Laurent Grasso

ARTIFICIALIS presents an ambiguous, spectral territory, undergoing mutation, where reality and virtuality are superimposed on one another, and where our reference points can no longer be discerned. [Overview courtesy of Musée d'Orsay]

Set in the French President’s office, Élysée embarks on a personal reflection on the aesthetics and representation of power. The film reactivates the concept of the King’s Two Bodies, first theorised by historian Ernst Kantorowicz, positing the idea of a power continuum going well beyond its physical incarnation in a single person.

Set in sites of apparently unspoiled natural beauty in remote locations in Taiwan with dream-destination names—Orchid Island, Thousand Island Lake, and Tianliao Moon World, the film, rendered in black and white, is infused with a sense of foreboding. Reflective of the underlying political and social complexities of Taiwan today, the dramatic contrasts of light and shadow and the use of aerial surveillance technology enhance the sense of unease. The camera, mounted on a drone, moves as if imbued with its own life force, hovering, floating in one location, or traveling from above to below as if investigating what it then captures. [Overview courtesy of Perrotin Gallery]