Vidéochroniques, Marseille — 1990–1993
Vidéochroniques was founded in 1989–90 by Joëlle Metzger and Robert Cahen at the IMEREC, Vieille Charité, Marseille, as one of the most significant initiatives for programming and screening of video art in France. Robert Cahen invited me to join and between January 1990 and June 1992, I came up with approximately sixteen screening events at the IMEREC Vieille Charité and Espace Écureuil. In October 1993, I curated a Gary Hill installation, I Believe It Is an Image in the Light of the Other, at the IMEREC Vieille Charité, in connection with an event around the writer and essayist Maurice Blanchot, whose Thomas l’Obscur Gary Hill had adapted in Incidence of Catastrophe.
Two issues of the Cahiers Vidéochroniques (1991) documented the programming and included my texts. Copies are held in library archives. Individual programs are listed — without programmer credits — in the Vidéochroniques archive at videochroniques.org/archives.
Vidéochroniques fut fondée en 1989–90 par Joëlle Metzger et Robert Cahen à l’IMEREC, Vieille Charité, Marseille, comme l’une des initiatives les plus significatives dans le domaine de la programmation et de la diffusion de l’art vidéo en France. Robert Cahen m’invita à les rejoindre et, entre janvier 1990 et juin 1992, je programmai une quinzaine de séances de projection à l’IMEREC Vieille Charité et à l’Espace Écureuil. En octobre 1993, je présentais une installation de Gary Hill, I Believe It Is an Image in the Light of the Other, à l’IMEREC Vieille Charité, dans le cadre d’un événement autour de l’écrivain et essayiste Maurice Blanchot, dont Thomas l’Obscur avait été adapté par Gary Hill dans Incidence of Catastrophe.
Deux numéros des Cahiers Vidéochroniques (1991) documentèrent la programmation et inclurent mes textes. Des exemplaires sont conservés dans des archives de bibliothèques. Les programmes individuels sont répertoriés — sans mention du programmateur — dans les archives de Vidéochroniques à videochroniques.org/archives.
Impakt Festival voor Experimentele Kunst, Utrecht, Netherlands — 1991 Curated Gary Hill program.
Deuxième Manifestation Internationale Vidéo et Art Électronique, Montréal — 1995 Artistic advisor. Curator of four screening programs with four accompanying texts. Organization: Champ Libre, directed by François Cormier.
X Works, Paris — mid-1990s
As there is no digital trace of this (though a page or two of the guestbook signed by artists will be scanned), I headed an association in Paris called X Works. I curated video art screenings in collaboration with a private film school, l’ESEC, and on occasion with the Galerie Le Sous-Sol.
One significant benefit of doing this in Paris was being able to invite artists in the city for projects and/or exhibitions. Some have passed away, including Dara Birnbaum, Breda Beban and Hrvoje Horvatic, and Danièle and Jacques-Louis Nyst. The conversation with Dara about her work continued until the time of her passing.
Gary Hill, Shelly Silver, Jean-Paul Fargier, David Blair, John Sanborn, Muntadas, Stefaan Decostere, Jérôme Lefdup also joined. Not every screening had a guest though, and as I recall, X Works closed after about eighteen months. The timeline matches the start of regular visits to Japan.
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