Lambeaux – January 2012
Source: French tv advertisingEach week we chat about the tools of the trade with one outstanding creative to find out exactly how they do what they do. The questions are always the same, the answers, not so much. This week: Nicolas Boillot.The Creators Project: Who are you and what do you do?
Nicolas Boillot: I'm a French media artist creating visual art and net art involving mostly moving images and text. I am currently working on a PhD in visual aesthetic, working on the implication of remix in digital art. The aim of my work is to question the notion of information flow. I create artworks that, through arrangement, accumulation, and new configuration, generate possible interpretations, creating new ways to read or interpret information flows. I use all sorts of media, like television stream, I.R.C. chat, and images from the internet. Theses materials are constantly around us and we usually catch them as passive receptor. In my work I want to create a critical distance with all the information flow we usually consume all the year round.
.urler / “être” – May 2006
Source: images from the internetWhat hardware do you use?
I mainly use a laptop, and for some projects external webcams and sensors as interfaces and video projectors. In my work I hide any piece of hardware, then spectators have a more direct and "natural" relationship with the project.Spoiler – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago, Chile – October 2007Source: Night of the living dead – George A. RomeroWhat software do you use?
I've been working for the past eight years mainly with EyesWeb, and I've been teaching it for the past five years in a computer school near Paris. EyesWeb is a graphic programming software made to design and develop real-time multimodal systems and interfaces. I use it to create interactive video and sound projects like Spoiler or The Advertising Lyre. I use Processing (Java), for a textual/internet project named Plagiairc. And for my latest project Lambeaux I switched to openFrameworks (C++) mainly because it's a real-time video project and Processing was too slow for this kind of work. With this new language I was able to explore the new medium for moving image that is the GIF format, thanks to an add-on named ofxGifEncoder made by Jesus Gollonet.
Lambeaux – Raw loop of 24 images – January 2012
Source: How TV ruined your life – Charlie BrookerIf money were no object, how would you change your current setup?
I would rent a flat to have more room to create and experiment—doing more concrete work like sculpture or installation. I would also hire a professional programmer to help me. I've never been to computer school and I learn all the stuff related to the technical domain mostly on my own. I had basic training of programming in art school but not accurate enough to concretize all the ideas I had in mind. For example, for the project Plagiairc I thought of the main concept eight years before realizing it because of my limited programming skills. I had the opportunity in 2010 to get technical support during a residency in La Chambre Blanche in Quebec city, Canada to finally make it. I have other projects waiting in my notebook for such opportunities.What fantasy piece of technology would you like to see invented?
A bio-computer installed into the human body, so we could seamlessly enhance our perception and interaction with the world around us.Is there any piece of technology that inspired you to take the path you did?
I started using a computer at age seven, the Mac Plus my parents had. There weren’t many games out at the time so to entertain myself I would try one by one all the commands possible in each program. The two commands that inspired me the most were "copy" and "paste." I then began, with a program called SuperPaint on a Mac Classic, to experiment with graphical composition with the help of these two "magic" commands.What’s your favourite relic piece of technology from your childhood?
A portable tape recorder.
Source: French tv advertisingEach week we chat about the tools of the trade with one outstanding creative to find out exactly how they do what they do. The questions are always the same, the answers, not so much. This week: Nicolas Boillot.The Creators Project: Who are you and what do you do?
Nicolas Boillot: I'm a French media artist creating visual art and net art involving mostly moving images and text. I am currently working on a PhD in visual aesthetic, working on the implication of remix in digital art. The aim of my work is to question the notion of information flow. I create artworks that, through arrangement, accumulation, and new configuration, generate possible interpretations, creating new ways to read or interpret information flows. I use all sorts of media, like television stream, I.R.C. chat, and images from the internet. Theses materials are constantly around us and we usually catch them as passive receptor. In my work I want to create a critical distance with all the information flow we usually consume all the year round.
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Source: images from the internetWhat hardware do you use?
I mainly use a laptop, and for some projects external webcams and sensors as interfaces and video projectors. In my work I hide any piece of hardware, then spectators have a more direct and "natural" relationship with the project.Spoiler – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago, Chile – October 2007Source: Night of the living dead – George A. RomeroWhat software do you use?
I've been working for the past eight years mainly with EyesWeb, and I've been teaching it for the past five years in a computer school near Paris. EyesWeb is a graphic programming software made to design and develop real-time multimodal systems and interfaces. I use it to create interactive video and sound projects like Spoiler or The Advertising Lyre. I use Processing (Java), for a textual/internet project named Plagiairc. And for my latest project Lambeaux I switched to openFrameworks (C++) mainly because it's a real-time video project and Processing was too slow for this kind of work. With this new language I was able to explore the new medium for moving image that is the GIF format, thanks to an add-on named ofxGifEncoder made by Jesus Gollonet.
Source: How TV ruined your life – Charlie BrookerIf money were no object, how would you change your current setup?
I would rent a flat to have more room to create and experiment—doing more concrete work like sculpture or installation. I would also hire a professional programmer to help me. I've never been to computer school and I learn all the stuff related to the technical domain mostly on my own. I had basic training of programming in art school but not accurate enough to concretize all the ideas I had in mind. For example, for the project Plagiairc I thought of the main concept eight years before realizing it because of my limited programming skills. I had the opportunity in 2010 to get technical support during a residency in La Chambre Blanche in Quebec city, Canada to finally make it. I have other projects waiting in my notebook for such opportunities.What fantasy piece of technology would you like to see invented?
A bio-computer installed into the human body, so we could seamlessly enhance our perception and interaction with the world around us.Is there any piece of technology that inspired you to take the path you did?
I started using a computer at age seven, the Mac Plus my parents had. There weren’t many games out at the time so to entertain myself I would try one by one all the commands possible in each program. The two commands that inspired me the most were "copy" and "paste." I then began, with a program called SuperPaint on a Mac Classic, to experiment with graphical composition with the help of these two "magic" commands.What’s your favourite relic piece of technology from your childhood?
A portable tape recorder.