[ISEA2023] Curator Statement: Olivier Di Pizio (Curator) — Symbiosis Exhibition at Abstract Project

Curator Statement

Exhibition. Galerie Abstract Project, May 16 – 27

Through their interactive installation Empreintes Sonores, artists Jean-Philippe Coté and Victor Drouin freeze sound in space. Here, it is up to the viewer to explore the granularity of the audio content through his or her movements in the gallery space. In this way, the artists attempt to free sound from its a priori ephemeral nature, allowing it to dissolve, step by step, into the ambient sound context.

At the same time, the gallery brings together the experiments carried out by some thirty artists equipped with “A.I.” applications. ABSTRACT PROJECT is an evolving project, a work in progress led by artists who are members of the Réalités Nouvelles committee.

The Abstract Project Gallery is pleased to welcome Jean-Philippe Côté and Victor Drouin-Trempe, selected after the ISEA2023 call for projects, 28th International Symposium on Electronic Art and authors of the interactive installation Footprints.

At the same time, around thirty artists from the Réalités Nouvelles network show their experiments “in symbiosis” with tools equipped with artificial intelligence. For the Abstract Project Gallery and Réalités Nouvelles, this initiative continues ten years of explorations of the links between arts and sciences, presented each year at the Salon Réalités Nouvelles since 2014. bFirst with the Labofactory collective, created in 2005 by Jean-Marc Chomaz, physical artist, François-Eudes Chanfrault, composer and Laurent Karst, architect-designer and teacher in architecture and space design at ENSA Dijon. And since with Percept-Lab, created in 2021 by Laurent Karst and Filippo Fabbri, researcher-composer and lecturer at Paris-Saclay University, as an extension of research initiated in collaboration with the École Polytechnique. Abstract Project is pleased to join ISEA2023 as a partner cultural venue. A major event on the global digital creation scene, ISEA2023 aims to strengthen dialogue between artists, researchers, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries. The theme of this edition is symbiotic.

In this time of global health, ecological, economic and democratic crisis, symbiosis makes it possible to explore in a transversal way the changes underway in the digital age.
https://djip.co/art/empreintes-sonores
https://v-ictor.ca/empreintes-sonores

Catalogue (in French): https://www.abstract-project.com/expos/160_Symbiose/160_catalogue.pdf

  • Olivier Di Pizio, president of the Réalités Nouvelles committee, France
  • Jean-Philippe Coté is an artist, researcher and professor based in the Montréal (Québec, Canada) metropolitan area. His work takes shape at the juncture of art, obsolescence, materiality and technology. His interactive art practice explores a diffractive mirroring of the visitor’s body and gestures using appropriated, and often outdated, technical devices. https://djip.co
  • Victor Drouin-Trempe is an artist, researcher and professor in sound creation and philosophy at Cégep du Vieux Montréal, Canada. He holds a master’s degree in philosophy and is currently pursuing a PhD in Art Studies and Practices at UQAM. https://v-ictor.ca