Etienne Chambaud Counter-History of Separation, 2010
in collaboration with Vincent Normand
HD video
Duration: 52 min
The film Counter-history of Separation, co-written with Vincent Normand, is an ambitious documentary which begins under The Reign of Terror which would simultaneously witness the invention of the guillotine as a mass-execution device, and the creation of the prototype of the modern museum with the opening of the Muséum central des arts de la République, the first public collection and ancestor of the Louvre, and ends up in 1977, when the last decapitation by guillotine occurred in France and the Centre Pompidou, a new museum paradigm, was inaugurated.
The film takes the form of an animated stop-action video. While a narration leads through the history in several especially themed segments, hands can be seen manipulating images, cut-out illustrations and other objects on a surface which functions as screen, foreground and backdrop. Text and visual narration continue in and out of sync. Both weave a complex web of textual, cultural and historical references. The voice narration was recorded during a performance at the Centre Pompidou.
The film takes the form of an animated stop-action video. While a narration leads through the history in several especially themed segments, hands can be seen manipulating images, cut-out illustrations and other objects on a surface which functions as screen, foreground and backdrop. Text and visual narration continue in and out of sync. Both weave a complex web of textual, cultural and historical references. The voice narration was recorded during a performance at the Centre Pompidou.
Scroll