of 10/11/22 to 22/01/23
This year’s Biennial, with the theme of Night, brings together more than 80 artists who invite us to construct imaginary worlds, to observe and question our relationship with the night in a world altered and conditioned by new technologies. After Quebec and Taiwan, Belgium (Wallonia – Brussels – Flanders) will be in the spotlight for this 3rd edition. From 10 November 2022 to 22 January 2023, 21 exhibitions will be on show at the Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille and in a dozen partner venues in Aix-en-Provence and Avignon. This programme will be accompanied by a special opening event from 10 to 12 November 2022, devoted to the inauguration of the exhibitions and an original tour of works in public spaces. The closing week will focus on live performances from 18 to 21 January 2023.
The intimate and monumental installations of the nocturnal route invite all audiences to wander and discover contemporary digital creation in the heart of downtown Aix-en-Provence. With monumental, interactive and kinetic sculptures, light, video and immersive installations, as well as projections and mappings, this route is the highlight of this opening weekend and enhances the exhibition route to be discovered in the Aix partner venues.
On 11 and 12 November, the Biennial of Digital Imaginings opens its group and solo exhibitions in Aix-en-Provence and offers an original nocturnal journey of works in public spaces with Dan Acher’s aurora borealis, Caitlind R. C Brown and Wayne Garrett, the floating creature of the Quiet Ensemble, the luminous arms of Chevalvert, the moon of Luke Jerram, the supple landscapes of Ulysse Lefort and Tryph.me, the charcoal globe of Karina Smigla-Bobinski, the kinetic sculptures of Etienne Rey and the 360° images of Nicolas Clauss Meetings with the teams and artists, performances, a brunch – vernissage and guided tours will punctuate these two inaugural days and evenings.
Accustomed to living in a non-stop open world, the permanence of artificial lights has become second nature. The white lights that invade our cities are not only an aesthetic loss in our relationship with the cosmos and the starry sky, but also have consequences for living beings and natural ecosystems that need to perceive the alternation of day and night. This white light at work in many contemporary techniques such as infrared cameras, surveillance cameras, satellites and drones, contribute to creating a universe where it is never night for anyone and where, in the manner of a panopticon, surveillance is widespread. Borrowing from Michael Foessel in his eponymous book on night, is the darkness we sought in the night disappearing? Have we entered a world where living without witnesses becomes impossible?
STÉPHANIE ROLAND (BE) Science-fiction Postcards – satellite views of disappearing islands The Empty Circle – experimental documentary on Point Nemo DIMITRI MALLET (FR) Silence Painting – work referring to the blue hour phenomenon EMMANUEL VAN DER AUWERA (BE) Videosculpture XXI (Vegas) and Videosculpture XXII (White Noise) – audiovisual installations with video surveillance images PIERRE CORIC (BE) As we continue – passive interactive installation STÉPHANE THIDET (FR) Half Moon – film shot in a garden at night, where wildlife reclaims its rights
On the occasion of the second edition of the Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques, the artist Quayola won the 3rd International Prize of the Vasarely Foundation & CHRONICLES. Created this year, the work Pointilisme: Provence, will take as its starting point the surrounding landscapes of Sainte-Victoire that the artist scanned in the autumn and spring. Pointillism: Provence is a new work that continues Quayola’s exploration of high precision laser scanning systems and their inherited imperfections. Drawing parallels between historical painting traditions and computational aesthetics, this project speculates on new machine-created landscape paintings. While reproducing conditions similar to those of late 19th century plein air painters, natural landscapes are in fact observed and analysed through sophisticated technological devices and reassigned to new modes of visual synthesis.
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Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques – 3e édition
From 10 November 2022 to 22 January 2023
Night-time tours: as part of the Opening Nights
11-12 Nov. 2022 – Aix-en-ProvenceThe Opening Nights
11, 12 Nov. 2022 – Aix-en-Provence
Events at the Vasarely Foundation
from November 11 to January 22, 2023VIVRE SANS TÉMOIN (LIVING WITHOUT WITNESSES)
Group exhibition
POINTILLISME : PROVENCE
Solo exhibition
QUAYOLA (IT)
Davide Quayola, Italian artist, has been distinguished for the series “Remains”, presented at the Friche Belle de Mai in Marseille as part of the Chroniques Biennial, as well as for the rest of his work and his entire practice.
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The winner will benefit from an exhibition at the Vasarely Foundation as part of the 3rd International Prize of the Vasarely Foundation – Chroniques in 2022 (from November 10, 2022 to January 22, 2023), and from a residency at the Aix-en-Provence Centre in 2021.