Biographical reference marks...
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My name
is Philippe Gimet (have a look at here to see
my face) and I was born in Arles, river city of Provence, July the
25th, 1963. All my family roots are located in southern France and,
even if I enjoy "expatriation", I keep a major attachment for this Mediterranean
where I was born... After a quite peaceful childhood and adolescence, I
"emigrated" in Marseilles right after my Baccalaureat (1981) to follow
Fine Arts studies. My parents had, indeed, the good idea to sit me in
front of a piano, and they did their best for my sister Isabelle and
I to open our eyes and ears on the world and its cultures. This moving to Marseilles constituted a first step
to complete independence. I stayed until 1984 at the Campus of Luminy,
in a wonderfull landscape of stone and sea, then I found a housing downtown.
In 1986, considering achieved my theoretical studies, I decided to follow
another way than the one of school and, parallel to my artistic and
literary work, I engaged myself in the "Community life" by creating
with friends an association devoted to the organization of art exhibitions
and the development of exchanges between artists. I earned my living
of freelance graphic designer by carrying out work for other associations. 1989 : new moving in an other district of Marseilles
and new adventure with the launching of a communication agency. A good
occasion to know other mediums... and experiment failure: let's face
it, all passions or goodwills will never be enough to commercial success,
especially when they are not based on any solid management administration! Foreseeable consequence: I leave Marseilles in 1991
and, after a few difficult weeks last at my parents to "reconstitute"
myself a health (as well physical as mental...), I make a "return to
nature" in a tiny village of Provence named Pontevès. There,
thanks to the financial magnanimity of my entourage, I devote myself
mainly to music (I bought a harpsichord in 1990), literature and sculpture.
My friends, who visit me often (mainly because of the beauty of the
place, I guess!) persuade me to join again with urbanity. One winter
in the pangs of freezing complete to convince me! Spring 1992 is my "grand returning" to Marseilles,
Boulevard Chave, taking part in the birth of a new leading structure
reinforced by the integration of a printing factory. Our Association,
revivified, is reestablished in an old railway station and deals with
the edition of artistic works. At the end of 1995, the economical assessment
of these activities encourages our team to change course... and end
its activities before things get wrong. The Association, alas, does
not survive to it. But 1995 is also the year of my discovery of the
Internet: a date which will determine many things in the years to come! 1996 will be full of events: first of all, I settle
in a "shelter" of the street Jean de Bernardy (first district) where
I join again with freelance work, which let me enough time to learn
more of the technics and practices of online communication. Then I leave
for my first transatlantic journey: two months in the United States
and Canada, where I discover other landscapes, other mentalities and
the generalized expansion of the Internet. When I return, I attend to
the installation... and the fall of a small Internet provider in Marseilles,
which illustrates for me the considerable delay of France regarding
new technologies... Conscious of the potentialities of this new media,
I convince a local Publisher to develop an Internet activity for its
customers and I am sent to Canada for a six months mission under R&D. I arrive in Montreal in March 1997. Initially observant,
I take an active part in the realization of websites (in French and
English) with various local companies. I learn whereas that my company
agent faces serious difficulties. At the end of September, back to France,
I am confronted with a new search for employment which reconciles my
aspirations to be turned over to North America and the need for working
in my field of competences. Installed rue d'Aix, in the first district of Marseilles
(this city is due definitely to me!), I take a few weeks of "retreat"
for me to reacclimate with the habits and customs of this old country
of mine. Then, at the beginning of 1998, I take part of the framework
of an action toward handicapped people, with the aspect "accessibility"
of the Internet, a field where everything is still to be achieved. The
year is entirely devoted to the implementation of this project, parallel
to traditional activities of graphics and journalism... |
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