Like his postmodern contemporaries, Pierre Bismuth goes back to the basic principles of film and photography as a reaction against mass culture and its avalanche of images, sounds and information. In his installations, photos, collages, videos and scenarios, he destabilises the established codes dictated by mass culture. In this way he compels us to distance ourselves critically from our ingrained perceptions. With a certain irony, he has claimed that he is ‘not really into film’. He sees the use of cinematographic codes merely as a means of opening our eyes to the perceptions that he himself has pre-programmed. His most striking joint project took place in 2004, when, at the request of the director Michel Gondry, he wrote the scenario for the cult classic ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’. For this film, as someone whose purpose was to constantly upset mainstream cinema, Bismuth actually won an Oscar for the ‘best scenario’!
