Marie, a French-speaking Montrealer in her thirties played by actress Paule Ducharme, appears to be lost in reverie. You may try to get her attention: when selecting "Excuse me..." on the display, Marie suddenly stares at you; then, selecting "Do you have the time?", "Are you staring at me?" or simply "May I ask you something?" starts a conversation that will develop according to visitor's curiosity or Marie's moods. The encounter may be cut short due to a lack of tact or interest, or it may develop into intimate considerations about love in the context of a virtual relationship. The conversation may be conducted in French, English, German, Italian, Dutch or Japanese. In all languages except for French, Marie's answers are subtitled.
Portrait One explores portraiture in the age of hypermedia and virtual reality. After the painted portrait synthesizing the author/model experience into a single image, and after the photographic portrait capturing the instant, the hypermedia portrait looks at the subject to capture, this time, fragments of behavior that will be used to reconstruct the mechanics of conversation. In hypermedia portraits, the visitor's point of view and attitude becomes an intrinsic part of the work as the encounter between the artist and the subject is re-enacted.
(Luc Courchesne)