About | Nicolas Boillot

Nicolas Boillot (1979) is a Franco-Swiss artist and digital art researcher based in Berlin, Germany. After a traditional training at the School of Fine Arts in Montpellier (DNAP, 1998-2001), he specialized in digital art at the École Supérieure d'Art d'Aix-en-Provence (DNSEP, 2001-2003). He then attended the École Supérieure de l'Image in Poitiers/Angoulême and the University of Poitiers/La Rochelle (2003-2004), where he obtained a master's degree in Digital Arts. After his studies, he set up his studio in Toulouse. He has also taken part in numerous residencies in France and abroad. As an early participant in the irruption of digital creation, he completed a 'research creation' doctoral thesis on remixing practice in digital art (Laboratoire de Recherche en Audiovisuel - Université de Toulouse II Jean Jaurès, 2016). This thesis gave him a critical perspective on his work and introduced new problematic. Since then, he has continued his work in Berlin.

Nicolas Boillot's work is characterized by a critical vision of the digital uses and a fascination with the 'detournement' of ideas and technologies. He creates digital remixes. He exploits their critical/referential, aesthetic/experimental significance. As an important part of his work focuses on a critique of the media, his remixes initially took as their source streams broadcasted by television, video film and the Internet. He is now interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Nicolas Boillot explores several contemporary issues. He creates works that challenge and subvert traditional notions of copyright, which is increasingly being infringed upon. Empowered by immense flows of data, his multi-layered, often animated creations disrupt our perceptions and underline the information overload and this new relationship to time and space to which we are now subjected. By following the development of communication technologies, all his works also directly question the growing presence they occupy in our lives.

As a source of creation and inspiration, collecting is also central to his artistic practice. For example, he collects texts from IRC discussion groups, images and video from digital libraries such a Google images, the Internet Archive and Gallica.bnf.fr. Finally, the artist uses computer-based tools to create, for example, specific software to tame the flow of information in real time.

Since 2001, he has been working and developing a consistent and ever-evolving practice. He exhibits on the web, in private and public spaces in the form of installations, net art works, videos, GIFs and prints on paper or canvas. He has been involved in several commissions and residencies (Chile, Spain, France, Canada) and has held solo and group exhibitions in many countries (Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Quebec, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, USA).

Are.na
Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Vimeo
Ello / Tumblr / Flickr / Tilde.town
Github / Gitlab / Google Scholar

Contact

Group exhibitions

2022 CAPITAL(E) LUMIÈRE, Pierrefontaine-Les-Varans et Laviron, France (upcoming)

2021 Framed - Qualia, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2020 Fantoche festival 18, GIF gifts for you!, Baden, Switzerland

2020 Framed - Cotret, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2020 Framed - Precinct, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2020 Framed - Kandid 3, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2020 Framed - Cenotaph, LaLaport, Yokohama, Japan

2019 Fantoche festival 17, Give, Give, GIF!, Baden, Switzerland

2019 Framed - Kandid2, LaLaport, Yokohama, Japan

2019 Framed - Cenotaph, Poly Art Centre, Yiwu, China

2019 Framed - Sylphe, LaLaport, Yokohama, Japan

2019 Framed - Sylphe, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2019 Framed - Caldeira, LaLaport, Yokohama, Japan

2019 Framed - Palette, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2018 Framed - Kandid2, Dong Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2018 La nuit de la Roquette, Arles, France

2018 48h Neukölln, Berlin, Germany

2017 Improvisationskonzert, Leipzig, Germany

2017 The Bomb, OKK/Raum29 Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2017 Capital Lumière 1, Maison Victor Hugo, Besançon, France

2017 48h Neukölln, Berlin, Germany

2016 Micro-cinema of Attractions | GIF art imageries and creative techniques, Nicosia, Cyprus

2016 VIRAL ART - The New Imageries of GIF Culture, Bologna, Italy

2016 Fantoche festival 14, Baden, Switzerland

2016 Back To The Future, Papay Gyro Nights 2016, Hong Kong

2016 Video Capital 2016, Champlitte, France

2015 Transnumeriques Awards - Digital Art Festival Taipei Taipei, Taïwan

2015 Transnumériques 2015 - Biennale of digital cultures, Mons, Belgium

2015 Poétiques des flux, Le Tube, La Fabrique, University of Toulouse 2, Toulouse, France

2015 Fantoche festival 13, Baden, Switzerland

2015 Vidéoforme 2015 – 30e festival international d’arts numériques, Clermont-Ferrand, France

2015 Jiggling Golems / GIF art exhibition, Goethe-Institut Athen, Iris cinema, Circuits and Currents, Athens, Greece

2014 GifBites, Gray Area Art, San Francisco, U.S.A.

2014 Virtual relocation, Goethe-Institut, San Francisco, U.S.A.

2014 Fantoche festival 12, Kino Sterk, Baden, Switzerland

2014 GifBites, Bitrates, Shiraz, Iran

2014 I Five U, Cloaque.org 2nd Anniversary, Madrid, Spain

2013 Fach & Asendorf screening, PAF in Olomouc, Czech

2013 Video Capital 2013, Fresne-Saint-Mamès, France

2013 This is not a protest song. Ästhetische Interventionen jenseits des Immer-Gleichen, Berlin, Germany

2013 Festival Vision'R #8, Paris, France

2013 #UPLOAD, San Francisco, U.S.A.

2013 Diesel Reboot, Galerie Lafayette, Paris, France

2013 FILE 2013 - Electronic Language International Festival*, São Paulo, Brazil

2013 (n)on site, Km Temporaer, Berlin, Germany

2013 Festival Emergence, La Fabrique Culturelle, Toulouse, France

2013 Lieux dit, L'Appart, Poitiers, France

2013 DVD DEAD DROP Vol. 5, BEST OF curated by Fach & Asendorf, Museum of Moving Image, New York, U.S.A.

2012 RE/Mixed Media Festival, Brooklyn Lyceum, New York, U.S.A.

2012 Géographies variables, La Chambre Blanche, Quebec city, Canada

2012 Born in 1987, The animated gif, The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK

2009 Norapolis VII, Les Trinitaires, Metz, France

2009 Spoiler, Mix'Art Myrys, Toulouse, France

2008 Norapolis VI, Les Trinitaires, Metz, France

2007 8th Video, Art and New Media Biennial of Santiago, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago, Chile

2007 Les bourgeons numériques, The municipal theatre, Castres, France

2006 Le temps des appareils - Part 2, Le Cube, Issy Les Moulineaux, France

2006 Le temps des appareils, Faux-Mouvement, Metz, France

2006 25th Viper : International Film, Video & New Media Festival, [plug.in] gallery, Basel, Switzerland

2005 Symbiosis : Zones of Contact, Luarca, Spain

2005 Dipsomania, Les abattoirs - Toulouse, France

Individual exhibitions

2017 Remixs, Metaxu galery, Toulon, France

2013 ORi Galerie, Berlin, Germany

2013 L'Appart, Poitiers, France

2013 Bato Fou, Plaine des Cafres, La Réunion

2012 Espace culture multimedia La Gare, Coustellet, France

2012 Le Hublot, Nice, France

2010 La Chambre Blanche, Quebec city, Canada

2009 Espace culture multimedia La Gare, Coustellet, France

2009 La Bande Video, Quebec city, Canada

Online exhibitions

2013 Gif Wrapping, Internet

2013 Update Statut / The Wrong Biennal, Internet

2012 Abécédaire du Web, Laboratoire NT2 (UQAM), Montréal, Canada

2012 Fach & Asendorf Gallery, Internet, Stuttgart, Kassel, Allemagne

2007 Transmediale.07 / TM20 / Web-based Entries, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Allemagne

Residencies

2013 L'Appart, Poitiers, France

2010 La Chambre blanche, Quebec city, Canada

2009 Espace culture multimedia La Gare, Coustelet, France

2009 La Bande Video, Quebec city, Canada

2007 Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago, Chile

Qualifications

2016 Doctor in visual studies (18e section - Art), LARA (Laboratoire de Recherche en Audiovisuel) - University of Toulouse II Jean Jaures, Ecole supérieure en audiovisuel, Toulouse, France (2011-2016)

2004 Master Degree in Digital Arts (D.E.A.) - University of Poitiers/La Rochelle - Art School of Poitiers / Angoulême, France (2003-2004)

2003 National Superior Art School Diploma (D.N.S.E.P.) - option Art - Art School of Aix en Provence, France (2001-2003)

2001 National Art School Diploma (D.N.A.P.) - option Art - Art School of Montpellier, France (1998-2001)

Publications, conferences and workshops

2022 Workshop about Open source Generative AI image creation, Stable Diffusion and Dreambooth. Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden, Germany

2021 Talk about remix practices in digital art and my artistic practice. Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden, Germany

2017 Workshop about remix practices in art and new media within the digital paradigm. Brandenburg Center for Media Studies (ZEM), Potsdam, Germany

2016 The implications of remix in the art field within the digital dematerialization era., Ph.D research thesis, University of Toulouse II Jean Jaures, Ecole supérieure en audiovisuel, Toulouse, France

2013 Le phénomène d’émergence, principes, tensions et enjeux, dans les œuvres de remix réflexif, Scientific conference, Les processus de création comme phénoménes d’émergence, Université de Toulouse 2 Jean Jaures, Toulouse, France

2012 Pratiques appropriatives et plaisirs des artistes numériques : l’exemple des remix multimédias, Scientific conference, Ludovia 2012, Ax les Thermes, France

2009-2013 Intervention on digital interactive video. ITIN, Cergy Pontoise, France

2007 Workshop with art and virtual reality students on the creation of interactive projects and real time installations with EyesWeb. ITIN / National Art school of Cergy Pontoise, Cergy Pontoise, France

2004 The attractiveness of television and its manipulation by interactive interfaces.
Master Degree research thesis, University of Poitiers/La Rochelle - Art School of Poitiers / Angoulême, France