raphaël faon
second life landscapes
cyanotypes on paper, variable dimensions, 2014
This series is composed of paradisiacal maritime views which evoke a universe of postcards, posters and painted decorations, but which far from being photographic reproductions of existing landscapes, are screenshots of the virtual universe of Second Life . The virtual nature of the images can only be guessed in the title of the series, by certain games of textures and by the presence of the central cursor of the computer interface, almost imperceptible. It is a question of getting rid of a first impression and of what is given as an image of reality in a more attentive reading of the image, of using a fictitious place, a simulation to thwart the constructed character of our imagery. mental.
The choice of these landscapes refers to the history of the cyanotype technique, an archaic process of photography which dates from the 19th century, and which has been widely used to reproduce landscapes, in particular maritime landscapes because of its blue color. ; but it also refers to common places of the imagination as constructed and literally virtual places in this series : the accidents of the image, the cropping formed by the layers and the glass plates, sometimes broken, are a way of deconstructing the horizon of the landscape and the island adorned with inaccessible palm trees. Beyond that, it is about experimenting how a singular and unique image is formed in the process of manual, artisanal printing, while its source is digital and identically and infinitely duplicable. The virtual place comes into struggle with the technique which gives its image an effect of reality.
