Desniansky Raion

  • 2007
  • Cyprien Gaillard
  • Video, colour, sound
  • 30 min. in loop
Echoing grandiose references to warring knights or the configuration of the Stonehenge circle, these fragments evoke, with their architectural context, the fallen utopia of communism, or the ideals of post-war reconstruction. The soundtrack, by Koudlam, is a key element that links these three moments. In a collision of references and cultures, it borrows from various sources, such as the score for the film Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass, rave music, and Vangelis’ synthesiser soundtrack to Blade Runner.

© Cyprien Gaillard. Photo © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Martin Argyroglo

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Cyprien Gaillard

After spending his childhood in the United States, Cyprien Gaillard studied at the Ecole Cantonale des Arts in Lausanne.

Winner of the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2010, he is currently one of the most prominent young French artists. Reinterpreting the Land Art by filming fire extinguishers pooring dry ice in rural landscapes, or recording destruction processes, his work compresses time and can be understood as an archaeology of the future in which the present is projected towards its entropy. His work, which reflects a trend described by the artist himself as “vandalism", takes the form of sculptures, videos, engravings, photographs and interventions in public spaces. It brings out contemporary socio-political realities and the innate beauty of their brutality.

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