BEFORE THE FINAL RESULTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, A PARTICIPATIVE PERFORMANCE BY FRED FOREST FO




BEFORE THE FINAL RESULTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, A PARTICIPATIVE PERFORMANCE BY FRED FOREST FOR THE CLOSING OF “VIDEO VINTAGE” AT THE POMPIDOU CENTER, SUNDAY MAY 6 AT 3PM.
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PERFORMANCE BY FRED FOREST MAY 6 AT 3PM


BEFORE THE FINAL RESULTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, A PARTICIPATIVE PERFORMANCE BY FRED FOREST FOR THE CLOSING OF “VIDEO VINTAGE” AT THE POMPIDOU CENTER, SUNDAY MAY 6 AT 3PM.


TITLE: To get trussed up from head to toe with the help of a half inch black and white Sony magnetic strip (material certified by a bailiff as dating in fact from the seventies).

The public will be invited to free the artist of his cumbersome bondage as soon as his trussing up will be completed (come with a pair of round tipped children scissors to make sure the security guards at the entrance don't pinch them).

Fetishist collectors in attendance are kindly requested not to unduly hoard pieces of magnetic strips found lying on the ground as they will be meticulously reassembled by the Centre Pompidou's new media team in view of the piece's future recreation.

For the closing of the historical exhibition VIDEO VINTAGE, Fred Forest decided, out of his own free will, to re-appropriate the institutional space from which he was abusively excluded, in this very place, by creating a performance.

In a symbolic manner, he demonstrates out of his own free will that public spaces reserved for artists rightfully belong to them, without them having to wait for them to be put at their disposal by a somewhat fledgling, partisan and venal museum administration that is at the exclusive service of the market's approved products. He invites all artists to act likewise in order to make sure their legitimate rights to a free and independent creative process are respected under the control and authority of the next President of the Republic of all the citizens of the France, who will be elected at the end of this very evening.

A creative process that would no longer depend on the goodwill of cultural administration, nor on the market's arbitrary laws. The Pompidou Center being finally forced to reveal to the citizen the value of its acquisitions. If the power of imagination truly belongs to the artists and if their will is to escape a debilitating enslavement, all they have to do is to act in consultation with one another to occupy spaces that in fact belong to them. The communication technology and social networks that are now at their disposal give them the means for public cooperation.

They must take control of their own destiny once more and neglect by no means a rendez-vous with history that they should not miss under any pretext.

To get trussed up…to better rid oneself later on of the bondage that hinders him and binds him to the institution, such is the meaning of the message delivered by the artist in this performance.

(Exceptional free admission to the Pompidou Center. Please take all precautionary measures considering the expected attending crowds in order to arrive on time for the beginning of the performance).

Technical assistance and videos: Jean-Guillaume Le Roux, artist, who will be accompanied by his digital character Albator 21.
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PETITION - OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRE POMPIDOU OF PARIS

PETITION

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRE POMPIDOU OF PARIS

We, the signatories of this letter of support, are surprised that the artist Fred Forest is excluded from the 1963-1983 VINTAGE VIDEO historical exhibition organized by the museum. We would like to know why this pioneer of French Video Art is not included? ? ? Is it because he is not part of your collections? When your website indicates having one of the richest collections in Europe (with more than 60,000 works, including 1,400 videos), but does not include one, it is true, signed by this artist! In the eyes of all who know and appreciate his career, his absence from your collection seems an error to say the least. It is further paradoxical when the mission of the Centre is to defend its national artists. Your staff could not ignore his existence and importance considering that his international reputation is long established.

Finally, 230 videos of his works became part of national heritage through legal deposit, following an agreement signed in 2004 with INA (National Audiovisual Institute). The curators of VINTAGE VIDEO, who do not own any of his work (and for good reason), could have requested the loan of a work to assure the historical rigor of their exhibition.

Consequently, it seems appropriate, Mr. President, that our correspondence in support of Fred Forest is displayed prominently in this exhibition, together with your response, and permanently in the rooms consultation "Film and New Media Collections,” located in the Museum on the fourth floor.
Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of our highest consideration.

Signed by:
ALAIN DOMINIQUE PERRIN, Président de la Fondation Cartier et du Musée du Jeu de Paume

CATHERINE MILLET, Ecrivaine, Directrice d’ArtPress

PIERRE CORNETTE DE SAINT CYR, Membre du Conseil d’administration Palais de Tokyo

LISBETH REBOLLO, Directrice du MAC (Musée d’art contemporain Sao Paulo)

MARIO COSTA, Professeur Universités de Naples et de Salerne

FRANCO TORRIANI, Critique d’art

CHRISTIANE PAUL, Conservateur New Media Whitney Museum

WULF HERZOGENRATH, Directeur de la Kunstahalle Bremen, responsable de la section vidéo de la documenta 6
 Kassel 1977
JEAN-MICHEL RABATE, Président de la Slought Foundation Philadelphie
XAVIER LAMBERT, Maître de conférences en art plastiques, HDR, Université , Toulouse II Le Mirail
TOMMASO TOZZI, Professeur Florence

PAUL ARDENNE, Critique d’art universitaire

FRANCOIS SOULAGES, Professeur des Universités Paris VIII
EDMOND COUCHOT, Professeur émérite des Universités

PIERRE MOËGLIN, Professeur des universités, Paris XII, Directeur de la MSH de Paris Nord

DERRICK DE KERCKHOVE Université de Toronto et de Naples

MARC JIMENEZ, Professeur des Universités, Paris I

FRANCESCA CARUENA Université de Perpignan et artiste

CHRISTINE SOURGINS, Historienne d'art

MAURICE BENAYOUN, Artiste et Maître de Conférences Paris VIII
AUDE DE KERROS, Artiste, essayiste

CECILE CARPENA, Professeur en arts plastiques

GUY LOZAC'H, Artiste

JEAN BOJKO, Responsable de structure culturelle

CAROLINE HOCTAN, Ecrivaine

ISABELLE ROZENBAUM, Vidéaste

PIERRE ANTOINE CHARDEL, Maître de conférences

PHILIPPE SANGUINETTI, Chercheur Associé (UMR 8153 Paris 1 - CNRS)

LWO, Artiste

SOPHIE LAVAUD, Artiste


MIGUEL CHEVALIER, Artiste
HELIOS SABATE, Artiste
NESSIM MERKADO, Artiste
PAR ORDRE D'ARRIVEE A PARTIR DU LUNDI 9 AVRIL
, Georges Mhanna, Wallich, Aliette Guibert-Certhoux, Anne-Cécile Worms, Antoine Schmitt, Jacques Perconte Michaël Borras, 

Eric Maillet, Joel Hubaut, Christian Skimao

Suivent les noms de 32 universitaires brésiliens appartenant aux universités de Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Porto Allegre, Rio Grande do Sul…
Les noms de 7 universitaires français appartenant aux universités de Paris 1, Paris 8, Grenoble, Saint Etienne, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg…
Les noms de 4 universitaires américains appartenant à la New York University, la Cuny Univesity, au MIT (Massachussetts Institute of Technology,) à la Pen University de Philadelphie
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