Chapter I: The Discovery - Félix Luque Sánchez

Interactive installation

Light and sound sculpture, videos
Created in 2009

Chapter I: The discovery invites us to to discover an unidentified artificial entity emitting a code of light and sound. Its shape is a pure platonic solid, a dodecahedron, a geometry often associated with philosophical theories, esoterism and sci-fi culture. Its smooth surface perfectly reflects its surrounding environment: is this a sign of integration or a polite refusal to absorb anything from our world? 

After visioning a series of videos staging the discovery of this alien object in several places, we end up in an encounter with a physical interactive object which co-opts information flows, sound and light transmission. The dodecahedron seems to respond to our presence. As we get closer and move, the machine produces more complex light and sound sequences. 

The behaviour of this strange object seems to be produced by some kind of artificial intelligence. With the videos series previously viewed, it questions the viewer’s perception about the truthfulness of the representation. The work also addresses feelings like the irrational fear of ‘the other’, of the foreigner or the barbarian, themes that are often relevant in sci-fi literature and cinema.

Chapter I: The discovery plays with a variety of formal expressive modes, from audiovisual, sculptural, informational to narrative ones. Rather than answering essential philosophical questions - such as, How can technological advances be controlled? On what ethical bases can its purposes be chosen? Who is entitled to decide on the ultimate mission of machines? Can machines destroy us? - the installation, on the contrary, is about reformulating those modern philosophical questions through the use of images associated with the popular culture of science fiction and the techno-utopias and myths around artificial intelligence.

Exhibitions

2011
BÒLIT - Centre d'Art Contemporain (Girona, Spain)
Exposition Paranoïa - Gare St. Sauveur (Lille, France)
Festival Nemo - Le Cube (Paris, France) 
Festival Exit - Maison des Arts de Créteil (Créteil, France)
Festival VIA - Le Manège de Maubeuge (Maubeuge, France)

2010
Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria)
Transmediale (Berlin, Germany)

2009
Solo Show at iMAL (Brussels, Belgium)
Solo Show at LABoral (Gijon, Spain)

Awards

2010: nominated at Transmediale 2010 (Berlin, Germany)
2010: nominated at Update III. Foundation Liedts-Meesen (Gent, Belgium)
2010: Honorary mention at Ars electronica 2010

Production credits

Software and electronics: Félix Luque Sánchez 
Design of the dodecahedron: Damien Gernay a.k.a DustDelux   dustdeluxe.com
3D Videos: Iñigo Bilbao   ibl3d.com
Videos camera: Nicolás Torres

Producers

Chapter I: The discovery has been produced with the support of the Belgium's French Community; LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre (Gijon, SP); La Maison des Arts de Créteil (FR); Le Manège de Maubeuge (FR).
The project has been hosted in residency in April and May 2009 at IMAL.

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