«Relief» - Exhibition by Julien Maire

25 September - 26 October 2014
«Relief» - Exhibition by Julien Maire

Stereolithographic projections & Expansion/Contraction sculptures

Media Archaeology is a new science. It's not studying the history of cinematograph and gramophone, but how our perception of the world is transformed through the camera lens and the speaker. The audiovisual is like a soundtrack, a visual tracking shot moving in parallel to us; pictures and sound are visual fictions that moved away from reality, but disrupt and influence our relation to reality.

In French, "3D cinema" was also called "relief cinema" (relief as in "relief map" or "bas-relief"). The term went out of style when we were forced to admit that "relief cinema" didn't exist. "Relief" evokes materiality, while "3D" is commonly understood as a mathematical and computational concept. Julien's stereolithographic projector is indeed a conceptual game around 3d cinema, this old myth recently arrived in theaters and tv consumer technologies. He proposes his 3d cinema which generates a unique quality of image with a real depth of field.
The projector 1.0 (titled "Man at Work") uses a 3d printed film designed by the artist and shows an endless animation of a man digging in the ground accumulating the earth on a heap: substracting and adding, as in new and old fabrication technologies.

Through expanding & contracting pieces, and stereolithographic projections, Julien Maire's installations indirectly address new technologies, media archaeology and manipulate fiction.

For more than 10 years, Julien Maire has mastered and used in unexpected ways advanced technologies such as CNC mills, laser cutters, precision optics, etc. Today, 3D printers are naturally also part of his toolbox.

For these two new pieces, Julien designed and built all original parts: his 3d printed film, the projector and sculpture mechanisms and components using the whole range of machines available at Fablab.iMAL, from Ultimaker and Mendel DIY printers to the laser-based Form1 3D printer for the film 3d frames.

About Julien Maire

Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Metz, Julien MAIRE is a French new media artist with impressive works such as Exploding CameraLow Res CinemaDemi-Pas.

Since the mid-1990s, he has worked between performance art, media installations and cinema to produce live performative works that are hybrids of genres and media, exploring the physicalities of the moving image.

His installations and performances have been featured widely and internationally at prestigious venues such as Ars Electronica, Digital Art Festival, European Media Art Festival, Film Festival Rotterdam, Sonar, Transmediale, ZKM, ICC (Japan), Empac (New-York),... Julien was the winner of the NTAA award (Update_2 biennial) in 2008 and was nominated for the World Technology Award in New York in 2009.

Julien was invited by iMAL in 2004, 2010 and 2012, and is now permanent resident, installing his workplace at FabLab.iMAL where he is one of the managers.

In the press
  • Julien Maire Creates Unique 3D Animated Cinema Using 3D Printed Objects in Place of Film, 3dprint.com (8 Oct. 2014)
  • Artist Uses 85 3D Printed Figurines To Create A Film Without Any Film, The Creators Project (14 Oct. 2014)
  • 3D printing creates film without film, CNET (14 Oct 2014)
  • This Animation Is Truly 3D Because It's Made on 3D-Printed Film, Motherboard (15 Oct 2014)
  • 'Relief' alia antiga técnica cinematográfica com a impressão 3D, pcguia.pt (15 Oct 2014)
  • Artist 3D Prints Animated Film without Film, 3dprintingindustry.com (15 Oct 2014)
  • Artist combines traditional film with 3D printing, tctmagazine.com (16 Oct. 2014)
  • French artist uses 85 3D printed figurines to create a film without film3ders.org (17 Oct. 2014)
  • 3Dプリンターでアニメーションを作るもうひとつの方法, monogocoro.jp (17 Oct. 2014)
  • Creating a 2D Film with 3D Printed Frames, hackaday.com (18 Oct. 2014)
  • Le folioscope 3D, canoe.ca (19 Oct. 2014)
  • 艺术家3D打印制作无胶片电影 你值得一看, pconline.com.cn (20 Oct. 2014)
  • Julien Maire réinvente le cinéma «Relief», en stéréolithographiemakery.info (21 Oct. 2014)
  • Impressora 3D é utilizada para criar uma nova técnica cinematográficatechtudo.com.br
  • Julien maire uses 3d printer to create a film without any filmartfucksme.com (24 Oct. 2014)
  • Julien Maire Is The First Person Ever To Make A Film Without Filmbeautifuldecay.com (27 Oct. 2014)
  • L'artiste français Julien Maire intègre l'impression 3D dans sa dernière création3dnatives.com (27 Oct. 2014) 
  • Relief, Prosthetic Knowledge (30 Oct. 2014)
  • Julien Maire, retour dans le futur du cinéma en relief, Libération (15 Nov. 2014)
  • This Movie’s Film Reel Is Actually a Conveyor Belt of 3-D Printed Figurines, Wired (19 Nov.2014)

Practical Info

Opening: Thursday 25 September
18:30-22:00
Facebook event

Finissage: Sunday 26 October
20:00-22:30
Facebook event

Dates:
26 September - 26 October
Wed-Sun, 13:00-18:00

Free entrance!

Group visits
02 410 30 93
info@imal.org

Location: iMAL
30 quai des Charbonnages - Koolmijnenkaai
1080 Brussels

Media Gallery

Pictures by Julien Maire & iMAL

Credits

Animation realised by Paul Jadoul of Studio l'Enclume.

This exhibition and their artworks are produced by iMAL in the context of our creation residency with the support of Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Quinzaine Numérique), Agence Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre/Danse and FabLab.iMAL.