The past makes a sudden appearance onto the stage of the present.
A flash back is a highly expressive and desirable material. We would like that face unaltered by digital smoothing to be ours; that face inhabited by serene thoughts, free of the stigma of digital cosmetics, enlivened by the joy of the pixels chosen by the artist. It freezes a suspended moment, a memory zone that profoundly imprints itself on the retina and brings back a distant memory, perhaps a déjà vu of a face, a body, or a feeling that becomes a presence; perhaps a temporary absence before the return to the future.
PerfumerOlivier Cresp
Olivier Cresp was literally born into perfume. His family, whose origin traces back to the 12th century, hails from Grass. Both his father and grandfather worked all their lives in the raw materials trade. Olivier was therefore bathed in "pure colors" from his early childhood: jasmine, rose, violet, as well as essences of lemon, mandarin, orange, and bergamot, samples of which his father used to bring home. That is when he developed a unique olfactory memory and a genuine passion for the profession of perfumer. He likes to describe his style as figurative. The idea is what counts above all. It can spring from a childhood memory, a feeling, a conversation, or a stroll in nature. Then style follows, which he defines as simple, minimalist, and authentic.
PhotographerLaurent Segretier
Laurent Segretier is a young, French new media artist who commutes between Hong Kong and Paris for his work and who has been exhibiting in Asia for a few years now (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Djakarta). Laurent Segretier made the Designer's Day 2011 selection, he has also exhibited his work at l'Eclaireur and at Galerie de Valois in Paris. His photo and video creations are marked by an ambivalent use of digital tools. On one hand, he meticulously controls the parameters to create images and generate the colors, depending on the desired effects; on the other hand, Laurent Segretier lets chance have its way to trigger random distortions that become the key elements of his compositions. These images appear to be distorted and violently pixelated, creating material from this digital matter.