Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion

Émilie Brout (b. 1984) and Maxime Marion (b. 1982) began their collaboration at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Their work over the past decade has been based on careful observation of how interactions with the digital world and digital tools influence our behaviours. They are included in the Centre Pompidou collection, the Ile-de-France contemporary art collection and the Fondation François Schneider collection, and have featured on numerous media platforms, including Zérodeux, Le Monde, Les Inrocks, Tracks, New York Observer, BBC and Frieze. They have had solo shows at 22,48 m² (Paris), La Chaufferie (Strasbourg), Pori Art Museum (Finland), Villa du Parc (Annemasse) and Steve Turner Gallery (Los Angeles). Their work has also been included in group shows, most recently at KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Espace Fondation EDF (Paris), BIAN Biennial (Montreal), BPS22 (Belgium), Villa Arson (Nice) and Casino Luxembourg.

Their residency project revolves around a series of animated videos set during a horror festival where VTubers (live streamers who use a virtual avatar inspired by anime or manga) meet to share horror stories. VTubing originated in Japan in the mid-2010s and rapidly grew into an economically structured, global phenomenon. Marion and Brout plan to combine the VTuber’s technology-filled world with the horror genre, making particular reference to ghost stories which have had remarkable cultural and popular significance in Japan since the Edo period. Their aim is to address questions of online self-representation as well as establish a connection between the sharing of these stories by avatars and the oral tradition of the storyteller. Their research takes place on three levels: firstly, to contact VTubers and potentially work with them; secondly, to explore historic and cultural sites in Kyoto, such as the International Manga Museum or sites of fusuma art; thirdly, to study the history of fantasy and horror stories in Japan.

-1 Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, vue de l’exposition personnelle « IDLE », 2023, 22,48 m², Romainville, courtesy les artistes et 22,48 m²
-2 Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, IDLE (acts α and β), vue de l’exposition « Per Speculum. Intelligence and its double », 2024, Fondazione Vitale, Vérone © Nicola Morittu, courtesy les artistes et Fondazione Vitale