peter campus. video ergo sum

The exhibition peter campus. video ergo sum is the first solo exhibition in France devoted to this pioneer of video art, whose work has influenced an entire generation of artists. It retraces the artist’s career, starting with the experimental video art from the 1970s to his more recent video production. Throughout his career, Peter Campus has produced videos, installations, and a large body of photographic work now featured in some of the world’s greatest contemporary art museums.

The exhibition at the Jeu de Paume focuses on his video works from the 1970s and presents a selection of some of his closed-circuit video installations. Peter Campus returned to video in 1996 and has since produced a number of remarkable digital, high-definition works. A new piece will be presented at the exhibition.

The installation commissioned by Jeu de Paume, convergence d’images vers le port, filmed in ultra-high definition (4K) in May 2016 in the French port of Pornic, is part of what Campus calls “videographs” in reference to photography: a static shot, without editing. An special environment is created by the four different large-scale projections, each eight minutes in length, without special effects or sound, where the visitor is invited to exercise his powers of observation in relation to these extraordinarily subtle digital artworks.

With this exhibition, Jeu de Paume offers visitors an immersive experience. In one of the darkened rooms for example, four photographs of strange, enlarged stones are projected onto the walls and appear to float before the viewer. Their form and matter solicit multiple interpretations, encouraging a quiet contemplation.