All of these evolutions, all these changes of perspective and approach, are chronologically separated by the appearance of video in the life of Jean-Luc Godard. Little by little, he tames it, integrates it into the processes of creation. One even has the impression that at times it is video which is taming him, which is dictating to him a new manner of thinking through cinema and life. He would go so far as to produce many more videos than films, dwelling over editing, thinking the medium, thinking cinema and television through the new codes, the new relationships with time. Godard, little by little, becomes video, video becomes Godard. And he finishes by producing what Philippe Dubois considers to be one of the biggest successes of video, a series of documentaries, ‘Histor(y)(ies) of cinema.’

Liège, a video breeding ground

The final text of the section devoted to video and cinema looks into the work a couple of Liège video directors, the Nysts. ‘They were teachers at the Academy of Fine Arts,’ contextualises Philippe Dubois. ‘I wanted to talk about them for several reasons. They are now dead, and they were good friends of mine. They were also friends of Guy Jungblut, the book’s editor. But the Nysts were above all internationally renowned, and I wanted to give an account of their work. Through a long artistic career, they synthesised a little the evolution of thinking about video between the 1970s and the 1980s. At first they used it as a new art form, from the point of view of a visual artist, and still had the belief that video has an intrinsic and ontological value which is specific to it. And then they negotiated this famous bend in the 1980s and managed to remain active in video in drawing it closer to cinema, and by integrating within it notions of telling and narrative.’

Beyond the Nysts, the author admits his wish to show that Liège has been a genuine hub of the rapid development around video, notably via these artists, and others, such as the Dardenne brothers, but also in a concrete manner through the programme ‘Vidéographie,’ broadcast for some ten years on the RTBF channel. This programme broadcast international works, but also produced the works of regional artists.

A tool for thinking

It is clear that as regards the artistic, philosophical, epistemological and semiotic concepts solicited for this journey, the reading of it requires a minimum of pre-requisites. The end goal is to lead the reader to think differently, without looking for precise answers, to learn to ask other questions, to observe and interrogate the world of the image. Philippe Dubois conceives his ideas well and enunciates them clearly, in a sculpted, agreeable and fluid style, allowing himself wordplay which opens up several possible meanings for the same statement. A work which flatters the reading and facilitates the understanding of its ideas, not hesitating to take several detours, lingering over theoretical explanations, or illustrations through eloquent examples.

Its ambition is certainly not positivist, it instead lies elsewhere. The book, like video, constructs itself as a thinking tool, a way of leading people to think, to ask questions about the world which surrounds us and thus connect up with the values of the teacher Philippe Dubois wants to transmit. ‘Research as a means of managing to get to a response doesn’t interest me. What interests me is research for itself, as an end goal, as it offers the possibility of asking oneself questions about things, as it teaches you to learn.’