The Pixelated Revolution

Georges Didi-Huberman and Jeu de Paume have put together a programme of films and discussions to amplify the themes of the exhibition “Soulèvements.” It includes this proposition by Rabih Mroué.

At a time when the media are saturated with photos and videos of war and horror, Rabih Mroué tirelessly examines our visual culture. When an image becomes a symbol and icon, does that mean the only possible response is an emotional one? Ranging over visual arts, theatre and history, this Beirut-born artist offers a healthily distanced appraisal of the structures that underpin our representations, one that allows room for reflection.

For The Pixelated Revolution, a “non-academic” talk first given in 2012, Rabih Mroué assembles and comments on videos from the early days of the Syrian revolution. The images show state police looking into the lens of the smart phones carried by demonstrators who will fall under the blows or shots of the state forces. Rabih Mroué set out to find the meaning of these first-person images, going to the heart of these documents which are contemporary and yet fragmentary.

Pixelated Revolution by Rabih Mroué (video, performance, 2012, 45’).
Part of the Festival d’Automne, Paris.

Talk/performance, Saturday 26 November at 5 pm.
Free, RESERVATION OBLIGATORY: infoauditorium@jeudepaume.org