miguel chevalier creates interactive installations for soulages museum in france

miguel chevalier‘s latest installation, entitled ‘pixels noir lumière’, is being exhibited at the soulages museum in the french city of rodez. on display until may 26, 2019, the work pays tribute to the artist and painter pierre soulages, whose 100th birthday will be commemorated on 24 december 2019. the exhibition presents two generative and interactive digital installations – ‘pixels liquides’ and ‘l’origine du monde’ – which both explore the use of light as an artistic material.

pixels liquides, 2019

all images courtesy of miguel chevalier

chevalier‘s ‘pixels liquides’ is an interactive installation projected onto a wall space of 13.40 x 7.80 meters. the work evokes the idea of being a large, moving painting, as shades of black and blue flow across the wall, becoming a sort of canvas as it creates large abstract paintings in real time. as visitors walk around the space, their movements become a ‘digital brush’ as the projections on the wall change with each passing gesture. the constantly changing piece blends art with human interaction, making for a truly immersive experience.

pixels liquides, 2019

‘l’origine du monde’ is the second interactive installation at the exhibition, however, this work is projected onto a floor space of 12 x 7.50 meters. this piece is inspired by biology, micro-organisms and cellular automata. the installation presents different black and white virtual paintings composed of universes of cells that move as spectators walk across the floor. the organic patterns proliferate, divide and merge in a rhythm that changes from fast to slow. in addition to the cellular shapes taken from biology, the projections are also mixed with square pixels of black and white.

l’origine du monde, 2019

the superposition of different layers of images creates an intriguing optical illusion, and ultimately blends the basic building blocks of life with artificial pixels. similarly to ‘pixels noir lumière’, ‘l’origine du monde’ also reacts to the gestures of each visitor, engaging the visitor’s body and their movements. inspired by pierre soulages’ work ‘outrenoirs’ which captured the variation of light, the exhibition in essence aims to form ‘living experiences’ by exploring all potentialities of the work.

film by claude mossessian

pixels liquides, 2019

l’origine du monde, 2019

view of the exhibition, ‘pixels noir lumière – miguel chevalier’, soulages museum, rodez (france)

pixels liquides 2019, miguel chevalier’s generative artwork on LED screen

project info:

project name: ‘pixels noir lumière’

artist: miguel chevalier

location: soulages museum, rodez, france

exhibition date: april 19 to may 26, 2019

curator: christophe hazemann

technical production: voxels productions

software: cyrille henry and antoine villeret

film by: claude mossessian

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom