“Conseil juridique et artistique (Legal and Artistic Counsel)”, video stills, 2009-10
In April 2009, I interviewed legal philosopher Bernard Edelman at his home in Paris, France. Our wide-ranging conversation included such topics as the legal limits of political expression in France, the relationship between conceptual art and French authors’ rights, and the potential pitfalls that arise when genres of social and aesthetic activity are mixed.
* The English-subtitled version of this video is currently in production.
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Review of the exhibition “NOTES TOWARD AN EXHIBITION : Audrey Chan” by Christophe Cesbron, published in Wik (weekly entertainment guide of Nantes, France), Number 76, May 20, 2009:
[English] At the gallery of the School of Fine Arts, Audrey Chan presents an ensemble of stunning propositions including an interview with philosopher and jurist, Bernard Edelman, specialist in authors’ rights. Audrey Chan, American artist in residence at the School of Fine Arts of Nantes, develops a work – artistic or political – that is a critical reflection and engagement with the very materials of the creative process. The passionate interview of Edelman sets up a pointedly absurd discussion between the jurist and the artist. The difference of generation, language, status of the two protagonists, their position and the game played between them (in front of and behind the camera) generates a strange dialogue, addressing the notions of artwork, politics, and censorship. The jurist-philosopher’s certainty of speech and his domineering and constructed politeness stumbles against the hesitant, mischievous, and stubborn voice of the artist, casually demonstrating that art does not bend to any system, no form is forbidden nor locked within any boundary, and does not answer to any definitive definition.
[Français] A la galerie de l’école des Beaux-Arts, Audrey Chan présente un ensemble de propositions épatantes dont une interview du philosophe et juriste Bernard Edelman, spécialiste du droit d’auteur. Artiste américaine en résidence à l’Erban, Audrey Chan élabore une œuvre ou politique, réflexion critique et engagements sont les matériaux même du processus créatif. L’interview passionnante d’Edelman, met en place une discussion aussi pointue qu’absurde entre le juriste et l’artiste. La différence de génération, de langage, de statut des deux protagonistes, leur position et le jeu que se noue entre eux (devant et derrière la caméra) génèrent un étrange dialogue, abordant les notions d’œuvre, de droit, de politique, de censure. La parole sûre, polie construite et dominatrice du juriste-philosophe bute face à la voix hésitante, malicieuse et tenace de l’artiste, démontrant, mine de rien, que l’art ne se plie à aucun système, ne s’interdit aucune forme, ne s’enferme dans aucune frontière, et ne répond à aucune définition définitive.