Works

Smoke and Fog (Fumée et brouillard)


In Smoke and Fog, Jean-François Côté explores the realities caused by smog (an expression taken from the contraction of the words "smoke" and "fog"). Most of the project was done during a creative residency in Beijing, China where the environmental context initiated the exploration of the social and poetic dimensions emerging from this phenomenon. Smoke and fog intertwines the human body and smog on a shared experiential boundary, exposing and committing them to each other. It is also a reflection on the screen, the surface, the depth, the thinness of the image and the attitudes generated by mobile devices. The installation device makes it possible to connect the gazes and build a place for the image, both videographic and photographic, in tension between mobility and immobility and gives way to an open narration in constant transformation.

Jean-François Côté thanks Zhou Yan, Amelia Zhang, Zhang Wei, all the participants in the shooting, the video band team and the Multi Month team.