Xavier Chassaing (b. 1975, Toulouse, France) is a self-taught video artist who started to experiment with chemicals and electronics at the age of 8. Having suffered a serious accident at the age of thirteen that eventually led him to quit school, he became a professional illusionist at 16. Several years later, he moved to Toronto and worked as a graphic designer, simultaneously developing an artistic practice grounded in experimental videos. When he returned to France in 2004, he continued this exploration and released Scintillation, his first major artistic video, in 2009. In parallel, he started working as a commercial director based in Paris, mainly for luxury brands. As a viewer, Chassaing is passionate about painting, photography and video works that explore the aesthetic found in real life. However, his own practice is rooted in the invention and construction of imagined worlds that he is subsequently able to capture through his virtual lens, like a photographer in new territory.