Flux marins & Digital Abysses

Digital Plankton IA 2024

The stone vaulted ceiling of the^1st floor room in the Saint Christophe tower houses a brand new virtual reality installation,"Digital Plancton IA", projected at 360°. This installation invites you to immerse yourself in a large virtual water bubble where a reinvented microcosm is developing, made up of thousands of shapes inspired by zooplankton and phytoplankton.

The work explores the diversity of the underwater world, in particular radiolarians, marvels of nature composed of a siliceous skeleton made up of fine spines with radiating symmetry. They come in a wide variety of shapes. Here, Miguel Chevalier transposes the geometry of these extraordinary forms into the digital world. The work is based on a database of plankton shapes. For the first time, Miguel Chevalier has introduced into his database plankton shapes created by an AI (artificial intelligence). The result is an imaginary species of striking plastic beauty, with iridescent and pearly reflections.

Cabinets of curiosity

In 2 of the château's towers, you are invited to discover 2 contemporary cabinets of curiosities, each comprising around 15 medium-format works.

Somewhere between reality and fiction, these cabinets feature a series of sculptures entitled Stratigraphies, with stylised forms inspired by coral reefs. These original sculptures, produced using a new 3D printing process in ceramic and plastic from recycled fishing nets, feature multiple ramifications and fractal topologies. Floating around these corals are more aerial sculptures in resin, also produced using 3D printing.

These'wonders' of all kinds provoke surprise, fascination and meditation on a world recreated from scratch.

Miguel Chevalier is a pioneering French artist who has been using computers as a means of expression in the visual arts since 1978. Considered a 'technician' in his early days, he is now a benchmark in this field, combining art and computers.

His themes include immateriality in art, hybridisation, interactivity and networking. His work is informed by the observation of flows and the relationship between nature and artifice. Resolutely contemporary, the artist sees his work as a continuation of art history from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. "In each period, artists use the means of their time".

His works most often take the form of large-scale digital installations. He creates site-specific works that use digital art to revisit the history and architecture of places, giving them a new reading. He also creates sculptures using 3D printing and laser-cutting techniques, bringing his virtual worlds to life.

"Digital art is not going to replace painting, photography or video, but it is a complementary mode of creation that offers extraordinary possibilities".

Given the complexity of computer software and the speed at which it evolves, it is necessary to call on programming specialists. But that doesn't mean they can't work together in the creative process.  Miguel Chevalier  defines himself as a "director".