Vidéographie, émission à la RTB - Radio Télévision Belge

A cult programme on R.T.B. - Belgian Radio and Television called VIDEOGRAPHIE, devoted to this new artistic medium (video) and featuring the greatest video pioneers of the time.

The programme's guest Fred Forest is interviewed at length by his director Jean-Paul Tréfois about what motivates him in the art and use of video. During the programme, he breaks new ground by revealing what goes on behind the scenes in the studio, in total improvisation, and ends the programme with a participatory action with the viewers.

He also created a fake breakdown on several occasions during the programme dedicated to him. This breakdown required the intervention of the usual programme presenter, who apologised profusely... In this programme devoted to him on RTB, he invited students to take part, using their portapacks to double up as it were... At one point he asked the programme's lighting technicians to shine the lights on the set, so as to reveal all the hidden infrastructure that generally conceals its operation from the viewer. Beforehand, he will have asked the cameraman to film, contrary to the visual stereotypes of TV, from behind, the back of his head or his shoes when he speaks...

On his part, this is done not just out of pure provocation, but because he is driven by the permanent pedagogical intention that we know him for. At the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Cergy, where he was teaching at the time, he introduced the use of video as well as a theoretical lecture on media codes, particularly those of TV. Many of his colleagues, including Bernard Marcadé, were still, with only a slight exaggeration on my part 😊 , using the live model as a paragon of knowledge for the Beaux-Arts. 😊