Cyprien Gaillard
Artefacts, 2011

Artist
Cyprien Gaillard

Title
Artefacts

Year of creation
2011

Technology and duration
Film (HD transferred to 35 mm), endless, sound

Year of acquisition
2012

Purchased as part of the National Gallery Prize for Young Art 2011

Cyprien Gaillard's film "Artefacts" is an impressive reflection on the myth of Babylon, which is particularly updated through its reference to the war in Iraq. The powerful, beguiling images are deliberately interlaced to create a hyper-nervous, almost hypnotic effect that draws our attention to our own cultural sensitivities. Cyprien Gaillard does not pursue a documentary approach, but rather raises questions about the whereabouts and preservation of our cultures through the open principle of montage. The focus of his film is the erosion of artifacts. The strongly aesthetic form he has chosen is linked to the will to find a tone and language that stands outside of conventional media reporting and thus opens up our perception to other emotional spaces. Cyprien Gaillard has created a work of suggestive images in which the political and the cultural are inextricably linked. (Jury's reasons)