Rainier Lericolais' 'Leah’le, la voix du Dibbouk' at Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaïsme

Rainier Lericolais' animated film 'Leah’le, la voix du Dibbouk' (2021, 16 min 45) is on view at the Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaïsme in Paris until October 31, 2021, as part of an extended Nuit Blanche. The work reinterprets the classic Yiddish play 'The Dybbuk' by Shalom An-ski (1915), previously adapted to film by Michał Waszyński (1938). Lericolais, known primarily for drawings and sculptures, expands his practice into video, combining music and visual arts through collage. The film is composed of numerous Photoshop layers derived from cardboard play and light phenomena, reflecting Waszyński's film via a CD captured by a computer camera. Lericolais first composed the soundtrack—a collage of crackles, instruments, and decomposed voices from An-ski's text—then let a calculated randomness govern the marriage of image and sound. The film's 'beat' of 24 frames per second parallels the musical measure, creating a dybbuk-like experience between host and guest. A small scannogram by the artist is also installed next to the presentation text. Lericolais uses a phone, computer, or scanner for both photo and video, demonstrating that his collages extend beyond drawing.