For the sixth edition of their digital creation / arts-science residency exchange initiated in 2015, La Chambre Blanche (artist-run center dedicated to experimentation in visual and digital arts – Quebec) and Transcultures (Centre for digital and sound cultures – La Louvière – Belgium) continues the formula associating an artist with a researcher or professional from the cultural milieu, around the same prospective creation.
At the line between the intermedia practice of Dominic Lafontaine (QC) and the curatorial approaches of Nathalie Cimino (BE), a common project involving hacking and artistic creation was born. The public is invited to discover the work of the creator/researcher duo on December 16, 2021 from 5 p.m. at LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE.
Local, low cost & low tech
The first creative residency, carried out at LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE in Quebec City in November 2021, resulted in an installation of optical and sound phenomenons taking advantage of the in situ context and inexpensive technical consumer objects, bought in a local discounts store. Ordinary objects such as the flashlight, the magnifying mirror and the reading magnifying glass are diverted from their primary use to produce, despite their rudimentary properties, poetic compositions with contemporary digital accents.
In response to the artist’s approach, Nathalie Cimino took on the game of quick-and-dirty curation by producing a series of documentary boards inspired by DIY culture (zine). The technique of vectorization, generally used to obtain a scalable image without loss of quality, is here exploited by the intermediary of an open-source program, to quickly produce a set of degraded visuals, printed with the photocopier.
This reflection will continue in Belgium, in a forthcoming period of a joint residency hosted by Transcultures (Centre for digital and sound cultures – La Louvière) in spring 2022.
During this second and final stage of creation/reflection, the emphasis will be placed more on the plastic diversion of technical or technological objects by integrating research on participation. The opportunity to immerse into the artistic roots of the do it yourself generation and to question with humour and critical thinking the challenges of hacking in art in the era of prototyping, UX design and digital manufacturing.
Nathalie Cimino (Fr/Be)
Nathalie Cimino is the founder and director of reth! Nk, a curating and exhibition design workshop located in Mons, Belgium.
Nathalie is a specialist in transdisciplinary creation and its mediation with the general public. It collaborates on a daily basis with institutions, artists, researchers and collectives in the design of cultural initiatives that bring the arts, sciences, techniques and society into dialogue.
It also designs, in partnership with the academic world, collective intelligence tools adapted to the world of arts and culture with the aim of fostering innovation through design, collaborative creation and mastery of use. On these subjects, she regularly intervenes as a trainer for various Belgian and French institutions.
Nathalie obtained a double Degree in Law – History of Arts and Archeology as well as a Master in Arts and Culture from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Before founding reth!nk, Nathalie worked with the Kikk Festival (Namur) as arts-science project manager and the Pass, the science city of French-speaking Belgium, as director of exhibitions and partnerships.
It is part of the association Les muséographes (Fr) and of the “Implementation of common spaces” (Fr) and Station culture (Be) collectives.
Among her references: the transformation of the Salle des Machines du collier de Crachet into an exhibition-laboratory of the future, the “Nature 2.0” exhibition (Pass, Belgium), the museographic studies of “Play” (BME- City of Brussels), the participatory exhibition “Art and material” (Cultural Pole of the Visitation – Thonon-les Bains, France), the transformation of the Maison Folie de Mons into a place of life (Mons, Belgium) as well as the museography and curator of the Jean Lescarts City and Society Museum (Mons, Belgium).
Dominic Fontaine (Qc)
Dominic Lafontaine, born in 1979 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada, is a visual artist, poet and musician from the Timiskaming First Nation (Algonquins).
The artist’s work is associated with a very diverse series of techniques and mediums: writing, performance, video, installation, music. His works explore notions of identity, meaning and cultural belonging. He seeks to synthesize his knowledge of Aboriginal art history with new media in order to redefine the aesthetic vocabulary of contemporary Anishinabe art. Dominic Lafontaine is a member of the filmmakers’ collective Wapikoni Mobile.
In 2018, he designed the Déranger creative laboratory in Winnipeg, with the aim of giving artists from aboriginal communities the chance to prototype media works. In 2019, he created and exhibited the work Neither Neither on “Invisible Energies” with the logistical support of the National Film Board of Canada.
Infos
- 16.12.2021 – 17:00 (Québec)
- La Chambre Blanche
- 185, Christophe-Colomb Est, Québec (Québec)
Production
- Transcultures, La Chambre Blanche
- In the framework of the Permanent Joint Commission (CMP) Québec/Wallonie-Bruxelles.
- transcultures.be – chambreblanche.qc.ca
- With the support of: Wallonie-Bruxelles International, du Ministère de la Culture de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.
- La Ville de Québec, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, ministère de la Culture et des Communications de Québec, ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie de Québec, Conseil des Arts du Canada et des European Pepinieres of Creation.
