Esterházy, Marcell: h.l.m.v 2.0 (2004)

Marcell Esterházy (b. 1977 in Budapest) graduated from the Intermedia Department of the University of Fine Arts in 2003. He became active as a photographer in Paris, then worked for two years on a scholarship in Marseilles, where he had several exhibitions. His video h.l.m. v.2 presents the changes in the façade of an apartment house in Marseilles, the “Labourdettes,” animated by computer. This complex of buildings, designed in the early 60s by Jacques-Henri Labourdette, came to be inhabited by rich and poor alike, as well as French who resettled following the war in Algeria. Contrary to the usual social hierarchy, the wealthier strata lived on the lower floors, and the poorer higher up. There was a simple reason for this: the building had no elevator. Ultimately, an elevator was installed, and the residents changed places: the rich moved to the top, and the poorer residents moved down. In the 1980s, the building ws transformed into a standard housing project. The terraces on the front, covered in iron grilles, serve primarily for storage and the drying of clothes. The video's animation treats both of these processes.