The end of the Franco-Prussian war (1870-71) saw the birth of the panoramas of war, huge circular paintings depicting scenes of war, cruelty and desolation that were contemplated by thousands of spectators, a kind of inmersive static newsreels, a mass media prior to the era of mass media, a virtual reality on canvas.
"It was fashionable not to know how to play" summarizes François Rousseau aka Jo Ravioli in the Wroomble Experience. Making a career made no sense, the precariousness of living conditions was swept away by the tremendous enthusiasm that fed all the musiciens on the Nancy micro-scene. To document this period, Otomo de Manuel plunged into his own archives, nourished by 40 years of activism, as an artist and organizer.
