Youth and Education

Michaël Borras grew up in Limoges, a city where traditional craftsmanship coexists with a rich cultural scene. Passionate about visual arts from a young age, he quickly became interested in the possibilities offered by new technologies. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the Internet began to gain popularity, Borras adopted the pseudonym Systaime and delved into the exploration of net art, an emerging movement that used the web as an artistic medium.

Career Beginnings and Rise

Systaime’s early works are characterized by playful and critical subversion of images, videos, and sounds from popular culture. He recycles and remixes media elements—music videos, advertisements, film clips—into impactful artistic compositions that question our relationship with consumer society, information, and mass culture. This distinctive style, marked by a sometimes raw and provocative aesthetic, quickly earned him a name in the digital art world.

Thanks to the rise of the Internet, Systaime widely disseminated his creations online, reaching an international audience. His works, often shared and discussed on social media, helped establish his reputation as a pioneer of net art and the French Trash Touch movement, which he founded in 1999.

Creation of the French Trash Touch Movement

The French Trash Touch, created by Systaime in 1999, is an artistic movement characterized by a deliberately lo-fi, kitsch, and provocative aesthetic. This movement emerged from a desire to react against the cultural uniformity imposed by dominant creative industries. The French Trash Touch claims total freedom of expression, mocking the codes of « good taste » and artistic conventions to explore more experimental and subversive forms of art.

French Trash Touch works are often marked by a blend of digital and analog elements, where Systaime and his contemporaries use images and sounds from popular culture to create compositions that challenge traditional aesthetic values. The movement embodies a sharp critique of the commodification of art and culture, advocating a freer and more inclusive approach to artistic creation.

Performances and Online Art

In addition to his visual works, Systaime is also known for his live performances, streamed on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook Live. These performances, called « digital live shows, » mix electronic music, real-time video, and interactions with the audience, creating an immersive and participatory experience. Systaime leverages digital tools to blur the lines between artist and audience, turning spectators into participants in the artwork.

These performances are often improvised, using real-time video and audio editing software to generate dynamic and ephemeral compositions. Systaime explores the limits of digital media, playing with the possibilities offered by technology to create living, constantly evolving works.

International Recognition and Exhibitions

Over the years, Systaime gained international recognition for his avant-garde work. His pieces have been presented at digital art festivals and exhibitions worldwide, including the Lyon Biennale, Transmediale in Berlin, FILE (Festival Internacional de Linguagem Eletrônica) in São Paulo, and other prestigious events.

His work has also been exhibited in prestigious institutions such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, where he is recognized as a key figure in digital art and net art. This institutional recognition reflects the importance of his work in the contemporary art landscape.

SPAMM: Super Art Modern Museum

In 2011, Systaime founded SPAMM (Super Art Modern Museum), a unique project that combines online and physical exhibitions to promote digital art and net art. SPAMM is designed as an open platform where artists from around the world can showcase their works without the constraints of traditional institutions.

SPAMM regularly organizes online exhibitions, designed to exploit the specificities of the web and offer an immersive experience. These exhibitions are often works of art in themselves, where the digital presentation becomes a key element of the creation. In addition to online exhibitions, SPAMM also hosts physical exhibitions in various venues worldwide, allowing digital works to meet a broader and more diverse audience.

These physical exhibitions are often collaborative events, where Systaime invites other artists to showcase their works alongside his own, creating spaces for dialogue and exchange around digital art. Through SPAMM, Systaime contributes to the recognition and dissemination of digital art, while providing a platform for emerging and established artists alike.

Impact and Legacy

Systaime’s influence on digital art is profound and lasting. As a pioneer of net art, he not only explored new artistic avenues but also played a crucial role in the dissemination and legitimization of the movement. His works constantly question the relationships between art, technology, and society, raising essential questions about the place of art in a world saturated with images and information.

Systaime has also contributed to the formation of a global artistic community, creating spaces for dissemination and exchange for digital artists. His commitment to free and open art has inspired many creators who see him as a model of independence and creativity.

Systaime remains an active and influential figure in contemporary art today. Always at the cutting edge, he explores new technologies such as virtual reality, blockchain, and artificial intelligence to push the boundaries of his art even further. His recent works focus on the impact of algorithms and data on artistic creation and how these technologies are altering our perception of the world.

Continuity and Current Projects

He continues to participate in collaborative projects, develop new performance formats, and promote digital art through SPAMM and other initiatives. His artistic vision, both critical and avant-garde, continues to shape the contemporary art scene.