2001, experimenting
Creation of the French Cultural Center in Palermo, Sicily. Naziha and Yacine laid the foundations for their artistic creations in formulating the overall design of the French Cultural Center in Palermo: they integrated the virtual networks into the physical architecture of the premises.
“We wanted a transversal structure so that the online resources of the cultural center could be used by other cultural centers across the world. It made sense to share the efforts, the programs, access to the artists”.
2003, perfecting
Manifesto work and the development of video mapping: “3 minutes²”.
2003 was a key year for Naziha and Yacine: they created 3 minutes², a work awarded the Grand Prix at the Japan Media Art Festival in 2005.
3 minutes² is a 3,5 x 3 meter space that comes to life through the images projected on it. The space is reconfigured according to the activities of the people who live in it. A couple silhouetted in white live in the small apartment, continually transforming it with gestures as the sole interface.
The space is like an empty shell that comes to life when exposed to the images. Images here do not serve as a medium for illustration but as an essential condition of the space which it delineates in terms of space as well as in content. It is a futuristic vision of a world to come in which spaces are transformed at will, objects are printed on demand and housing becomes a totally hybrid mix of the physical and the digital.
2006, achieving
In 2006, the Comité Colbert asked Naziha and Yacine to stage FIAC Luxe! In 2009, Microsoft requested one of their installations for the lobby of its new headquarters.
Also in 2006, Naziha and Yacine put their special stamp on an exceptional joint work with the star choreographer Carolyn Carlson, creating “double vision”, a show in which the space-image becomes the narrative decor of a world in which the dancer’s body is the storyteller. The show was a huge popular success and is still touring the world. After Japan, Korea, Italy, Finland, as well as many other countries, it will be presented in the U.S. in October 2010.
2010, 10 years already
To celebrate their 10th anniversary and to launch the next 10, Naziha Mestaoui and Yacine Aït Kaci will present their show “Futuréalismes” at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence from 9 December 2010 to 30 April 2011. The exhibition will bring together some 20 works by the duo; visitors will be invited to travel through it as if it were a journey through modern utopias, utopias that are viable, and not just a dream
