KLASH! L’art en acte

on arte.tv, YouTube and the social channels of ARTE!

http://arte.tv/klash

Documentary series
Concept, editorial and artistic direction: Frank Perrin
Creative direction and editorial committee: Frank Perrin, Gilles Coudert, François Combin
Motion design: Guilherme Hoffmann
Voice: Joana Preiss

Music: Xavier Roux
Authors of the episodes: Frank Perrin, François Combin, Gilles Coudert, Julien Devaux, Armelle Leturcq, David Liver, Virgile Novarina
Production management: Gilles Coudert
Executive production: François Combin
Coproduction: ARTE France, a.p.r.e.s Production, Urubu Films, Manifeste!

In partnership with the National Center for Visual Arts (Ministry of Culture)

and with the support of CNC (National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image)

Year of production: 2022

Duration : 20 x 3 min.

French and German versions

Klash! Art in action reveals the secret history of artistic acts that are both radical and decisive, which dialogue with current societal issues. Revealing another History of Art, this collection of three-minute films makes us discover contemporary art in a new light.

Ai Weiwei‘s middle finger photographed in front of famous monuments around the world, the icebergs melted by Olafur Eliasson in front of the Pantheon on the sidelines of COP21, Niki de Saint Phalle‘s shots denouncing the taboos of our society, the snowballs sold by David Hammons on a New York sidewalk or the Cyclops that Jean Tinguely conjures up clandestinely in the forest… What if art were invited into the street, far from galleries and museums, to highlight the major issues and lines of tension in our society and shake up consciences?

In twenty episodes, this documentary series presents contemporary, unusual, impertinent and even subversive and resolutely political works, from the 1960s to the present day and from all continents. Another History of Art is revealed, more clandestine, seen from the side of action and under the sign of radical irruption. “Often done spontaneously, these acts have had a strong influence on the art world. I wanted to tell, in a millimeter way, these brief mythologies, which, although decisive, remain unknown in their details,” summarizes Frank Perrin, the designer of this documentary web series. Thus, the Iron Curtain, built in 1962 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude with barrels of oil, rue Visconti in Paris. “Many only know the postcard, but who knows that this work responds to the Berlin Wall and that it anticipates 1968?”

Like an investigation and relying solely on archives (photographs, films, sound testimonials, etc.), Klash! summons up so many additional clues and proofs allowing us to reconstruct these ephemeral and mythical works. The graphic identity of the series, dynamic and urban, draws its aesthetic inspiration as much from poster designers-decollagists, such as Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé, as from today’s Street Art. Each episode unfolds the story of an artistic act and deploys its multiple dimensions, from the intention to the result, from the gesture to its consequences, always in resonance with the most current societal concerns such as the questioning of authority, the criticism of capitalism, feminisms, the environmental crisis. Thus contextualized in its time, art in action becomes accessible and manifest. “With exemplary freedom, these artists act like troublemakers, analyzes producer Gilles Coudert, and at the same time, they point to essential things”. “The idea is that these lozenges act as awareness-raisers by reaching a wide audience.” adds François Combin, co-producer of the series.

An exciting “art collection” in the public space, rewarded in 2021 by the prize for the best French documentary project at Fipadoc, in partnership with the National Center for Visual Arts (Ministry of Culture), with the support of the CNC (National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image) and the participation of the Centre Pompidou.

In the program:

Je suis innocent, 2012, by Adel Abdessemed
Quand la foi déplace les montagnes, 2002, by Francis Alÿs
VB 48, 2001, by Vanessa Beecroft
I Became a Secret Hippy, 1971, by Chris Burden
Le Rideau de fer, 1962, by Christo & Jeanne-Claude
Wheatfield, 1982, by Ágnes Dénes
Tirs, 1961, by Niki de Saint Phalle
Xitle and Spirit, 2007, by Jimmie Durham
Ice Watch, 2015, by Olafur Eliasson
Action Pants : Genital Panics, 1969, by VALIE EXPORT
Tierra, 2013, by Regina José Galindo
Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983, by David Hammons
Faust, 2017, by Anne Imhof
A Needle Woman, 1999-2009, by Kimsooja
For Forest, 2019, by Klaus Littmann
Merda d’artista, 1961, by Piero Manzoni
Roland Garros, 2004, by Gianni Motti
Le Baiser de l’artiste, 1977, by ORLAN
Le Cyclop, 1969-1994, by Jean Tinguely
Étude de Perspective, 1995-2015, by Ai Weiwei

© ARTE France / a.p.r.e.s production / Urubu films / Manifeste!