Phœnix Atala

Phœnix Atala is a multidisciplinary visual artist who lives and works in Paris. He met the GRAND MAGASIN team in the early 2000s. Following a residency at Villa Kujoyama (Kyoto, Japan) where they composed several films, the three of them co-wrote and co-performed a dozen pieces. In 2009, he created a device for contemplating landscapes, then did a residency in the United States, chronicling his experiences there in the form of poems or teleconference-performances. On his return, he presented the solo performances How to write standing up and L’Impasse conceptuelle, in which the processes of writing a show are examined and questioned. He wrote and directed an experimental web series, La Formule, in which storyline rules are deconstruted, coded a video game and designed a conference-performance, Algorithme sur le système binaire. His productions have been presented at the Centre Pompidou, the Fondation Cartier, the MAC VAL, the Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Nanterre-Amandiers, FIAF New York and Human Ressources Los Angeles.

Défaillance critique
Phœnix Atala proposes experiments and research sessions based on Défaillance critique, an ongoing film project that engages a reflection on the exploration and acceptance of oneself and one’s difference, the legibility of works, and the artist’s position in society. The project can be read on two levels: fiction and meta-fiction. The fiction is the story of an artist who discovers themself to be a robot and decides to hack into their own programme in order to free themself from their owners and to take control of their body and mind. The meta-film tells the story of a couple of filmmakers who develop, shoot and edit this science-fiction project to make a film, and in particular to deconstruct metaphors. It will address LGBTQI+ issues, the dynamics at play in systems of racial domination, and ableism.