Nicolas Lelièvre

Residency Program

Exchange Residency Program (International creators from abroad)

update: 2019.11.27


Nicolas Lelièvre

Participating ProjectExchange Residency Program (Creators from abroad)
Activity BasedFrance
Period2010.1 - 2010.3
Purpose of the residency

This residency in Tokyo Wonder Site is for me an opportunity to go on with my work about pictures and urban spaces. The aim would be to underline the intimate relationships one can have with time, space and their representations.

Plan during the residency

My process can be quickly described in two main parts. I first take pictures of what I can observe while walking in the streets and experiencing the city. Then I work on the pictures so as to transform them or the relationship one can have with what they represent. These transformations are mostly digital and can lead to short videos, still prints or slightly interactive installations.

Achivements of the residency
This residency period has been for me a great opportunity to discover the city of Tokyo and develop my work. As my researches are mainly about the way cities themselves can be perceived, I could see Tokyo as an endless source of various questions and observations that will certainly have repercussions on my future works. I think that a three months residency is long enough to feel familiar with the context but at the same time a little bit short to go deeper in research and production. Anyway, the working conditions were very good and I'm conscious of the privilege it is to have a room and a studio in the heart of the city. Sharing such a living context with other artists is also a very important and stimulating aspect of the program. TWS staff members were all very kind and helpful in every aspect of life and work during the residency. As my work often involves the use of technology, I would however say this program would be even better with a little bit more technical support...

Outcome of the exchange
In collaborating with japanese artists and getting to know various people involved in the Tokyo art scene, I think I could create a genuine relationship with this country, in which I hope to return to deepen my works and projects. This human aspect will remain for me the most remarkable and stimulating experience of my journey.
As I said, three months are long and short at the same time. In terms of production, I therefore decided to focus on one very specific aspect of Tokyo architecture. The outcoming installation is all about this particularity but I hope I could play with it deep enough to tell (or make feel) something about what Tokyo is. It is a great pleasure to participate to the final presentation in Shibuya but also a shame not to be here to actually see it and share this moment with the other people... Within this exchange context I also could get in touch with Kanako Sasaki, the japanese artist who stayed in Paris on the same period. We could share about our respective experiences and we already planned to develop a common work within a close future.

Creator Information

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