CONTEMPORARY ART RUHR, MEDIA ART FAIR, 26 – 28 OCTOBER 2018

Directors Lounge presents

Céline Trouillets “SONG” series

Céline Trouillet was born in 1975 in Colmar, France. She graduated from the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg where she now lives. She regularly presents films in international exhibitions and festivals and has received a number of grants from the French Ministry of Culture. Her films have been awarded prizes at the Octobre Rouge Festival in Luxembourg, the Videomedeja Festival in Serbia, the Ozon Festival in Poland and the AVIFF Cannes Art Film Festival in France. The “SONG” series of “singing portraits” involves a continuous close-up of singing heads facing the camera and performing in real time. Growing up in the 1980s, Céline was part of the first generation to be constantly exposed to music video clips in a period that also saw the advent of Karaoke in Europe, which encouraged the notion that anybody could become a pop star, an idea that also led to public interest in amateur TV talent contests. Each portrait contains multiple layers of signification that are open to interpretation. The films are formally similar, yet each portrait is unique and the creative possibilities are only limited by the number of songs in existence and the number of individuals willing to sing them.

SONG N°27 – 4’50 – 2018  (HD 16/9)

Voice: Amini Skhiri
Music: “Un autre monde” (“An Other World”) by Telephone

Amina is a Belgian psychologist and former contestant on the TV talent show The Voice. She affirms her right to freedom of expression both in religious and artistic terms, which she does not regard as mutually exclusive.

SONG N°26 – 3’25 – 2018  (HD 16/9)

Voice: Cathy Beaumont
Music: “La vie en rose” (“Life in Pink”) by Edith Piaf

She was a friend of the late French singer Barbara who gave her the earrings she is wearing in the film. She also regularly performs covers of songs by Edith Piaf, another singer whose work reflects the bitter-­sweet struggle of existence.

SONG N°25 – 3’05 – 2017  (HD 16/9)

Voice: Elena GuerinMusic: “Negua joan da ta” by Zea Mays

A Basque girl sings a love song that serves as a link to Dora Maar, the singer’s makeup representing the tears in Weeping Woman, Picasso’s 1937 portrait of his mistress and muse who was behind the creation of Guernica, depicting the bombing of the Basque capital (the anniversary of which is this year). Weeping Woman was derived from a figure in Guernica. Picasso consistently portrayed Maar weeping because, for him, women were “suffering machines”.

SONG N°24 – 4’ – 2015  (HD 16/9)

A young man performs “Wild World” by Cat Stevens. The pictorial aspect suggested by the backdrop evoking nature in terms of fauna and flora, combined with the classical references hinted at by the floral crown worn by the singer, associated with pagan gods, conjure up the savage and Dionysian side of the world. This is echoed by the title of the song and reminds us that the destiny of human beings lies beyond their control, at the mercy of external forces.

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Céline Trouillets “SONG” series will be screened as part of the DL program at the contemporary art ruhr video lounge presented by Directors Lounge.

Find the complete program here.