GAME ART: FRANÇOIS QUÉVILLON'S ALGORITHMIC DRIVE (2018-2019)
Algorithmic Drive is an interactive installation and performance created by François Quévillon inspired by autonomous cars and dash cam compilations. As Quevillon explains,
On their side, dash cam videos display accidents or spectacular events that portray roads as spaces where the unexpected occurs. The works play with the tension generated by confronting the technologies used by mobile robotics with the unpredictable nature of the world. The interactive installation and performance entitled Algorithmic Drive is the core of these works. I built a database of recordings with a camera that is connected to my car’s on-board computer. The videos captured are synchronized with information such as location, speed, engine RPM, stability and the temperature of various sensors. They feed a sampling system that uses signal processing, data analysis and computer vision algorithms to sort the content statistically. It assembles an endless video by modifying parameters related to images, sounds, the car’s activity and the environment in which it’s located. A controller displays data related to each scene and allows people or a performer to interact with the system.
This fascinating project looks like an interactive version of one of my favorite documentaries of 2018, Dmitrii Kalashnikov's The Road Movie. It's the ultimate racing game.
Equally interesting is Quévillon's Retroviseurs, which seems like an unofficial adaptation of McLuhan's famous theory about the rearview mirror syndrome (it's not, but remains intriguing nonetheless). it's a rear view mirror with a monitor, a backup camera and ultrasonic parking sensors, all recontextualized in the exhibition space.
François Quévillon is an artist from Montreal, Canada. He develops an interdisciplinary practice through installation, video, photography, sound and digital technologies. His work explores phenomena of the world and perception by the implementation of processes sensitive to their fluctuations and to the interference of contextual elements. He examines the operational dimensions of images, sounds and other media through the elaboration of systems with unstable parameters, compressed or endlessly evolving spatiotemporal structures. Engaging both scientific observation and a contemplative state of mind, his pieces propose ambiguous experiences through which the ungraspable manifests itself. He investigates how technology affects or redefines human cognition, culture, the environment, our relationships to space, to time and to one another. He holds a Master’s degree in Visual and Media Arts from UQAM and was involved with several artist-run centres and research groups. Frequently developed during artist residencies, François Quévillon’s work has been presented at exhibitions and events dedicated to contemporary art, cinema and digital creation. Among them, Sundance’s New Frontier exhibition (Park City), Spaces Under Scrutiny – Quebec Digital Art in NY at the Knockdown Center (Queens), International Symposium on Electronic Art (Gwangju, Dubaï and Albuquerque), Festival Internacional de Linguagem Eletrônica (São Paulo), IndieBo (Bogotá), LOOP Barcelona, Plug-In at Contemporary Istanbul, Show Off Paris, Festival de la Imagen (Manizales), European Conference on Computer Vision (Munich), Mois Multi (Québec), Espace [IM] Média (Sherbrooke), FIMAV (Victoriaville), NeurIPS, RIDM, Elektra and International Digital Art Biennal (Montréal).
LINK: François Quévillon (all images and videos courtesy of the Artist)