N.I.C.J.O.B.

N.I.C.J.O.B., Keikoku (video still), 2001

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N.I.C.J.O.B. (Nicolas Jasmin, b. 1967, Toulouse) uses found footage from films to deconstruct narratives, create new meanings, and to crank up a heightened focus and, frequently, a sense of anxiety. By isolating single short film sequences through cutting, editing and looping, he creates memorable, disruptive and entertaining new works. In recontextualising these fragments, the plot is literally lost and replaced with a concentrated distillation of alienation, angst, emotion and psychology.

N.I.C.J.O.B.’s work comes from the lineage of scratch video, which grew out of the remix culture of hip-hop and electronic music in which Djs and music producers mix existing music to create new sounds. As well as using the same techniques, the spirit of DJ culture also directly influenced scratch video – most notably in the re-appropriation of consumer technology for creative ends, the disregard for issues such as copyright, and the vivacious approach to experimentation.

His work has a great deal in common with the much-hyped phenomenon of bootlegging – the mixing, by amateurs, of two or more tracks (one usually a big pop hit, the other(s) less familiar) in intentionally odd pairings. The combination of ‘piracy’ and alchemy produce the maverick spirit characteristic of N.I.C.J.O.B.'s creations.

Sampling and looping are central to the construction of N.I.C.J.O.B.’s works, in the soundtracks as much as the imagery. The remixing and repetition of sound and image create layers and mutations that transform linear time and narrative into compelling and mesmerising works that allow for the creation of new meaning whilst retaining the very essence of the (cinematic, or musical) source.

N.I.C.J.O.B.’s choice of imagery is precise and pointed and, particularly in the works presented here, consists of moments of tension and psychological intensity, which may or may not have represented a climactic point in the original film.

Shaped as we are by technology, the way we experience and consume media culture (whether text, image or sound) is through cherry picking, sampling and sound bite. Our constant exposure to television, for instance, has created a reservoir of common memory, meaning and iconic pop imagery where associations are triggered in a flash. In our accelerated, fleeting world of images, N.I.C.J.O.B.’s work allows us to rewind endlessly – ‘let’s see that again...’ – until it becomes something other, takes on an entirely new identity. The result, although mesmerising, is not a meditative, hypnotic I experience, but one that becomes more heightened, insistent and intense with each repetition.

N.I.C.J.O.B. at Liverpool Biennial 2002

" * O ... + ! " (Patrick), 1999 version 
Video
Courtesy of the artists and Kunstbuero, Vienna
Exhibited at Bluecoat Gallery,  Pleasant Street Board School and Tate Liverpool

The Warning, 2000-01
Video
Courtesy of the artists and Kunstbuero, Vienna
Exhibited at the Bluecoat Gallery

Keikoku, 2001
Video 
Courtesy of the artists and Kunstbuero, Vienna
Exhibited at the Bluecoat Gallery

Breaker, 2002
Video
Courtesy of the artists and Kunstbuero, Vienna
Exhibited at Tate Liverpool