The Grand Credits

[size=20]The Grand Credits[/size]
of all human beings

Antoine Schmitt 2009
version 29sept09

www.thegrandcredits.info


Synopsis

Long credits slowly roll on the movie screen, from bottom to top. First name, last name. First name, last name…

It is the list of the names of all human beings.

Everyone is named, and all names are displayed with the same visual importance. The list is not alphabetical nor chronological. The font, the display size and the scrolling speed enable each name to be read.

The Grand Credits is an artwork that is designed to be displayed on a movie screen, a TV screen, a computer screen, or projected on a wall, depending on the exhibition context. The scenography always refers to the world of cinema. When it is exhibited, the Grand Credits displays in priority the names of the persons linked to the geographical zone and to the artistic context of the exhibition. It thus creates a mirroring link with the spectators. The names are displayed in the local alphabet and the graphic design matches the traditions of the place and times.

It is important that everyone is named. This permanent technological artwork installed on internet uses all possible means to effectively list the names of all human beings. For example, each exhibition of the Grand Credits is the occasion to collect the list of the names of the persons linked to the exhibition. It is through these successive additions, as well as various other individual or administrative collaborations on internet, that the database is incrementally built. The logic of the display order reflects this building process. Its goal is not to forget anyone and to be always up to date by including the new births. Only the names are displayed, no other direct information relative to the person is collected, stored nor listed.

It is The Grand Credits of all human beings.


Artistic concept

Extrapolating the warholian 15 minutes of fame in our democratic society of the spectacle, The Grand Credits gives every one its room in the credits.

But what is the movie ? Is there a scenario ? Who wrote it ? Are things pre-programmed, or are we all still free to act ? The Grand Credits is anchored in my artistic obsession with the opposition between destiny and free will, and it ends up questioning each and everyone of us on our own identity and responsibility.

Is it the opening or the closing credits ?