Marion Balac is an artist and associate researcher at the ESACM (Clermont-Ferrand) and the ESAM (Caen) art schools in France.
Her work explores the impulses and interactions between feelings and technology, approaching them through a variety of media as a means to investigate the struggles and bonds between individual and mass behaviours. Observing how internet accompanies its users and their communication devices in a never ending search for distraction and validation, she probes online facilities and diverts them through strategies of reappropriation. A globalized online tourist, she travels dynamic playgrounds and encounters fictionalized personas and places, new landscapes that she can study and explore within and outside the screen.
Gathering structures such as touristic sites, theme parks, internet forums, user-generated content websites interests her as they intend to duplicate traditional community interactions. Might the touristic spot be a crazy copy of itself ; might the egos be fed by technological storytelling ; might our communications be fictionalized: the gap between what is perceived online from people or places and their actual qualities becomes the starting point of her investigation and the core of her works, where behind a deadpan humour often rises melancholy.
Her work has been included in group exhibitions and screenings at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris Pantin) for Jeune Création, Fabra i Coats - Centre d'Art Contemporani (Barcelona), LOOP Barcelona, Cankarjev Dom (Ljubljana), Annka Kultys Gallery (London), Galerie Manqué (New York), Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), Enclave Projects (London), Paradise Works (Manchester), Bandits-Mages (Bourges), Espace des Blancs-Manteaux (Paris), l’Abbaye (Annecy-le-Vieux), Galerie Neuf (Nancy), Hectoliter Gallery (Brussels), Musée Saint-Raymond (Toulouse). She has had the opportunity to develop her work in residencies like Espositivo and Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, Salón Bellefour in Buenos Aires or Hangar in Barcelona.
"Marion Balac uses unusual data, situations or objects as a base to produce fictions that reveal the landscapes and horizons of a globalised world. Her artworks, tender and dark at the same time, show how stories generated by the connected and ultra-contemporary culture fall within physical or online sites."
Caroline Delieutraz and Stephanie Vidal for Making Contact exhibition.
(fr) "Marion Balac transforme des étonnements provoqués par des données, des situations ou des objets en dispositifs fictionnels qui révèlent les paysages et horizons d'un monde globalisé. Ses pièces, à la fois tendres et grinçantes, montrent comment des récits issus de la culture ultra-contemporaine et connectée s'inscrivent dans des lieux physiques ou en ligne. "
Caroline Delieutraz et Stephanie Vidal pour l'exposition Making Contact.
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SOLO SHOWS
2020 (upcoming) Les futurs, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, FR
2017 Alejandro, Galerie WTA, Barcelona, ES
2015 Pleine saison, Galerie Le Toutou Chic, Metz, FR
2013 Décantation, JHB Fondation Royale, Bruxelles, BE
2010 Animal Catastrophe, Kiosque Images, Paris, FR
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS & EVENTS
2020
(upcoming) Twitch sessions, online events curated by Jordi Ferreiro for La Capella, Barcelona, ES
La mina de sal – La sed animal, group show curated by Margot Cuevas, Gisela Chillida, Daniel Moreno, Mònica Planes and Àlex Palacín, FASE + Dràcul·la, Art Nou, Barcelona, ES
Interstice, Territoires Pionniers, Maison de l’architecture Normandie, Caen, FR
Perfect users, group show curated by Ian Webb, Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, California, US
Going Away.tv - The Retreat, group show curated by Marc Blazel and Alexander Harding, Arebyte Gallery, London, UK
Zajcja Luknja (Rabbit Hole), group show curated by Jasna Jernejšek and Jan Babnik, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, SI
Non player character, screening, curated by Pablo M. Garrido, Facultad de Bellas Artes de la UPV/EHU, ES
2019
Autonomie Zéro, group show curated by Dominique Moulon and Gilles Alvarez, Biennale Némo, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, FR
Open Studios, group show, GlogauAIR Open Studios project space, Berlin, DE.
Making the city, Loop Discover award group show, Convent de Sant Agustí, Barcelona, ES
Too beautiful to be real, group show curated by Elliott Burns, Pita Arreola and Wade Wallerstein, The Wrong Biennale, IN
This way up, group show curated by Sidney Smith and Jim Bicknell-Knight, The Wrong Biennale, IN
Going away.tv, group show curated by Marc Blazel and Alexander Harding, The Wrong Biennale, IN
Perfect users, group show curated by Ian Webb, The Wrong Biennale, IN
LOOP Discover Award, group show, Antiga Fàbrica Estrella Damm, Barcelona, ES
Vingt-et-une, group show curated by Mathieu Tremblin, galerie art & essai - Université Rennes 2, FR
Portrait of Zuck, group show curated by George Metesky, Galerie Manqué, New York, US
Mission To Touch The Sun: Sun Burnt, group show curated by K.P.Culver and William Noel Clarke, Paradise Works, Manchester, UK
Off Site Project Google Maps Residency, online residency, IN
Residence in M.A.M : Montluçon Art Mobile, group show curated by Bérénice Serra, Fonds d’art moderne et contemporain de Montluçon, FR
Festival Interstice, group show curated by Bérénice Serra, Maison de l’architecture Normandie, Caen, FR
2018
Produir, produir, produï(t), group show curated by Xavier Acarín and Carolina Ciuti, Reial Cercle Artístic, LOOP Festival, Barcelona, ES
Inside Intel, group show curated by Elliott Burns, India Murphy and Jake Charles Rees, St James Hatcham, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Terms and Conditions May Apply, group show curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight, Annka Kultys Gallery, London, UK
Young dealers event at Sotheby's, Sotheby’s, Paris, FR
Mission To Touch The Sun, group show curated by K.P.Culver and William Noel Clarke, Enclave, London, UK
No es lo que aparece, group show curated by Virginia Torrente, Xavier Acarín Wieland and Pedro Torres, Fabra i Coats - Centre d'Art Contemporani, Barcelona, ES
Total Contest TV, screening, festival OVNi, La station, Nice, FR
Résidence, online show curated by Bérénice Serra, IN
Far away treasure, group show curated by Quim Packard, Espai Nyam nyam, Barcelona, ES
Gimmick 2, group show curated by Antoni Hervás, Tienda Derecha, Sant Andreu Contemporani, Barcelona, ES
Les prix Vitrine-65 de Jeune Création 2017, group show, Vitrine-65, Paris, FR
Photo18, festival, Halle 622, Zurich-Oerlikon, CH
DIS[ ] : ARBITRATION Pavilion, online exhibition, The Wrong - New Digital Art Biennale, IN
2017
Jeune Création 67, group show, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, FR
White Screen 3, online exhibition curated by Carine Klonowski, Kévin Cadinot & Julien Toulze, Jeune Création, IN
Making contact, online exhibition curated by Caroline Delieutraz and Stéphanie Vidal, Ko Projects, IN
Festival Saison Video, Tourismes, curated by Mo Gourmelon, Saison Video #41, IN
Un mundo ideal, group show curated by Julia Morandeira, Jesus Alcaide and Antoni Hervas, Fabra i Coats - Centre d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, ES
UnderLOOP, group show curated by Amanda Caminals, Cine Avenida de la Luz, LOOP, Barcelona, ES
Crowd workers, Unsterblichkeit und Post-Fotografie, group show, 21es Journées photographiques de Bienne, Galerie Le Grenier, Bienne, CH
Под земја полесно се дише 5, group show, Kula, Skopje, MK
Quand Denis rencontre Philippe, group show, Chaideny, Clamart, FR
Le Merveilleux, group show, Abbaye Royale du Montcel, Pontpoint, FR
Paper Tigers Collection & Co, group show curated by Mathieu Tremblin, Syndicat Potentiel, Strasbourg, FR
Paratext 14, talk and screening, Hangar, Barcelona, ES
2016
Variation, curated by Dominique Moulon, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, FR
Fictions Réelles, group show, Le 100 ecs, Paris, FR
Festival Imagine, talk and performance, invitation by Frédéric Martel for Soft Power, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Open, group show curated by Manon Klein and BLBC, Galerie T2, Paris, FR
10x10, group show, Ourcq Blanc, Paris, FR
5th Khorshid Film Festival, screening, Téhéran, IR
Écran Libre, screening, Moon, Foff Angoulême, FR
2015
Variation, curated by Dominique Moulon, Espace des Blancs-Manteaux, Paris, FR
Carnets d'été, group show, Galerie Louise, Le Pré Saint Gervais, FR
La fin des cartes ?, group show curated by Isabelle Arvers, Curry Vavart, Paris, FR
Ravages, group show curated by Diamètre, Point Éphémère, Paris, FR
Promenons-nous..., group show curated by Caroline Delieutraz and Géraldine Miquelot, Abbaye d'Annecy-le-Vieux, FR
Racines, group show, Galerie Mathilde C, Paris, FR
2014
Entre les arbres, group show, Galerie Entre, Paris, FR
Éditons, group show, Collectif Blanc - Nomad, Montréal, CA
6 weekends d'art contemporain, group show, Galerie Neuf, Nancy, FR
Il y a loin et cependant, group show, Avant-Travaux, Paris, FR
2013
Tootem, group show, Société Sauvage/Galerie Lazer Quest, Paris, FR
Revival, group show, Hectoliter gallery, Bruxelles, BE
Revival Pavilion, group show, Grad Sofiya, Sofia, BG
Beware, group show, Workshop, Paris, FR
Jardins Synthétiques Hors les Murs, group show, La Bellone, Bruxelles, BE
2012
Orage Titan Fata Morgosa, group show, H2, Paris, FR
Jardins synthétiques, group show, Musée Saint-Raymond,Toulouse, FR
Les invités des Atelier Boisson, group show curated by John Deneuve, Marseille, FR
Which Witch, group show, Le Cagibi, Lille, FR
Treize Étranges, group show curated by Céline Poulin, Hors les Murs du Parc Saint Léger, Nevers, FR
Collection classique, group show, Le Pied de Biche, Paris, FR
2011-2009
Láncszemek, group show, L'Hybride, Lille, FR
Reputation, group show, Mother Drucker, Berlin, DE
Bandits-Mages, film festival, Bourges, FR
Jusqu'ici tout va bien, group show, Forum de l’Image - Espace Croix-Baragnon, Toulouse, FR
EDUCATION
Master 2 (MFA) with honors, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, FR, 2015
DNAP (BFA), ENSBA Lyon, FR, 2008
RESEARCH
Research in Coopérative de recherche in ESACM Art School, Clermont-Ferrand, FR, 2019-2022
Research in Laboratoire Modulaire in ESAM Art School, Caen, FR, 2020-2021
PRIZES, RESIDENCIES AND GRANTS
2020
Le Confort Moderne, residency and grant, Poitiers, FR
ESAM Art School, grant, Caen, FR
2019
ESACM Art School, grant, Clermont-Ferrand, FR,
Offsiteproject.org, online residency, IN
Loop Discover award, shortlisted, Barcelona, ES
2018
Espositivo 7B, residency, Madrid, ES
Ex Asilo Filangieri, residency exchange with Hangar Barcelona, residency and grant, Napoli, IT
Premi Miquel Casablancas, Sant Andreu Contemporani prize, shortlisted, Barcelona, ES
Hangar, Centro de Producción e Investigación de Artes Visuales residency and grant, Barcelona, ES
2017
Hangar, Hangar / Institut Français de Barcelona / Casa de Velázquez residency and grant, Barcelona, ES
Can Serrat residency and full grant, El Bruc, ES
Jeune Création / Vitrine-65 prize, winner, Paris, FR
Premi Miquel Casablancas, Sant Andreu Contemporani prize, shortlisted, Barcelona, ES
WT Artspace, residency, Barcelona, ES
2016
Salon Bellefour, residency, Buenos Aires, AR
2015
Casa de Velázquez, residency and grant, Madrid, ES
Villa Belleville residency, Paris, FR
2013
Présence Barrée, residency, Grenoble, FR
GOM / Musée d'Art de Toulon, residency, Toulon, FR
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BOOKS
Aujourd'hui est le jour où tu rejoins tes semblables, Super-Loto Éditions, Concots, 2014
PUBLICATIONS
L'âge de l'incertitude, Gwinzegal, Guingamp, 2020
BLOB n°0, Unité de Recherche Numérique en Art et Design de l’Esad Saint-Étienne / Ensba Lyon, 2020
isthisit? issue 5, Bob Bicknell-Knight, isthisit?, London, 2018
L'art au-delà du digital, Dominique Moulon, Nouvelles Éditions Scala, Paris, 2018
Far Away Treasure, Parasitio, Barcelona, 2018
El común y el ningún, Hangar, Barcelona, 2018
Iceview 03, nList, Skagaströnd Iceland, 2018
Paratext 2, Hangar, Barcelona, 2018
Résidence, publié par Bérénice Serra, Lyon, 2018
Entre Lieux communs et merveilles, Clara Neumann, HEAR, Strasbourg, 2016
Dadabot. Essay about the hybridization of cultural forms (music, visual arts, literature) produced by digital technologies, Nicolas Nova et Joël Vacheron, Éditions Idpure, 2015
Early Edition, Bill Kartalopoulos, Nat. Brut, New York, 2015
It's Nice That Annual 2013, Company of Parrots, London, 2013
Revival, Blood Becomes Water #8, Brussels, 2013
Headache, Éditions du Livre, Strasbourg, 2011
Massive, Chili Com Carne / Hülülülü, Lisboa, 2010
RADIO
900 secondes, Radio Pulsar (04.11.2020)
Internet, Green Text Stories, Dublab.es (02.14.2017)
Soft Power, France Culture (06.05.2016)
TELEVISION
Un mundo como pantalla: platonismo digital - Soy camera, Ingrid Guardiola, Víctor Diago, CCCB Barcelona, 12.13.2019
Im künstlichen Soziotop – Disneylands prägender Einfluss, Igor Basic, Kulturplatz, SRF 1, 05.03.2017
TALKS
Pogovor z Marion Balac ob razstavi Zajčja luknja with Marion Balac, Dr. Jože Guna and Jan Babnik, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, SI, February 27th, 2020
Paratext 35 with Lucía Egaña Rojas, Francisco Navarrete Sitja, Marion Balac i Marzia Matarese, Martín Vitaliti, Bartomeu Sastre, Laura Arensburg, Hangar.org, Barcelona, ES, April 17th 2019
Web Cinematics, Loop Studies, round table with Nelson Crespo, Zena Khan, Sylwia Serafinowicz, Marion Balac, Miriam Cacho and Elisenda Muns moderated by Andrew Colquhoun and Maria Escobedo, Loop Festival, Barcelona, ES, November 20th, 2018
Digital Codes— The impact of digital technologies in the production of video art, Loop Studies, round table with Pau Waelder, Nelson Crespo, Marion Balac, Daniela Arriado and Serafín Álvarez moderated by Paula Nishijima, Loop Festival, Barcelona, ES, November 21th, 2018
Paratext 14 with Marion Balac, Florian Freier, Michael J. Lyons, Megan Michalak, Hangar.org, Barcelona, ES, January 18th, 2017
Soft Power moderated by Frederic Martel and broadcasted live on French public radio channel France culture, with Albertine Meunier, Maxime Chanson, Thomas Cheneseau, Béatrice Lartigue, Stéphanie Vidal, Marion Balac, Fabrice Starzinskas, Festival Imagine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, June 5th, 2016
PRESS
Videoarte - Obras que nacen de la tecnología, Vicky Navarro & Andrea Ruiz, Lamono Newspaper, Summer 2019
El cine Avenida de la Luz reabre para arte, Teresa Sesé, La Vanguardia, 05.03.2017
Identity, Florian Alexander Schmidt, Agenda Design 3, AGD, 2016
The Many faces of Camouflage, Jan Babnik, Membrana, 2016
Data Iconoclast, Paul Wombell, British Journal of Photography, December issue, 2015
Cabinet of curiosities, IDPURE 38, 2015
Girls Draw it Better, Monique Todd, Twin Magazine 12, 2015
Utopies en miniatures, Benjamin Bottemer, Zut! #09, 2014
Animal Catastrophe, Junko Shibuya, Illustration Japan, 2010
Animal Catastrophe, Maxime Gueugneau, Kiblind, April issue, 2010
ONLINE PRESS
2020
Mark, le bleu - entretien avec Marion Balac - Bérénice Serra - Blob n°0
2019
Avatares y mascaras - María Rojas - Ssstendhal
2018
5X5 Annka Kultys Gallery - Dateagle
2017
Für Google sind Götter auch nur Menschen - Igor Basic - SRF
Les inquiétantes miscellanées des Journées de Bienne - Caroline Stevan - Le temps
Underloop: videoarte en el subsuelo de Barcelona - Jorge Mauro de Pedro - Culturaca
2016
Villa Belleville - Géraldine Miquelot - Portraits
DADABOT. The role of algorithms in cultural production - Regine Debatty - We-make-money-not-art
Marion Balac - Géraldine Miquelot - Portraits
Un état de la création numérique - Frédéric Martel - France Culture
The Many Faces of Camouflage - Jan Babnik - Membrana
2015
Panorama of drawing in 2015 by Twin Magazine 12
2014
The 'Anonymous Gods' Of GSV - Beckett Mufson - The Creators Project
The Anonymous Gods Of GSV - John Brownlee - Fast Company / Co.Design
Has facial recognition paranoia gotten stupid? - Greg Stevens - The Daily Dot
Marion Balac - Renaud Monfourny - Les Inrocks
The faces of monuments and statues blurred-out by Google Street View - Maisie Skidmore - It's Nice That
Le visage apparaît dans une troublante nudité - Pierre Ménard - Liminaire
Aujourd’hui est le jour où tu rejoins tes semblables - Mikaël Demets - L'accoudoir
The Faceless Gods Of Google Street View - Robbie Gonzalez - io9
La poésie mystérieuse du dessin contemporain - Julien Verhaeghe - Contemporanéité
Anonymous gods - Spacelab
Anonymous Gods, i volti delle statue offuscate su Google StreetView - Wired
Όλοι είμαστε ίσοι μπροστά στη google - George Tsaknis - Dimar
2013
Stunningly detailed pencil drawings from the prolific Marion Balac - James Cartwright - It's Nice That
Marion Balac on jungle-explorations, suggestive drawings and island dreams - Amber Hsu - Tiny Pencil
Il y a loin et cependant - Smaranda Olcese - Toute la culture
Marion Balac’s Apparitional Void Drawings - Ryan de la Hoz - Beautiful Decay
Marion Balac - Victoria Roussel - Beware
WORKSHOPS
Contrôle+Z, workshop, collège Charles Brochen - Pontrieux, GwinZegal art center, Guingamp ; "L'âge de l'incertitude" book published after the workshop by GwinZegal art center, Guingamp, FR, 2019
Desktop movies, workshop, Lycée des Glières - Annemasse, Villa du Parc, Annemasse ; movie screened in "Phase d'essai" exhibition in Villa du Parc art center, Annemasse, FR, 2019
Desktop movies, workshop, ESACM École supérieure d'art de Clermont Métropole, Clermont-Ferrand, FR, 2018
IRL, workshop, collège Charles Brochen - Pontrieux, collège Jean-Louis Hamon - Plouha, GwinZegal art center, Guingamp, FR, 2018
Desktop movies, workshop w/ Carine Klonowski, collège Claude Debussy - Aulnay-sous-Bois, La Gaîté lyrique art center; movie screened in "Ateliers Partagés", exhibition in La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, FR, 2017-2018
Ona, workshop w/ Serafin Alvarez, Sant Andreu Contemporani, Barcelona, ES, 2017
En vacances sur terre, video workshops in Les Côtes pediatric day hospital ; movie screened in "Lumière..." exhibition in L'Onde art center, Vélizy-Villacoublay, FR, 2016-2017
The island, workshops in Musée régional d'art contemporain Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée (MRAC), Sérignan, FR, 2015
Print and wear, workshop in Lycée professionnel Claude Nicolas Ledoux, Pavillon-sous-bois, FR, 2014
Avant la chute de Phaéton, workshops in Musée National de la Renaissance, castle of Écouen, FR, 2013
Jungles, workshops for Squares event, Art Exprim, Paris, FR, 2012