About the Artwork
Laure Prouvost’s Metal Man – Deeper Together, Deep Travel Ink. NYC (2018) combines sculptural and video elements that result in an anthropomorphised installation. Two metal figures kneel in front of one another, their ‘video heads’ directly addressing viewers with images of beckoning hands and phrases such as ‘THIS IS THE BEST THING YOU HAVE SEEN FOR A LONG TIME’ and ‘COME WITH US’. Through a strategically manipulative use of text, image, sound, sculpture and editing, the metal men duo directly engage their audience by implicating them in the creation of their narrative.
Year: 2018
Copyright Laure Prouvost, Courtesy Lisson Gallery. Photo: © Nick Turpin
Material
HD video and metal sculpture in two parts
Dimensions
165.5 x 185 x 121 cm
Artist Biography
Laure Prouvost
Language – in its broadest sense – permeates the video, sound, installation and performance work of Laure Prouvost. Known for her immersive and mixed-media installations that combine film and installation in humorous and idiosyncratic ways, Prouvost’s work addresses miscommunication and ideas becoming lost in translation. Playing with language as a tool for the imagination, Prouvost is interested in confounding linear narratives and expected associations among words, images and meaning. She combines existing and imagined personal memories with artistic and literary references to create complex film installations that muddy the distinction between fiction and reality. At once seductive and jarring, her approach to filmmaking employs layered storytelling, quick edits, montage and wordplay and is composed of a rich, tactile assortment of images, sounds, spoken and written phrases. The videos are often shown within immersive environments which comprise found objects, sculptures, painting and drawings, signs, furniture and architectural assemblages, that are rendered complicit within the overarching narrative of the installation.