PAUL GRANJON (GB/F):
"Reflections and constructions
of a button pusher"
>>> Video documentation
>>> Deutsche Fassung
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Paul Granjon is a visual artist working with electronics, robotics, video and programming. His subject matter is the co-evolution of humans and machines. He applies a playful, hands-on approach to the production of machines for videos, installations and performances, often presenting the work in a humorous fashion, combined with an underlying darker vision. He questions and comments on the effects of exposure to an exponentially growing and more capable technological environment.Building comical, touching or absurd installations and performances from recycled and new technology I aim to deliver work that celebrates exploratory creativity and critical insight.
For his performance in Unfriendly Takeover, he will present a selection of his latest machines.
Some of them, such as the Sexed Robots he developed for the Welsh Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2005, will be presented on video, while others such as the Heart Beat Machine will be demonstrated live, with a unique musical accompaniment.
"I am a visual artist working with electronics, robotics, video and programming. My subject matter is the co-evolution of humans and machines. I apply a playful, hands-on approach to the production of machines for videos, installations and performances. I often present the work in a humorous fashion, combined with an underlying darker vision. I question and comment on the effects of exposure to an exponentially growing and more capable technological environment, feeding the work with my equal feelings of attraction and unease.
Building comical, touching or absurd installations and performances from recycled and new technology I aim to deliver work that celebrates exploratory creativity and critical insight." (Paul Granjon)
Kindly supported by Künstlerhaus Mousonturm
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Paul Granjon was born in Lyon, France, in 1965. After passing A Levels in mathematics and technology he embarked on a fine art course and graduated in Marseille (France) in 1990. He founded his company Z Productions in 1988. At that time he was working as a freelance video and audio technician for petrochemical companies.
Between 1990 and 1995 he directed several short films, all based on a different type of food. Most of the films were shown in European video festivals. In 1995 he was invited to Cardiff (UK) as a research artist. During his residency he produced It is Not a Piece of Cake, a performance that marked the beginning of his international series Z Food across the World which toured in Europe and the USA between 1995 and 1999.
He was offered a lecturing job in Cardiff and moved to the UK in 1995. He then started an intensive period of research in electronics and robotics, while directing and producing 2 Minutes of Experimentation and Entertainment. In 1999 he created Z Lab Presents, a performance combining his interests for off-key music and robotics, with real robots on stage.
Since then he developed several installations using robotics. He also ran a number of DIY robotics workshops for artists and contributed to several conferences and symposiums. He developed Furman, a man size kicking robot and a set of robotic tail and ears. He was awarded a Nesta Fellowship in 2004. He was one of the artists representing Wales in the Venice Biennale 2005. In February 2006 he premiered a new performance that includes Sexed Robots and primitive technology in the Arnolfini, Bristol.
Paul Granjon's latest project is Positive Activities, a collaborative experiment developed during a residency in Canada in March 2006.
www.paulgranjon.net
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