Robert Abrams: What is your role in the show?

Jacques-Jean Tiziou: Creator, photographer, designer.

RA: Please describe the performance you will present at PIFA.

JJT: My project at PIFA is a site-specific digital mural installation featuring images from "How Philly Moves" - a celebration of our shared love of dance. Individuals were invited to participate in community dance photo sessions where both performers and social dancers of all sorts were welcomed. No direction was given, and images were created in response to their movement. Some of these images will be included in a 50,000 sq foot mural being installed this spring on the facades of the parking structures at the Philadelphia International Airport. The installation includes the photographs with a mixture of video and stop-motion animation.

RA: Have you collaborated with anyone to create your PIFA presentation?

JJT: Yes

RA: Who have you collaborated with to create your PIFA presentation?

JJT: The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts program (presenter)
Ellen Reynolds (video editing and lead videographer)
Cait Davis & Nicole Ward (additional video footage)
Tobin Rothlein / M-Lab (projection design)

RA: What has this collaboration allowed you to achieve that would not have been possible without it?

JJT: It is tremendously powerful to share images of community members on a massive, monumental scale. This collaboration allows us to display images of each of the over 170 participants of How Philly Moves on the same larger-than-life scale in a very public way, whereas only 26 will be able to be included in the painted mural at the airport: http://www.howphillymoves.org/mural-and-exhibitions/airport-mural/about-the-mural).

RA: In your art that you are presenting at PIFA, what is unexpected?

JJT: There is a randomized element to the installation with pacing changes, so you will always see a new combination of images every time that you come by. Some sequences only come up every several hours. The installation will sometimes shift from a slow measured slideshow to a frenetic stop-motion animation, so there's always a surprise around the corner- but the universal theme of the beauty of our community members and their love of dance is consistent throughout. More info is at http://www.HowPhillyMoves.org.

RA: What is "new" about the art you are presenting at PIFA?

JJT: It's about photography as large scale public art, which is pretty unusual. It's also the first digital mural that the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has ever done, and is an exciting part of their push to re-define muralism in the 21st century. It's also exciting that this project is a sister project (the projection draws from the same set of images as the How Philly Moves mural that is currently being installed at the airport .

RA: What is the connection between your show at PIFA and Paris between 1910 and 1920?

JJT: Aside from my French citizenship, (my upbringing amidst two cultures may have been an influence in my appreciation for multiculturalism and diversity) the biggest thing is simply the flurry of energy and community engagement in the project.

RA: If audience members were seeing your PIFA show for the second time, what should they pay special attention to in order to enhance their appreciation of your art?

JJT: Just pull up a lawnchair and spend some time with it… there's always new little bits to catch.

RA: Does your art have an activist message?

JJT: Absolutely.

RA: What message are you trying to communicate?

JJT: How Philly Moves is about more than just dance. It is about our community, and the fact that our city's greatest resource is its citizens. We live in a world where too often people are diminished, sold an idea that some other people are somehow more important than our own neighbors. How Philly Moves is based in the philosophy that everyone is photogenic. This has far reaching repercussions for our everyday lives and priorities.

RA: Please describe your educational work.

JJT: I sometimes teach photography workshops or speak as a visiting artist / guest lecturer.

RA: What else would you like people who are thinking about purchasing a ticket to your show to know about your art?

JJT: No tickets- it's free and open to the public, every night from dusk till dawn.

To more information about this free show, go to www.pifa.org/events/980194632.
To purchase tickets to all PIFA dance events, go to www.pifa.org/events?bucket_id=1.
For more information about Jacques-Jean Tiziou, go to www.jjtiziou.net.
To follow PIFA on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/PIFAPhilly.
To "Like" PIFA on FaceBook, go to www.facebook.com/PIFA.Philly.

How Philly Moves at PIFA Photo © & courtesy of Jacques-Jean Tiziou

How Philly Moves at PIFA Photo © & courtesy of Jacques-Jean Tiziou

How Philly Moves at PIFA Photo © & courtesy of Jacques-Jean Tiziou

How Philly Moves at PIFA Photo © & courtesy of Jacques-Jean Tiziou

How Philly Moves at PIFA Photo © & courtesy of Jacques-Jean Tiziou