VernissageTV art tv

Gakona is a small village in the center of Alaska. Gakona, that’s a few houses, a service station, a post office – and the American research program HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program). Inspired by the work of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), researchers there are studying the possibility of the wireless transmission of electricity by means of ionizing the high strata of the atmosphere. But because of its military funding and the phantasms associated with electromagnetism since the 19th century, HAARP has also become an inexhaustible source of rumors: Climatic disruption, influence on human behavior, etc.

And that’s what the Gakona session at the contemporary art center Palais de Tokyo in Paris relates to: Gakona at the Palais de Tokyo lies at the intersection of fact and rumor, reality and phantasm, science and imagination. It is made up of four solo exhibitions: Micol Assaël, Ceal Floyer, Laurent Grasso and Roman Signer.

In this video by Christophe Ecoffet, Laurent Grasso (see also the coverage of his exhibition in New York) talks about his work and how it is different from the other works on display.

Gakona: Micol Assaël, Ceal Floyer, Laurent Grasso and Roman Signer at Palais de Tokyo, Paris. February 12, 2009.

PS: On February 19, 7.30 pm there’s a discussion and screening with the artist.

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In November 2007, French artist Laurent Grasso presented a site-specific video installation called “Electric Palace” at Studio 814 in New York. “Electric Palace” by Laurent Grasso consists of two 10 minute projections: “Polair“, which shows electrically charged pollen swirling around objects and buildings in Berlin, among them the Fernsehturm (television tower); and “1619“, which shows an aurora borealis. In this conversation with VTV correspondent Theodore Bouloukos Laurent Grasso talks extensively about this video installation (the connection between the two videos, reality, fiction, rumors and HAARP) and his work in general. Laurent Grasso (born 1972 in Mulhouse, France) currently lives in New York (ISCP residency).
Electric Palace by Laurent Grasso (from 15th to 22nd November 2007) was Studio 814’s first exhibition. Studio 814 at 814 Broadway, New York, organizes temporary art shows and hosts private events. Studio 814, New York, November 15, 2007. Video: Darren Trenchard.
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