With an impressive roster of artists and an increasing reputation as one of the hottest young galleries in Paris, Balice Hertling inaugurated the art season at their Belleville location with up-and-coming French artist, Neil Beloufa. A true intervention of the gallery space, Beloufa’s installation presents a thoughtfully arranged montage of objects – from scraps of wood to internet printouts to metal grating – all serving as a constructed stage for the three-dimensional presentation of two new video works. “People’s passion, lifestyle, beautiful wine, gigantic glass towers, all surrounded by water” and “The Analyst, the researcher, the screenwriter, the cgi tech and the lawyer” are videos in which the young artist interviews residents of what seems like the perfect North American city, thus aiming to capture both sides of a utopic 21st century society.

The videos being shown at Balice Hertling were shot this summer in Vancouver. Can you tell us a little bit about your relationship with this city and its people?
I don’t have much to say about the people of Vancouver. The videos were shot there by chance (I did a month-long artist residency there) but are not specifically about the city, even though its lifestyle and North American boosterism made the project possible. My point of interest is a bit wider. It was more about the representation of Western utopias or the discourse of unabashed positivity, both, in my opinion, recurring modern human tendencies.

The idealization of time and/or space seems to be a recurring theme within your work. Would you consider yourself a dreamer or an escapist or both or none?
I guess I’m not on either side. I may be more cold and pragmatic, but maybe being drawn to idealized discourses or other kinds of projections reveals something about a personal position… but I really have no idea.

You use sculptural and installation elements to enhance your video pieces. How do these decisions of presentation come about? Is it meticulously thought out or by chance?
It’s a kind of initial statement that I am beginning to be less drastic about. I guess I don’t like authority, and the authority of a moving image on a white wall in a gallery is a reenactment of the authority of movie theatres. In theatres, the convention is that the screen is the only thing that should be seen. In an art venue, such as a gallery, anything is allowed since the 1920’s. Therefore I refuse to do cinema in a gallery context. It is also a matter of coherence. In my videos, wires, lights and most of the artifices are exposed. Why should I agree to perform a magic trick in the space? Then a decision is reached regarding each individual device. It has to relate to the video, while pushing and contradicting gestures from it. But I never really succeed in accomplishing my initial idea, so many aspects of the installation are improvised as they arise.

There are often pop cultural references in your work (i.e. images of Jay Z and Beyonce). Can you tell us about this fascination?
I’m interested in signs and issues of representation. Pictures of Beyonce or Jay-Z making a “rockafella” sign might sometimes hold more significance today than a political logo or a flag. They reveal ways of seeing or thinking about representation today. For this show, Jay-Z came to me through his position regarding conspiracy theories that see him as an illuminati or an enemy of God… Beyonce is his partner so it made sense having them both. I used Angelina Jolie in a previous show because her filmography includes a paradoxical game of representation. She did a really bad remake of the video game “Tomb Raiders” and was remodelized in 3D for Beowulf. Representation interests me so I am drawn to her links to CGI.

I heard of you tearing up the dance floor on a few occasions. What are some songs on your ideal dance playlist?
I have terrible taste in music and have a really bad sound memory. I never listen to music alone and try to never choose music when others are around. Although when I’m kind of drunk I love dancing to Top 40 stuff like Britney Spears’ TOXIC, and when I’m even more drunk stuff like Wiley Starz.

Les Manques Contenus, Exhibition Views, Balice Hertling, Paris
Courtesy the artist and Balice Hertling