Atelier 2007-2008, le film

In his former studio in Liège, Laurent Dupont became fascinated by the whirling smoke rings he was making with his cigarette: how the nebulous puffs dissipated into the air, and how the smoke rings themselves became wreathing sculptures and a kind of shifting lens. For almost a year, between December 2007 and October 2008, Dupont filmed the different phases of his studio through the prismatic eyes of these ringlets of smoke. Atelier 2007-2008, le film is a compilation of the monthly "smoke videos" he made in this period. The standard runtime of 83 minutes mimics that of feature films.

In the video, we discover the artist’s studio in different moods and seasons. The coincidence in the shapes and movements plays an important role throughout. The work could also refer to "inframince", a term coined by Marcel Duchamp for the almost imperceptible interval between two phenomena − here between the artist's breath and the studio air.

Atelier 2007-2008, le film is a pivotal work in Laurent Dupont's oeuvre. With trademark humour and a certain nonchalance, it reveals the existential relationship between the artist and his surroundings. It also marks the start of his scrutiny of the inherent practice of art.