Review of the artist residency
On the program:
- Welcome of Ludovic Hamon, CNRS delegate; Emmanuel Guez, director of ESAD and Catherine Bessada and Anne-Lise Thomann, coordinators of ARD MATEX
- Discovery of the exhibition and explanations of the artistic approach of the artists of the Kaïros collective, Amélie Samson and Eva Vedel
- Cocktail around the works
About the artist residency
Exploring the various cupboards, the collective began their residency with a photographic inventory of what the researchers showed them within the CEMHTI premises. A way for artists to offer another look at pieces considered as samples or results of experiments. Following its recent questioning about the reliability of digital archiving, the collective then produced 3D scans of certain parts, thus revealing the limits of laser technologies when faced with the smooth and reflective surfaces of samples of materials vitrified at high temperatures from laboratories.
Over the years and with successive research projects, many objects are stored in laboratory cupboards. The artists therefore used certain elements, notably tubes, formerly used in high-temperature ovens, in order to create a device highlighting, through light, the current images produced by the cutting-edge technology of the scanning electron microscope.
Intrigued by the presentation of researchers working on the creation of silver nanoparticles using UV, the artists sought to combine this innovation with their regular appetite for ceramic material. With the aim of creating an interactive installation combining the age-old material associated with craftsmanship and cutting-edge research in chemistry, they collaborated with researchers. A long period of work followed to create printed circuits in silver nanoparticles on various samples of their design in stoneware, porcelain or earthenware. However, if the fascinating mirror effect is present, creating unique pieces, the conductive aspect was unfortunately not successful.
At the same time, the collective is also interested in samples of “impregnated” parts resulting from research on refractory materials used in foundries, for example. By mixing oxides from traditional earthwork with materials used by the CNRS, they seek to deliberately impregnate alumina plates to create surprising textures and colors after firing at high temperature. This process with promising results encourages artists to further develop this type of collaboration.
Finally, the collective was interested in the sound material that populates the GREMI laboratory where multiple pumps, lasers, buttons of all kinds coexist. Background noise for researchers, but much more specific for the uninitiated. Seeking to highlight these sounds which become the daily lives of MATEX actors, the collective has the idea of creating a listening device, but also an interactive play of these sounds. After a recording phase in the laboratory, they model visualizations of these sounds which they print in 3D in tangible space. The exhibition therefore features a tactile device allowing recorded sounds to be played by touching the corresponding 3D printed modules.
