American artist Ian Padgham defends his controversial video work

An American artist who imagined in a video the Arc de Triomphe redecorated in LGBT colors, creating controversy among Internet users who believed this installation to be real, estimated on Saturday June 3 that “we are ill-prepared as a society” image manipulation. The video, posted to Twitter and Instagram on Thursday, shows the famous monument on Place de l’Etoile in Paris enclosed by the installation of a giant rainbow, and at the end a sign “Pride March“. But this installation only exists on video: it was designed virtually by Ian Padgham, an artist who places imaginary forms on videos that he shoots mainly in large cities.

“The Importance of Love”

Some believed that the Arc de Triomphe had really been redecorated, and denounced a militant reappropriation of a monument dedicated to French soldiers. This did not surprise the 41-year-old artist.

“I’m always amazed at the number of people who take my videos for reality. When I made one with the Louvre pyramid opening to let balloons escape, even Parisians thought it was real “

Ian Padgham, artist

at AFP

“It’s a good example of how ill-prepared we are as a society. Maybe as homo sapiens we’re not designed to see things that look real but can’t be. real”, added this American living in Bordeaux. Ian Padgham is used to critical commentary on his art, having worked at Twitter himself until a decade ago, before becoming a freelance video creator. “The purpose of my work is not to fool people”, specified this admirer of the surrealists. His videos, like those of a Bordeaux tramway in the shape of a wine bottle, do not resist a sharp critical mind for long.

But given people’s gullibility, he lamented, “it would be so easy to produce flammable content, which would provoke violence and hatred”. The Paris Pride March is scheduled for June 24. For Ian Padgham, originally from San Francisco, the city where Gay Pride was born, “the video is an attempt to show the importance of love, understanding and support. But I was more worried about offending people in the community [LGBT]rather than the extreme right”.