Sat 23 - The Black Box
Myriam Bleau
presents Unsculpt
The Montreal-based composer, digital artist’s practice is rooted in performance and sound, but also includes audiovisual systems that go beyond the screen, such as sound installations and performance-specific musical interfaces. Her work has been recognized and presented internationally at places such as Prix Ars Electronica (AT), Sónar (ES, HK), Mutek (CA, MX, AR, JP), Transmediale (DE) or Cafe Oto (UK).
Inspired by the writings of Donna Haraway and the methodology of speculative architecture, Bleau’s live AV performance Unsculpt explores urban and natural scenes created from the assemblage of human and machine agencies. Generated with artificial intelligence, synthetic landscapes emerge as fragments of dreams, faded postcards from an imagined future. Human and natural constructions – mountains, sea shores, skyscrapers, and façades – are digitally sampled, instantiated and assembled in animated collages. A fleeting materiality emerges, machine learning allowing for slow metamorphoses between textures and materials, from marble to silk, from concrete to flesh. This material ambiguity is reflected in the music, where digital synthesis in Supercollider merge seamlessly with modular sounds and gestures.