĂ©alisent en partie sous nos yeux et, le plus souvent, avec nos actions. AncrĂ©es dans le prĂ©sent, elles sâaniment selon des opĂ©rations quâelles partagent avec la rĂ©alitĂ© qui les entoure, que ce soient, ici, les gestes de leur public ou ceux des traders rĂ©partis Ă travers la planĂšte.
Ces gestes se chargent de sens Ă mesure quâils sont effectuĂ©s, dans lâimage ou devant lâimage, par le public. Ă lâinstar de Dâautant quâĂ plusieurs - entre sport et politique-, ou All Over -traders ou manifestants-, si lâambivalence demeure, laissant toute interprĂ©tation (rĂ©solution ?) au public, le caractĂšre politique de ses Ćuvres est toutefois indĂ©niable. Chaque fois est questionnĂ©e notre expĂ©rience de la prise de conscience, de lâintention et de la dĂ©cision, seuls, face Ă un collectif, Ă une activitĂ© emblĂ©matique de nos sociĂ©tĂ©s.
Les Ćuvres de Samuel Bianchini sont pensĂ©es comme des Théùtres dâopĂ©rations des âmises en scĂšne de rapports de forcesâ. Elles ne sont certainement pas circonscrites Ă lâĂ©cran. La reprĂ©sentation est autant affaire dâimages, de scĂšnes que dâactions, dâopĂ©rations : elle est indexĂ©e sur la rĂ©alitĂ© tangible et se configure dans le rapport sans cesse nĂ©gociĂ© avec cette rĂ©alitĂ© du moment.
Rassemblant des installations prĂ©sentĂ©es ensemble pour la premiĂšre fois, cette exposition met en Ćuvre de façon exemplaire cette emprise rĂ©ciproque du symbolique et de lâopĂ©ratoire constitutive de notre Ă©poque mĂ©diatique imprĂ©gnĂ©e de toutes parts par lâinformatique : opĂ©ration opĂ©ration.
Exhibition with the assistance of : Romain Chevet, Isabelle Gamelin, Anne Lemarchand, Oussama Mubarak, Ălodie Tincq.
What's More With Many, 2001. Samuel Bianchini.
Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Greece, May 2009
Photograph: © Samuel Bianchini - ADAGP
All Over, 2009. Samuel Bianchini.
All Together, 2007. Samuel Bianchini. La Ménagerie de Verre, Paris, June 2007
Photograph: © Samuel Bianchini - ADAGP
Samuel Bianchini is represented
by Ilan Engel Gallery (Paris) â http://www.ilanengelgallery.com
and, for his art publications
by MFC-MichĂšle Didier (Brussels, Paris) â http://www.micheledidier.com