Yes, to truly appreciate the artist's work, viewers must make an effort. To deconstruct and reinvent their own vision of art. Accepting that the metaverse, Web3, and even yeast can intrude upon a 19th century museum, more accustomed to creation with a paintbrush than with artificial intelligence. And yet, once immersed, it's confusing, inspiring, and absolutely fascinating.
Subverting without distorting the works of the Musée d'Orsay
The challenge was immense for Agoria, who was invited to create works that echoed those of the museum rather than creating completely new pieces. For a year and a half, he set aside his DJ hat and donned that of the artist, exploring the institution at all hours, during daytime and nighttime, in order to absorb the grandeur. The figures who still live there through their paintings. "Alone in the middle of these great corridors, one feels very small, surrounded by spirits," he remembered. It could have been Manet, Van Gogh, Caillebotte, Bouguereau, but Agoria finally chose Gustave Courbet, whose "The Painter's Studio" attracts all the attention in room 7. A first complex creation mixing science and art in a quite exceptional way.
© L'Atelier du peintre, Gustave Courbet
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, you say?
Its title may sound scary, but it is within everyone's reach. Interpretation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae of Gustave Courbet's Atelier du Peintre closely examines the famous painting executed in 1855 by the leader of the realist movement. Agoria, along with researchers Nicolas Desprat, Jean-Baptiste Boule, Manuel Théry, and Julien Mozzionacci, attempted the following experiment: to reproduce the historical events that marked the painter's life within the culture of a specific yeast, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The collected data was then used to inject into the digital reproduction of the painting: in 2 minutes of film, the viewer sees the development of living organisms in the coded image. " A.Collaboration combining the sensitivity of the artist and the objectivity of the scientists", the fine team jokes. Obtaining your own work of art with a breath Agoria's second work (the exhibition consisting of only 2 pieces), Lumina, is simpler but just as delirious. It consists of three elements: a golden steel sculpture in the center of a dark room, a flash of light that illuminates it and, thanks to the projected shadow, a QR code on the floor. When scanned, it leads to an application that invites everyone to blow. The echo of the breath affects 12 works from the Orsay museum, distorted: everyone gets their own, unique work. The interest of this concept, according to the artist: "Allowing the public to interact and take ownership of the art". Experimental, this temporary exhibition, which ends on March 10th, is also very short to go through. We might have liked to see more, and yet, seeing is not enough to understand. Biological generative art, that is, the creation of works using algorithms, artificial intelligence and data from livin.It is undoubtedly already part of the history of art and its future. We strongly recommend you to go take a look, why not as soon as this Friday evening, February 23rd, when Agoria will premiere worldwide Getaway, his musical piece paying tribute to the Musée d'Orsay, during a DJ set.Check out this Instagram post by Agoria! 👀 Shared by {agoria} (@agoria) Don't miss out on "The Code of Orsay" at the Orsay Museum, happening until March 10, 2024. For more information, click here. Join us for the Agoria DJ set night on Friday, February 23, 2024. More details can be found here. 🎶