Bestué-Vives: Ralf & Jeannette

“Ralf & Jeannette” (2010) is a video projection by artists David Bestué and Marc Vives. It’s the story of a romantic relationship, originally presented as a one-time-only combination of three simultaneous elements: a live action performance, a billboard projection, and a television broadcast. The performance, which lasted only nine minutes and twenty seconds, took place on a crowded sidewalk in Times Square, New York. During the seemingly everyday interaction between the two characters, their lines were projected in real time on a massive overhead digital billboard. A video feed of the event — shot with multiple cameras from a distance and in close-up — was presented nationwide on MTV, accompanied by subtitles in English.