[ISEA2019] Artists Statement: Yan Breuleux & Alain Thibault — ENIGMA

Artists Statement

The performance Enigma depicts forms of visual and sound information transcoding. Amongst the themes explored, the artists worked around the thought of mathematician Alan Turing through the exploration of issues related to artificial intelligence, deep learning, and digital identity. The creators also focused on the parallel drawn by Turing between the cryptographer and the physician, who attempts to decrypt the universe in which we live.
The inclusion of a human-machine dialogue, inspired by a series of experiences conducted at Google in the area of deep learning, gives us a glimpse at the challenge machines will face in their learning and decrypting of human thought. Finally, we could not ignore one of the great repercussions of the development of cybernetics by taking up the text of a famous monologue by physicist Robert Oppenheimer on the consequences of research on the atom.  Video: ENIGMA . Credits: Visuals Yan Breuleux, Music Alain Thibault, Touch Designer Programmer Rémi Lapierre

  • Yan Breuleux is a professor at NAD-UQAC (École des arts numériques, de l’animation et du design in Montreal). He’s also a researcher and practitioner in the field of visual music for immersive display. For twenty years, he has collaborated with musicians and composers to create multi-screen, panoramic, architectural projection and Fulldome pieces. Since 1998, in the PURFORM duo with the composer Alain Thibault, he created strong sensorial A/V performances.
  • Curator and artistic director in the fields of digital arts, electronic music and sound art, Alain Thibault is also the founder of two major events in Montreal, ELEKTRA – an annual festival showcasing performances in digital art since 1999, and the BIAN, International Digital Art Biennale, oriented towards exhibitions, installations and public art since 2012. As an electronic music composer, he has collaborated with visual artists, among them Yan Breuleux (PURFORM Duo). Their works have been presented throughout the local and international scene in several contexts, namely contemporary music and digital art events in North-America (Canada, USA, Mexico), Europe (France, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium) and Asia (Japan, South-Korea, Taiwan). alainthibault.com

Organized by Art Center Nabi, sponsored by Government of Quebec (Canada) in Seoul, Korea