Neil Beloufa, France
Born 1985 in Paris, Algerian and French Beloufa studied at the École des Beaux Arts de Paris (ensba), at the Art Decoratifs de Paris (ensad), at Cooper Union in New York and in CalArts in Valencia.  Working primarily with video and sculpture, each piece aims to threaten on the same level different fields such as classical art forms, cinema, pop culture stereotypes, true events, sculptures or social rituals to produce a new coherent universe real and fake at the same time that can’t be seen straightly because of the amount of artifices and media(tor)s. Doing so, a range of interpretations and critical “side” sights are encouraged from viewers.  Beloufa lives and works in Paris.

Artist Statement
We are all able to detect the artifices of cinema. However, we accept them so that our fiction can take place without trying to attach them to credible causes. The mysticism or belief in life may well operate the same way. Today, the links to fiction appear reversed.
What are we willing to believe in life as in fiction, and how, in the real world do we fictionalize ourselves?

The "Axis of evil" versus comic books Villains or S.P.E.C.T.R.E, James Bond enemies organization.

The goal in the pieces is to outbid on the real until it becomes unstable and parasites itself. They can be based on a social ritual, a real event, elements from "popular culture", or communications company modus operandi, contemporary mythology, using the echoes they may have into various Art forms. Always “in”, they never go against the general dominant and stereotypical trend. By using its conventions and pushing them to their maximum, the "real" mutates like a mathematical limit. "This is towards what x tends, without being able to be apprehended with certainty; x is recognizable but not exact."

Process is always first degree. There is no further setback on the images, no more categories, everything is at the same level and processed the same way. Contexts do not count anymore. This is not a logic of capturing reality (documentary), neither reproduction (fiction), nor simulation (3d). The purpose for each piece is to produce a new consistent reality that is at the same time true and fake, fictitious, but probable.

The lightings, digitally created images, sound effects, synthetic materials or other artifices are always visible and betrayed. They can no longer entertain anymore and create connivance, which becomes the true substance of the work. These apparent and voluntary “mistakes” create climax that moves elements that should be in the range of virtual into the real world. The artifices have now to be accepted as real as mystic, which is naturally not consistent.

In the presence of so many mediator devices, the sight can no longer be direct. We watch from the sides, "in between" and not anymore the pieces themselves. The attractive look of the works guides us to traps and false readings that could be disturbing. The stories are hindered and stretched. No field is set, nothing is certain and everything loses its meanings and becomes empty.
           
Thus, the documentation of a sculpture or a basic performance mutates and can be seen as a hidden camera or a science-fiction film. The structure of a documentary can be the same as a video game’s or a Coca-Cola commercial one. A sculpture oscillates between a school gym exercise and a scientific model of plate tectonics. The documentation of a sculpture is the only evidence of its existence as the evidence materials for a murder conviction. It is then akin to a rumor or to a government conspiracy, especially if it is in the form of digitally created images.

Extraterrestrial’s "Crop circles" are Land Art. Minimalist protocols are developed like the society game Twister. And whether on TV or in our fictions animals can talk. They are here "tuned" and become a new caste. The elevators can have gym practices.
If you have a gold tooth, an earring, or a bridge you are a mutant. The bodybuilding is a postproduction. Everything is paranoia. The Shroud as a textile print whose matrix was not anamorphous. There are no more actors but liars. A teenager dressed like James Dean is an actor. A paid perjury is an Art performance and the witness an actor!

As the Torch from The Fantastic Four said "I saw what I saw. I know it may sound wrong. But it was a silver surfer."

Biography
Born in 1985 in Paris,
2007 DNAP Beaux-Arts of Paris (Ensba).
Student in 4th year in the Arts décoratifs (Ensad).
2007 Scholar exchange in Cooper Union – New-York, USA.
2008      “              “     California institute of the Arts ( CalArts ) – Valencia, USA.

Collective shows, Screenings.
2008
“Liquid room”, NCCA - National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow, Russia.
“Conspire”, Transmediale 08, Berlin, Germany.
2007
“7 ème Rencontres photographiques de Bamako”, Centre Culturel Français, Bamako, Mali.
“Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid”, Centre Pompidou, L’entrepot, Jeu de Paume, France.
“Coober Nnion”, Cooper Union, New York, USA.
“RAW”, Monkeytown, Brooklyn, USA.
“Pression à froid”, Refectoire du Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris, France.
“12th Biennial of moving images”, Centre pour l’image contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland.
“Incorrect - Leica price Laureates”, FH-Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
“AUFF”, Autour du parcours St-germain, Paris, France.
"Projet impossible ou la reconciliation impertinente" in "Sociétés anonymes", Frac île-de-france, Paris, France.
"10 Jours / 10 Artistes / 10 vidéos", Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France.
2006
Project "La chose", Salon Emmaeus, Paris, France.
Project "Mic/Mac", MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-seine, France.
“C’est comme le bon vin”, Ensba, Paris, France.

 Filmography.
 “The cpe” film 16 mm 2008.
 “L’Hotel” video 2008
 “Kempinski” video 2007.
          Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid 2007, Paris.
          “RAW”, Monkeytown, New York.
          London International creative contest finalist, London (catalogue).
 “2007, April the second” video 2007
          “Liquid room”, NCCA - National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow.
          “Conspire”, Transmediale 08, Berlin.
          “Pression à froid”, Refectoire du Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris.
          12th Biennial of moving images, Geneva.
          Prix Leica Laureates 2007. (catalogue)
          “Incorrect”, Fachhochschule-Bielefeld, Bielefeld. (catalogue)              
“The Great Day” video 2007
 “ Carlotta” video 2006
          “10 jours / 10 artistes / 10 vidéo”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris.
“Mr Kaplan” video 2006
“La sieste” video 2005

 Grants
 2007 Colin Lefranc scholarship.
 2007 Socrates scholarship.

 Experiences
2007
Laurent Grasso’s assistant.
 Paris-cable co-directed documentary, "Philippe Mayaux, Le californien de Montreuil".
 Assistant on "Ici le capitaine du vaisseau" of Raphael Siboni.