Fabien Zocco
L'entreprise de déconstruction théotechnique - Installation - 2016
presented as part of the exhibition Panorama 18
“Like someone laughing in the eyes of his sons-in-law” Made by Fabien Zocco in 2016, L’Entreprise de déconstruction théotechnique organises a collision between the Old Testament and a mechanical ordering that erodes its meaning. The first alteration consists in introducing the biblical text into a succession of computer algorithms. The text is thus interfered with by random constraints that deform its meaning. This results in expressions such as Like someone laughing in the eyes of his sons-in-law”, “ I’m going to fructify you a lot”. These alterations have ambiguous effects. Some of the resulting propositions are intelligible, or even have an abstract poetic quality due to the semantic or sonorous distortions. Others, in contrast, show the malevolent workings of language, creating a void in its capacity to make sense. After the manipulation of text, of its materiality and meaning, comes a second, literal manipulation which amplifies its alteration. The propositions are spoken by computerised voices on smartphones attached to moving robot arms, which are themselves linked to a semi-circular metal structure resting on the floor. However, this intensification of technique (artefacts linked to artefacts) leads to something other than itself. The voices are heard solo, in duos or as a polyphony. The movements of the arms are like an almost animal choreography. That is the meaning of this society of robots which collectively articulates fragments of the Old Testament: combining deconstructed language (both written and oral), prehension, the divine, the technological, the animal and the human to create a proximity between them or, on the contrary, ensuring that they dis-identify themselves. Pierre Tillet, critic
Fabien Zocco
«Fabien Zocco explores the artistic potential of technological out-sourcing, applications and other software. Playing on the endless possibilities offered by the digital network, he appropriates the icons of digital popular culture and virtual aesthetics to create architectures, forms or futuristic stories. With a hint of derision, he questions our relationship to the technologies that have invaded our daily lives and investigates our relationship to the virtual.» (Sonia Recasens). His work has been shown in France (Le Fresnoy, FRAC Poitou Charentes, Palais de Tokyo...), in Mexico (Institut Français d’Amérique Latine in Mexico), in Canada (UQTR gallery, Trois-Rivières), in Poland (A-I-R program, Wroclaw), in Belgium (Transcultures, Mons), in Italy (LALD, Polignano a Mare) and online (The Wrong - New digital art biennial).
Production
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Arnaud Petit, Madeleine Van Doren, Daniel Dobbels, Eric Prigent, Christophe Gregório, Sébastien Cabour, Guillaume Libersat, Cyprien Quairiat, Marie Devarenne, Jonathan Bell and the Ircam, Christian Laroche, Guillaume Gravina, Etienne Lautem, Pierre Tillet, Laurent Delplanque, to the whole team of Fresnoy and to the promotions Alain Resnais and Manoel de Oliveira.
