Robert Cahen’s installations featured at the Museum of Art

Robert Cahen (left) pictured yesterday in Macau

A pioneer of international video art, French artist Robert Cahen is bringing to Macau a selection of 17 video installations that he has created over the past 37 years. Titled “Traverse,” the exhibition is set to commence tomorrow at the Macau Museum of Art (MAM) and will run until September, compelling visitors to reflect on the meaning of life through a string of ordinary moments.
The artist shared his image interpretations with local media in a preview tour yesterday, revealing an otherworldly existence in the themes of travel, encounter, life, death and transition.
“My works are characterized by a constant exploration of the concept of ‘transition.’ Transitioning from fixed image to motions, from one place to another, from one time and space to another, my works start from transforming the impressions I perceived into images,” he explained, discussing his journey in video creation since the 1970s.
With the works’ purpose being to prompt viewers to think and reflect on life, Cahen told the Times that all the images were fetched from living moments, such as nature and the ways by which people come across it.
“It’s very important [that] we are alive and try to understand life, try to share impressions, to work, to fight for life in a way. We have to understand why we are here, and what is fantastic, to be alive,” he stressed.
Mr Cahen suggested a certain amount of time is necessary for contemplation when viewing his video installations. Through his signature slow-motion images, and by exploring the interaction of sound and graphics, Cahen’s works ingeniously create a poetic atmosphere using the most ordinary images. By utilizing techniques such as inserting, overlapping, reverse processing, fading in and out, the artist also presents viewers with another take on reality.
“Every piece of my art uses slow motion. Each one tries to extend a brand new space among things that are invisible to each other. My works are like an open-ended talk, where viewers will find projections of themselves in the slow motions, eventually being able to tell their own stories,” he explained.
The exhibits date from 1978 to 2015, including an acclaimed milestone of 1980s international video art – “Just Enough Time” – and his two latest installations, the visual elements of which feature Macau.
“When I was younger, I was full of energy and didn’t think about what I was going to do; now I have more time to think and to have a different point of view. I see the earth from above before I was on the earth and now I fly a little in the sky,” said the artist, acknowledging changes in his creations throughout the decades.