Mainstream

© Ariane Loze

Mainstream is part of a larger project, MÔWN (Movies On My Own), which brings together a series of micro-fictions produced completely autonomously, each with strong ties to the place where they were filmed. In this project, the artist distorts then re-enacts the codes of cinema, film noir and science-fiction, casting a critical eye on the structures of contemporary social life.

With Mainstream, Ariane Loze observes the world in which we live with a precise and deeply caring eye. She gives her account of it through her voice, her movement, and her body, letting the words of other people cross over her.

The artist focuses on both empty phrases, having them repeated by different figures until they reach the absurdity of semantic satiation, and the world of work, by reproducing samples of words taken from the organisation of the corporate world. The whole piece creates an indescribable feeling of oddness. Through its striking and sustained rhythm, Mainstream also bears witness to our relationship with time. In our hyper-productive society, in which people spend their time managing time, the manager, as well as the artist, must learn how to live in an accelerated and densified temporality and in a globalised space. The thrills, the spills, and the hiccups along our way are often the spice of life. So how can self-awareness evolve in a time when control is the goal?