Djeff
LA VILLA STUDIO met Parisian multimedia artist Djeff in his southern escape not far from Saint Rafael at French Riviera. He showed us around the place he calls his actual workshop – a peaceful piece of land between the sea and the coastal cliffs who’s soils are rich in iron, which gives those rocks their red color. Walking the wild overgrown paths along the cliffs we were talking about disappearing nature, game art and technology.
Djeff used to create large scale site-specific installations, which are often inspired by the location and atmosphere of the particular space, therefore he does not need a physical studio or a workshop for his work, but rather a place that connects him with nature, a recharging station for the artist.
Djeff`s works outline the human fascination for technology and its impact with the nature, which conditions human behavior and create new habits. Djeff keeps the technological intervention as seamless as possible in his works, demonstrating the fragile reminiscence of the todays self-conscious Homo Deus about its origins. During his recent solo exhibition “NOW HERE ELSE” at Foundation Vasarely in Aix-en-Provence Djeff payed tribute to the unique place he showed us in one of his works, where he mirrors the sea cliffs: “bluring the tracks in order to protect the favorite spot” he says laughing .
Djeff won the “digital creator” scholarship of the Foundation Hachette. From 2001 to 2009, he taught new media in the Department of Culture and Communication at Paris 8 University and joined Sciences Po in 2009 as their Artistic Director and then Creative Director in 2012. His works are regularly exhibited in France (Centre Pompidou, Nuit Blanche in Paris, Metz and Amiens, Foundation Louis Vuitton, Foundation Vasarely in Aix-en-Provence, festival Ososphère in Stasbourg, Musée en Herbe in Paris, La Gaîté Lyrique) as well as abroad (Shanghai, Istanbul, New York, Montréal, Berne, Gijon, Eindhoven, Geneva). Certain works have joined permanent collections (Computerspiele Museum of Berlin) and private collections.