Arnaud Dezoteux, Dark Meta Reeves

About the video:
How can one appropriate an iconic actor when his persona remains a mystery? Keanu Reeves fascinates precisely because of his elusive identity and the discretion he maintains to protect his private life, allowing endless projections. What if the only way to portray him were to turn to the fans and their ability to transform the objects of the entertainment industry?
Arnaud Dezoteux became interested in Gavin, a fan he asked to reenact memorable scenes from Reeves’ films (The Matrix 1 and 3, A Scanner Darkly, The Day the Earth Stood Still), using a relatively artisanal green screen technique reminiscent of fan fiction. Through these videos, Gavin embraces his ability to embody his hero and project himself by creating an enhanced version of himself.
Arnaud Dezoteux belongs to a generation of artists who, rather than deconstructing the codes of mainstream cinema, prefer to explore the active role of the viewer. Each film becomes an opportunity to investigate the collective imagination of a society, revealing interpretative possibilities that go beyond the narrative and its expected effects. Acknowledging the unique power of blockbusters to influence reality, Dezoteux integrates their tropes and emotional mechanisms into his work.
This approach allows him to question, on one hand, the different forms of emancipation invented by the viewer, and on the other, the ways in which these films are received in the age of the Internet.

29'05", color, sound, 2016.
 

About the artist :
Arnaud Dezoteux was born in 1987 in Bayonne. He lives and works in Paris. A graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2011, his films and installations explore reality TV, seduction coaching, corporate culture, and live-action role-playing games. His cinematic approach blends fiction and documentary, often bringing behind-the-scenes footage to the forefront. Arnaud Dezoteux collaborates with amateur participants, encourages his actors to improvise, and makes his interactions with those he films both visible and audible. Recently, he has combined his observational filmmaking in public spaces with animated animal drawings that, despite their frail appearance, attempt to blur the line between the spectacular and the mundane—somewhere between Who Framed Roger Rabbit and documentary filmmaking. Following a solo exhibition at Galerie Edouard Manet in Gennevilliers (2016) focused on Keanu Reeves fandom, he presented his fantasy film Miroir de Haute-Valnia at the Centre Pompidou (2017) and a project on Billy the Kid at the Fondation Pernod-Ricard (2021). In 2023, his film Grandeur Nature was in the official competition at the 45th edition of Cinéma du Réel. His projects have also been shown at Les Bains Douches in Alençon, Le Confort Moderne in Poitiers, Lafayette Anticipations in Paris, Tin Flats in Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou Málaga, and Galerie Forde in Geneva. In October 2024 he opened his solo exhibition Apprends et Rêve at Mrac Occitanie.

Social:
vimeo.com/arnauddezoteux
@arnauddezoteux
Contact: 
arnaud.dezoteux@gmail.com