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Led by a computational, sculptural and sound work, the project tries to create a physical impression in the viewer. The collective creation allows the artists to develop new aesthetic, sensory and technical approaches.

A multi-faceted work, Trace explore many sides of the same idea. Three sculptural elements give insight on a daily experience that is lived with the transformation of private space. Bulbs, wiring, textiles, dyes and bolts intertwine, carrying the fragility of livable spaces. The reality is thus diverted, revealing the ephemeral aspect of a memory that fades with the renewal of the domestic sphere.

Trace consists of three installations: L, V and S. The concept of flexibility and mobility is the basis of the work that thus adapts to its exhibition space. The development is based on a collective "work-in-progress" methodology, where each element responds to the first and influences the next.

Driven by a computer-generated simulation of heat exchange, spotlights light up the inside of a skylight located over the center of the room. A sort of mechanical ballet, the work is linking the various pieces exhibited in the large gallery by visually acting upon them. The in situ work enable the viewer to become aware of the architecture and the physical sensitivity of the space.

Accrochages is a urban electronic intervention project by Montreal-based artists Sofian Audry and Samuel St-Aubin. It stems from their will to bring their art practice out of the walls of a gallery space, on the walls of the city itself. The intent is to build small active and autonomous objects that can, through simple means, give new qualities to the city environment by creating different interactive situations.

The project proposes different models of objects. Some of them are produced in large amount, while others are unique. They display different kinds of behaviors through the use of simple sensors and emitters (e.g. light-sensor, distance sensor, microphone, LED, speaker, LED display, etc). Objects produced as part of Accrochages should ultimately be auto-sufficient (ie. able to recharge themselves, with solar panels for instance) and low-cost (we are targeting less than 15 Euros).

Our social imagination seems to be tainted with a certain idea: that of language as as source of creation and change. Combined to one another, the words become code, formula, poetry: they suddendly appear to be charged with something different, not only a new and unique meaning, but an identity, a breath of life, a free will.

This myth is far from being new: our history is full of its multiple incarnations. In revealed religions, writting and speech are the means of action of God's will. This material incarnation of the "word made flesh" is also a central idea of magic and its different variations.

He who pierces the secrets of language, he who understands its inner mechanisms, has found the way to higher forces. How many have tried, and died trying? The alchemist, the cabbalist and the sorcerer have opened the way for the programmer, the neurologist and the geneticist. Through their writings, these poets have contributed to perpetuate the myth of the speech that creates and spawns life.

This idea is intimately linked to that of the construction of identity through language, by the means of the dialogue with the other and with nature. Words are only sequences of letters, which are just symbols made of strokes. There really is nothing behind them. It is only in their contextual connection with other words that they really come to life.

Vévé proposes an environment in which the visitor interacts with textual entities through written speech. By taking part in a conversation based on exchange of atomic words, the visitor contributes to the construction of these artificial beings: she teaches them new words, but also new semantic links. Through these poetic dialogues, the entities evolve as their behavior is shaped by interaction with their human counterparts. But there is still place for trials, errors and novelties: in this allegorical space, the artificial creatures often seem to act with their own free will.

Synopsis

Flag is an installation that explores the mechanics of choice, interpretation and identity. The work tries to establish an intimate connection between the artist and the audience through a rich interactive experience.

The spectator is invited to choose among a set of symbols and words and to display them under the gaze of an active screen. The environment reacts by entering into an immersive narrative where surprise, judgment and acceptance are set into motion. The signs chosen by the spectator become small screens on which fragments of stories, characters and impressions appear. The behaviors and their sequencing are loosely inspired by a model of cultural shock.

The interactive narrative makes use of a relational database of words. For each presentation of the work, a specific database will be built, based on the preconceptions and memories of the artist relative to the context of exhibition.

From a technical point of view, the project makes use of image-based mixed reality and artificial behavior. The work was produced using open-source softwares such as Drone, Ardour and ARToolKit.

Scenario

The spectator enters the installation space. The space is occupied by a set of small signs, a video projection and a security camera. An ambient and aerial sound scape enfolds the experience. The projection shows a sequence of images from the last spectator interacting with the work.

The signs each have a black and white symbol and a word printed on them: the spectator is invited to choose one.

When the sign is shown to the camera, the installation reacts through a sequence of subtle image and sound effects. On the image, the word printed on the spectator's sign is changed, so that the spectator sees himself holding a different word. This is made possible thanks to a mixed reality algorithm.

The installation goes through different steps, as if trying to make sense out of the words chosen by the spectator.

1. In the first step, replacements are purely random.
2. In the second step, the algorithm favors words that are close to its last choices, without yet taking the word chosen by the spectator into account.
3. In the third step, it starts to make replacements with words that are close to the spectator's.

It might then go back to another step and so on. Each step is tied to a specific set of audio and video effects.

The links between words are input by the artist, before each presentation, in a relational database.

There is always a sense of spatio-temporal immersion when in the city. The physical surroundings, sounds, smells, colors and people around simply embrace us. The paths we choose to take and the way we choose to look are the building blocks of our relation with the urban space.

Travel Agent proposes an interactive travel in the city through the subjective point of view of the artists. A camera moves through the city streets, eager to discover unseen places. Images and sounds reveal to our eyes the city's hidden bricks, the flow of information on which it is built. Behind the camera, an invisible traveler asks us for guidance. The piece interrogates the visitor’s conceptions of travel and tourism, whether he is a stranger only passing by or a local visiting his own town through his interaction with the piece.

As we filmed this journey around the different neighborhoods, wireless networks data were collected, accumulated and linked to the images and sound captured in the surroundings. By visiting this intangible data space, the visitor sees and hears this invisible reality that is surrounding us in our everyday life, passing through our body. This virtual space represents the canvas on which were shaped the different concepts and thoughts that, once integrated one to the other, form the main body of the work, each part of it influencing the movement of the others.

As media artists questioning themselves about interactivity in contemporary art, we explore the paradigm of the user interface. The loneliness that is characteristic of most everyday life electronic interfaces, like the computer mouse, the ATM machine or the game environments, brings the user to develop habits that he has to unlearn once he’s confronted to the possibility to interact not only with the interface he’s using, but also with other users that are also giving inputs, each and every one of them influencing what is given to see and ear.