http://www.nicolas-cilins.com Nicolas Cilins Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:20:44 +0000 http://www.nicolas-cilins.com en http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Believers http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Believers Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:20:44 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 522427 http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Waiting-for-the-Barbarians-1 http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Waiting-for-the-Barbarians-1 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:20:31 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 2783429 2012 sculpture: wood, spy glass, plaster, sand, plastic characters Thumbnail photograph by Dieter Kik <img src="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/02_800.jpg" border="0" width="800" height="533" width_o="1200" height_o="800" src_o="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/02_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/03_800.jpg" border="0" width="800" height="533" width_o="1200" height_o="800" src_o="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/03_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/04_800.jpg" border="0" width="800" height="533" width_o="1200" height_o="800" src_o="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/04_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/05_800.jpg" border="0" width="800" height="533" width_o="1200" height_o="800" src_o="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/2783429/05_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Third-History http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Third-History Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:09:47 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 1618771 2010 serie of 8 frames, each 20*28 cm Found book pages and inkjet print <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1618771/thirdhistory_800.jpg" border="0" width="800" height="599" width_o="954" height_o="715" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1618771/thirdhistory_o.jpg" align="left" /> "Africa's reality is scarcity that provokes violence." "What would you do, proud youth of Africa, with my pity?" http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Moroccoan-Archaeologies http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Moroccoan-Archaeologies Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:47:47 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 1577150 2011 performance I documentation: 7 prints, 12' HD video, newspaper sculptures <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/01web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/01web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/02web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/02web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/03web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/03web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/04web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/04web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/05web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/05web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/06web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/06web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/07web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/07web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/08web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/08web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/09web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/09web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/10web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/10web_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/11web.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="377" width_o="670" height_o="377" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/1577150/11web_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/The-African-Star http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/The-African-Star Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:11:54 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 728727 2010 installation : wood, props, prints and collages <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT5.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT3.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT2.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT4.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/728727/AT4_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/This-time-it-s-personal http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/This-time-it-s-personal Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:43:16 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 522426 2008 MDF, photographs, videos, lamp, cardboard dimensions variable <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso1_o.jpg" align="left" /> This complex piece, which was also subject of my degree examination at Geneva University, consisted of a large-scale, interconnected assembly of various individual works and media. Incorporated within the expansive installation were light boxes, televisions, props, two erected walls, poster-size photographs, projections and MDF cut-outs. Once the audience and committee entered the room which was strewn with blown-up balloons, I began a performance piece during which I was popping all the balloons one by one whilst attacking them with my teeth like a dog. The whole action was fast and violent; my hands screeching along the surface of the balloons; the explosions; my fast movements on my knees across the floor. Together with the speed with which the performance was enacted, this succeeded in becoming an experience of intense and physical absurdity and mental transgression. The idea for the performance came from a video I found on youtube in which a male dog owner, who remains largely invisible during its duration and only acts from the background, is encouraging his dog to manically attack all the balloons that had previously been arranged for it in the lounge. While one watches the dog run back and forth between the balloons and popping each with subsequent explosions, one can still hear music playing in the background, as well as the owner’s voice continuously repeating : ‘Good boy, good boy.’ The title of the video is ‘This time it’s personal’. Altogether the installation and performance aimed to blur the gap between our memories of things and their representation in factual reality. Mixing contemporary materials and videos with nostalgic family photos from the 1970s, I was hoping to question our beliefs in the past as much as highlighting the way we deal with our selves in the present. The way the dog is being ordered about repeats itself in the performance, where the human becomes the subject that acts out the mindless and destructive repetitive action. The inclusion of a video that has come visibly from youtube – I did not edit out the frame and logo – is also trying to hint at the fact that in the 21st century people are hoping to find new interpretations and solutions for their lives on the internet. What remains after the performance is a space filled with personal and at times disconcerting memorabilia; the empty skins of balloons and shadows of figures that once dominated our lives. It would be safe to say that ‘This time it’s personal’ has indeed been a personal piece; dark and melancholic at that, but hopefully not failing to touch and scratch a surface. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso2.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso3.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso4.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso4_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso5.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso6.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522426/perso6_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Simulation http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Simulation Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:43:14 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 522424 2008 Plexiglas, neons, sound system <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="444" width_o="1280" height_o="849" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul1_o.jpg" align="left" /> ‘Simulation’ was conceived as site-specific installation. Light boxes were made to measure and inserted into the pre-existing windows and shutters of the room of a period stately home. The sound of the neon frequency emitted from the light boxes appeared amplified within the space. The house itself was built at the beginning of the 20th century in neoclassical style. The owner’s attempt to resemble a much earlier period whilst using contemporary materials makes it feel very much like a strange film set nowadays. When entering for the first time, I instantly got the feeling that there was ‘something wrong’ with it as if there had been a gap between imagined time and actual space. This feeling was heightened by the ornamental decorations of the house and its extremely low ceiling (about 2 metres only). The decorations often appear too dominant within the low space they have been made to fit into. Another factor that contributed to the ‘unreality’ of the space was that the room was initially supposed to be the living room of the house. Yet the ‘real’ living room was located downstairs. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul2.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="444" width_o="1280" height_o="849" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul3.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="444" width_o="1280" height_o="849" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul4.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="444" width_o="1280" height_o="849" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522424/simul4_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Untitled-Box http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Untitled-Box Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:43:12 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 522422 2009 wood, spy-hole, miniature trees, plexiglas <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box01.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box01_o.jpg" align="left" /> The piece consists of a wooden rectangular box with handles on two sides, by help of which the viewer can maneuver the box horizontally, as well as a spy-hole in its front. Whilst lifting the box up to his eyes and looking in, the viewer suddenly finds himself gazing into a perfect miniature world that keeps drifting past before his eyes. The minor movements of his hands and body have set a hidden interior alive. What appears like the long and faraway train journeys of our childhood days is in fact a simple trompe l’oeil, made up of a landscape of decorative miniature trees as used in model railway building. Arranged around an axis, the hidden scenery inside begins to slowly spin before our eyes, going faster according to our own acceleration. The viewer is facing the perfect illusion of nature passing him by, helped by the trees installed at the rear that create an additional perspective effect. After a few seconds the model has come full circle and is repeating its round, thus creating a loop. At some point the repetition becomes noticeable, but it is one without clearly defined beginning or end. Like a revisited dream, the impression of a merry-go-round of unspoilt natural beauty becomes a déjà vu; a vague and distant memory. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box02.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box02_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box03.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box03_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box04.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box04_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box05.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box05_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box06.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box06_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box07.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box07_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box08.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522422/box08_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Self-portrait-with-Granny http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Self-portrait-with-Granny Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:43:08 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 522420 2009 single channel video, DV, 6', mute <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny2.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny2_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny3.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny3_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny4.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny4_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny5.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny5_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny6.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="503" width_o="670" height_o="503" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522420/granny6_o.jpg" align="left" /> http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/Memory-Palace http://www.nicolas-cilins.com/following/nicolas-cilins.com/Memory-Palace Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:43:07 +0000 Nicolas Cilins 522416 2009 Rebars, ligatures, light system Dimensions 10*6*5 meters <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt6.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="1005" width_o="670" height_o="1005" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt6_o.jpg" align="left" /> The memory palace is a structure built out of assembled rebars with metal ligatures, like a huge construction game. A flashing light system is installed on it. The title refers to what stands as the keystone of antic mnemonics. An imaginary or real place in which the speaker can put down his ideas in order to find them back while virtually walking within his memory palace during his speech. The material gives the sculpture an unsteady massiveness and an effect of time and space suspension, between the energy of its first construction to the evocation of its own ruin. The light bulbs constantly flickering seems to invite the beholder to follow the perspective lines as it draws an imaginary space between the amusement park and ground zero. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt1.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="1005" width_o="670" height_o="1005" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt1_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt7.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt7_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt8.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="446" width_o="1280" height_o="853" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt8_o.jpg" align="left" /> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt9.jpg" border="0" width="670" height="445" width_o="1280" height_o="851" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/43399/522416/platt9_o.jpg" align="left" />