Artists Statement

Focus Québec Exhibition. Forum des Images, May 16 – 21

body circuit / parcours corporel emerges from a collaboration between Emma Forgues and Sam Bourgault. Their expertise ranges from media art to physics and results in a diversified artistic
approach through performance and installation projects. Their common interests involve body and robotics in both real and virtual worlds.

parcours corporel / body circuit is a kinetic installation that explores human-robot interactions through sensory encounters. In a haptic network, soft machines housed in organically shaped ceramic vessels pinch, inflate and caress disarticulated human limbs, molded from the artists’ bodies. Pneumatic tubes and electroluminescent wires establish connections between the zones of interaction. This work creates a unique space where soft and delicate entities intertwine with rigid and complex bodies, offering both tenderness and support. It presents an
alternative world where technology and relationships with the human body revolve around the concept of care.

In this iteration of the piece, the installation contains five 3D printed ceramic vessels that exhibit organic features vaguely reminiscent of the human body with their bumps, cracks, and curves. Inflatable robotic objects made of silicone and semi-transparent TPU that resemble human organs inhabit these ceramic pieces where they inflate and deflate with a slow pulse. These inflatable objects are powered by three small air pump systems fixed to the floor and the mirror. LEDs are installed inside the ceramics, delicately illuminating the structure from within. Finally, two body parts made of silicone, a buttock and a torso, are placed inside this sensory network.

parcours corporel / body circuit is material-driven and embraces manual and digital fabrication workflows.  https://www.elektramontreal.ca/isea-2023-body-circuit

• Emma Forgues  is a new media artist based in Montreal, Canada They hold a bachelor’s in Computation Arts from Concordia University (2020). Their interests revolve around the environmental, cultural and emotional impacts of science and technology on the body, through installation and performance projects. They have presented their work in numerous galleries and festivals, including Le Centre Pompidou (2019), Sight & Sound (2019), IEEE-ICRA-X: Robotic Art Program (2019), ELEKTRA (2019), MUTEK (2021), Perte de Signal (2022) and Currents New Media, NM-US (2022). Forgues received a residency at OBORO and presented their bio-art installation, Mycocene at the International Market for Digital Art (MIAN ELEKTRA) in June 2019. Their research on Experimenting with Robotic Softness in collaboration with Sam Bourgault was published by ISEA2020: 26th international Symposium on Electronic Art in 2020. They were both presenters at the symposium. emmaforgues.ca
• Sam Bourgault (CA/US) I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Media Arts and Technology at the University of California Santa Barbara, USA I work with Professor Jennifer Jacobs at the Expressive Computation Lab. I develop action-oriented systems for digital fabrication informed by craft workflows through collaboration with domain experts. I also make art and create performances with different materials (as people do). sambourgault.com