Gilles Porte: Tantale
Title:
- Tantale
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Medium:
- Screening/’Media Art’ Piece
Artist Statement:
It is September 2017. Henri Laborde, President of the French Republic, arrives at the Hôtel Carlton. Personalities from the worlds of sport and politics are meeting there to decide which city will host the next Summer Olympics. In the hotel’s plush corridors, delegates and officials confer, make promises and secretly speculate. The choice of Olympic city will greatly affect the futures of Paris and Mumbai, the only two contenders left in the running, but it will also impact on other issues that are seemingly unrelated to the Games. Surrounded by his advisors, Henri Laborde enters the spacious lift. Who should he see? What arguments can he use to convince the people whose opinion will make a difference? The countdown has begun… Then his telephone vibrates. His daughter is calling. So should he answer or not? The choice is yours: You are France’s head of state! And what if this first, apparently trivial decision could literally change history? For once in the world of politics, it is you who decides! You are the President of the French Republic. In this ‘story where you are the hero’, you will have to negotiate expertly to make sure that the next Olympic Games are awarded to Paris. You must deal with attempts at corruption and machinations of every kind: the future of France is in your hands.
