Maurice Benayoun, born in 1957 in Mascara (France). Professor of Fine Arts in Paris I University (Pantheon/Sorbonne). Did research on Video Art and special effects for C.N.R.S. (National Center of Scientific Research) and the CRECA (Research Center in Motion Pictures and Audiovisual Arts). Four years of personal research on 3D computer graphics and computer animation.

The 'Elasto Fragmentoplast' is the pilot of a series of 24 short films of 2 minutes each. Each one appears as a program of scientific popularisation. A scientist voice delivers off comments on the evolution of his research on the QUARXS.

The QUARXS are living beings indifferent to the immutable laws of Nature. The aberrant aspect of their relations with time, space and material turns them into odd beings. We try to understand their behaviour through observation and experimentation: analysing such creatures requires an adequate visual treatment - mixing video, 2D and 3D computer graphics. I must confess my fascination with the possibility of building a virtual space defying physical laws based on their mathematical application - deciding that an object will not receive the light which illuminates the rest of the scene. Deciding that the same causes can have various effects - for example a light can make an object transparent.

The 3D space is a paradox where the expression of the surface of the world comes from the understanding of its fundamental principles. In the 3D universe, material is not a limit, but the substract through which the world appears. The only habits of representation are the genuine limits.

Technical Background

HW: Compaq Desk Pro 486/33, System Pro 486/3
SW: Opium