Videospread

Videospread distributes a collection of artist films and videos destined to be screened and/or broadcasted in public and semi-public places. Its concept is based on a silent (mute) program, which puts forward the power of images through their visual attraction.

This program questions the capacity of Art having a direct impact on the perception and appropriation of an artistic content on the general public - considering the areas of broadcast- Furthermore, Videospread wishes to develop a new market for Video Art.

Videospread programs should not be considered like common television programs, but should rather be regarded as a visual presence, a moving painting.The content of the program is silent, non-narrative and specifically conceived for television broadcasts.

Each individual is confronted daily - voluntarily or not - to the growing exposure to visual information (at home, at work, in public places, during transports, in the street…). These images are usually of commercial and/or advertising nature, and rather poor in cultural and artistic content.

To try and impose a new type of visual « standard » can be the beginning of a different relationship between us – spectators - and the images that we are fed, on a daily basis.

Videospread wishes to encourage and promote critical thinking, as well as challenge the way we look at moving images.

Borderline

The postwar years in America saw the emergence of television sets in neighbourhood taverns, along with an opening to the rest of the world for a majority of the urban masculine working class. Immigrants had the possibility to connect with their homeland and sports events were an
opportunity of sharing national identity.

Commercial discourse rapidly prevailed and content was defined in connection to the audience¹s location. Inside the home, touching a majority of women, the television set broadcasted films and advertising.

At the tavern, offering a privileged arena for sports spectatorship, content was targeted towards entertainment, beer and other beverage consumption.

This social and economical reality was the starting point for the production and commercialization of an ever growing quantity of television shows on travel, cooking, cinema, news.

Early on, artists made use of this visual information as part of their artwork as quotes, references or direct reproductions of these images, scenarios and sets, thus blurring the boundaries between reality and virtuality.

This image manipulation, transformation, which inevitably provokes a modification in meaning and reception, and its « subversive » introduction in public space addresses the legitimacy and commercial logic which run broadcasting networks ­ television, advertising networks in public space ­ and questions the possibilities of opening this «exhibition » space to a larger, non-commercial, content and the impact of such a content on the general viewing public.

Borderline is a stroll through a world on the breech of virtuality, playing with our knowledge of televisual reality ­ sports event, documentary, live show, investigation report ­ and questions our relationship to a traditional television programme and particularly the satisfaction obtained by viewing such programmes.

The artworks of Renaud-Auguste Dormeuil, Agathe Lievens, Marcus Kreiss, Pia Lindman, Amelia Seymour, Sylvie Ungauer and Virginie Yassef play with our goodwill and patience by pushing farther the limits of our familiar and reassuring visual culture. 

Curator/Managing Director : Céline JouenneEditor : Fabrice FaivreArtistic Director : Olivier Berhaut

Opening: 28.02.08 > 7:30 pm

Check screen guide for eact times and dates for screening.

http://www.videospread.com

Image credits: Madeleine station, 2007, Laurent Chambert, RER, 2007, Video, Courtesy of the artist; HI Hotel, 2006, Kristina Solomoukha, A suivre, 2002, Production Association Panoplie, Courtesy of the artist; Europe station, 2007, Cornelis Gollhardt, Legowürstchenshell, 2004, Video, Courtesy of the artist