“In all we do, there is always a kinder way to do it.”
artist statement
I work on the weaving of bonds and on the benevolence towards others and oneself. It seems to me that these two things are at the heart of human relationships, at the heart of what makes us human. I am also extremely interested in the creative process, and in an art of the present moment. I work with several media, in particular photography, film, theatre, and music. I am particularly interested in the encounters that these practices allow.
bio
Ivan MAGRIN-CHAGNOLLEAU is an artist philosopher born in Paris. He has been involved in art making for most of his life, including film, theatre, photography, music, and creative writing. He has been in turn actor, singer, director, and author in around fifty projects in theater and film, and occasionally performs as a performance artist. He has also practiced photography since childhood and published his first books of photographs in 2017 (Muir Woods Spirits), 2020 (Handscapes), and 2023 (Diptych - with his friend Roberto Pieraccini).
Ivan has also been involved in academic research and teaching for most of his life, in particular in art and philosophy. He is now particularly interested in the creative process, the link between art and spirituality, and the importance of rehabilitating love as a life value.
Several of his art videos have been exhibited during biennials and collective exhibitions. Some titles include Crusading the Trees, Kaleidophysis, Poetic Zodiac: Aries. He also regularly composes for dance and film. His first album as a composer, Acousmatic #1, was released in 2023.
Ivan has been the beneficiary of several artistic residencies and grants. His short films have won festival selections and some awards. A play he directed received the award for best play in New York and he has been the subject of several articles in publications such as Standard and Backstage.
cv
recent artistic productions (selection)
2023 Filmmaker+Actor Intimate Encounters with Anthropocene (several short films)
2023 Composer First cycle of polyphonic vocal music based on Haïku 1
2023 Stage Director+Actor Intimate Encounters with Anthropocene in Aix-en-Provence
2023 Photographer Publication of the photography book Diptych with Roberto Pieraccini
2023 Writer+Photographer Publication of Haïku 1 (poetry in French+photography)
2023 Composer Release of the album ACOUSMATIC #1
2022 Stage Director+Performer Seeming Stillness in Los Angeles
2022 Composer Navigation for Butō dancers (Acousmatic music)
2022 Stage Director Led a two weeks dance workshop at Chapman University in April. Topic: yin/yang
2022 Filmmaker+Actor Short film Walter with Emcy Ly
2021 Composer Getaway for Les nuits cinéphoniques (Acousmatic music)
2021 Composer Virtuoso Cantabile for Butō dancers (Acousmatic music)
2020 Filmmaker Music video for the song C’est juste une p’tite ballade by artist Michel Delaigue
2020 Photographer Publication of the photography book Handscapes
2020 Filmmaker Music video for the song Emmanuelle by artist ArchiPol
2019 Writer Publication of Choices, a collection of short plays containing the play Missed Opportunities
2019 Visual Artist Multimedia installation Pas.sage with the collective F.I.A.C.
2019 Composer Thinking Machine for Butō dancers (Acousmatic music)
2019 Filmmaker+Actor Lost Bodies 2 with patients of the day psychiatric hospital at Villiers-sur-Marne
2019 Filmmaker+Actor Lost Bodies 1 with patients of the day psychiatric hospital at Villiers-sur-Marne
2018 Actor Recordings of the poems from The Good Song, part of a Verlaine Integral
2018 Composer Aerial 01 for Butō dancers (Acousmatic music)
2018 Filmmaker+Actor Emotionwise with patients of the day psychiatric hospital at Villiers-sur-Marne
2018 Actor Role of Louis in the short film Violet Barrette by Junyi Zhu
2017 Stage Director Choices in NY as a benefit for the victims of the terror attacks in Paris
2017 Writer Missed Opportunities (play)
2017 Photographer Publication of the photography book Muir Woods Spirits
2017 Composer Harmony for the short film Roomies
2017 Filmmaker+Actor Short film Roomies with Florian Mazier
2016 Videographer+Composer Art video Kaleidophysis at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2016 Performer Performance Phytosophia at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2016 Photographer Exhibition of several photographs at the biennal Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2015 Videographer+Composer Art video Poetic Zodiac: Aries
2015 Performer Performance Poetic Zodiac: Aries at the symposium Star Wanderers (CNES)
2015 Composer A Body of Light in the Middle of Darkness for Butō dancers (Acousmatic music)
2015 Videographer+Composer Art video Crusading the Trees at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2015 Sound Artist Installation The Oracle of the Trees at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2015 Visual Artist Installation Resonating Woods at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2015 Photographer Exhibition of several photographs at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France
2015 Actor Role of Sandman in the short film Insomnium by Souleyman Lalami
2015 Actor Role of Mr. Bartoli in the short film The Chips are Down by Adrien Jeuffrain
2014 Photographer Collective exhibition Between-Worlds with artists from China and France
2014 Performer Performance The Exorcist Antiphon Dub (voice)
2014 Singer Recital musical theatre All You Need Is Love with pianist Ludivine Dubos
2014 Videographer+Performer Performance De-frag-men-ta-tion #3 with dancer Christine Leroy
2013 Stage Director First Love by Beckett as a benefit for research on bone marrow
2013 Actor Role of Hacha in the short film Nomen Mysticum by Florian Mazier
2013 Composer On The Streets for the short film King Cake
2013 Filmmaker+Actor Short film King Cake
2013 Filmmaker+Actor Short film Party Time!
2012 Actor Role of Grégory Dupont in the short film Death of a Tune by V. Radhakrishnan
2011 Actor The 5 male roles in the play The Blue Room directed by Colin Reese
2011 Stage Director Magical and Ecological Fairytales by Éliane Arnoldy
2010 Stage Director The Lesson by Ionesco and role of the Professor
2010 Stage Director From Chaos to Creation at the Agora theatre in Évry, France
2010 Light Designer Baroque opera Zoroastre directed by Renaud-Marie Blanc in Marseille
recent conferences (selection)
2022 A Phenomenological Approach to Color Theory and Aesthetics
2021 Artistic Workshops with patients of a Psychiatric Day Hospital in France
2021 A Phenomenological and Enactive Approach of Intermedial Visual Contagions
2021 Handling Color in Photography and Film
2021 The Enactive Nature of the Relationship between Film Criticism and Film Aesthetics
2021 Reflections on creation research, practice-led research, and practice as research
2020 A phenomenological and enactive experience of visual and sound spatialized poetry
2019 Chance and Creation
2019 Method Acting: genesis, practice, phenomenology
2018 Utopian and Dystopian Futures: Fiction and Evolution
2017 Micro-phenomenology of artistic creation: presentation of an experimental protocole
2016 Towards a phenomenology of emergence in music improvisation and composition
2016 The Creative Process of Robert Lepage
2015 Performance and neurosciences: at last a possible encounter
2015 Improvizing Letting Go
2015 Revolutionizing the Way we See through Empathy in Film
2015 The Myths of Mother Earth and the Tree of Life in Film
2014 The Actor and the Emotions in Theatre and Film
2014 Theatre, Creation, and Psychoanalysis: Stage Directing First Love by Beckett
2014 Art, Spirituality, and Healing
2013 Art & Spirituality
2013 The Impact of Contemplative Practices on Creativity and the Creative Process
2013 The use of Color in Theater and Film
2013 Object Animation in Theatre and Film
2012 The Heritage of Lee Strasberg
recent writings (selection)
2024 Book Method Acting to appear (in French)
2023 Co-direction of the Vol. 7 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: Art and Human
2023 Book Haïkus 1 (poetry in French)
2022 Direction of the Vol. 6 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: Art Research
2021 Article Method Acting: Genesis, Practice, and Phenomenology to appear (in French)
2021 Article Chance and Creation
2021 Article Method Acting Encyclopædia Universalis (in French)
2021 Article Utopian and Dystopian Futures: How Fiction Helps us Think about Evolution (in French)
2019 Co-direction of the Vol. 5 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: Healing Art
2017 Article Creation, Play, and Contemplation: Art as a Spiritual Exercise
2017 Article The Creative Process of Robert Lepage
2017 Article Interview with the stage director Robert Lepage
2017 Direction of the Vol. 4 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: The Creative Process
2016 Article The Actor and the Emotions in Theatre and Film
2016 Article Interview with the chef Bernard Bordaries
2016 Co-direction of the Vol. 3 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: Cuisine & Performance
2015 Article The Heritage of Lee Strasberg
2015 Article Animal Incorporation for the Actor
2015 Co-direction of the Vol. 2 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: Theatre Education
2014 Article In Praise of the Artist Researcher
2014 Co-direction of the Vol. 1 of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org: The Artist Researcher
2014 Creation of the journal p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e.org
2013 Anne Sachs. From Chaos to Creation: Interview with Ivan Magrin-Chagnolleau
2013 Article The Use of Color in Theater and Film
jurys
2023 Jury for the best Arab film of the year 2022
2022 Jury for the best Arab film of the year 2021
2021 FIPRESCI Jury at the international Schlingel festival dedicated to films for children and youth
2021 Presenter of the WebTV at the short films festival Off-Courts in Trouville
2021 Jury for the best Arab film of the year 2020
2020 Jury for the best Arab film of the year 2019
2020 Presenter of the WebTV at the short films festival Off-Courts in Trouville
2019 SFCC Jury for best first French film and best first foreign film of the year
2019 FIPRESCI Jury at the international Schlingel festival dedicated to films for children and youth
2019 Presenter of the WebTV at the short films festival Off-Courts in Trouville
2018 FIPRESCI Jury at the international Schlingel festival dedicated to films for children and youth
2018 SFCC Jury at the short films festival Off-Courts in Trouville
awards
2023 Grant and Art Research Residency at Campfr, France (1 week)
2022 Grant and Art Research Residency at Chapman University, California (5 weeks - September)
2022 Grant and Art Research Residency at Chapman University, California (5 weeks - April)
2020 Grant and Art Research Residency at Chapman University, California (4 months)
2016 Art Research Residency at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France (1 week)
2015 Art Research Residency at the biennial Les Arts ForeZtiers in France (1 week)
2006 Best play award for the stage directing of the play An Honest Arrangement
press
2022 IMDb Film Listing of Walter
2020 IMDb Film Listing of the music video of C’est juste une p’tite ballade
2020 IMDb Film Listing of the music video of Emmanuelle
2019 IMDb Film Listing of Lost Bodies 2
2019 IMDb Film Listing of Lost Bodies 1
2018 Interview with Linnea Sage for the Backstage magazine
2018 IMDb Film Listing of Emotionwise
2017 IMDb Film Listing of Roomies
2013 IMDb Film Listing of King Cake
2013 IMDb Film Listing de C’est la fête !
2011 Critic of The Blue Room in lemague.net
2010 Critic of The Lesson in lemague.net
2005 The Standard magazine dedicates a double-page to me in their issue on New York
training
2018-2020 Psychoanalysis training at the International Lacanian Association in Paris
2018-2019 B.A. in Psychology at Paris 8 University
2009-2010 Drawing at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris
2004-2007 Acting and Directing at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York (M.F.A. The New School)
2002-2004 Acting at Théâtre des Clochards Célestes in Lyon
1999-2000 Storytelling in Rennes
1999-2000 Photography at École des Beaux-Arts in Rennes
1997-1998 Drawing and Watercolor at Cooper Union in New York
1993-1997 PhD in Electrical and computer Engineering
1995-1996 M.A. in Phonetics at Paris 3 University
1992-1993 M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Paris 11 University
1989-1992 Engineer (B.S.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering