BIAN 6 | Big digital party

The International Digital Art Biennial (BIAN) is back in style at Arsenal Contemporary Art. With 26 works, including several monumental and from four continents, BIAN 6 is by far the most spectacular since its creation in 2012. Not to be missed between now and February 5!

When we visited the exhibition, in one of the huge halls of Arsenal, a high school class was walking around. It was fascinating to see with what pleasure the young people communed with these works which are of a freshness that could not be more contemporary.

The designer of BIAN 6, Alain Thibault, offers a hearty menu that would deserve several Michelin stars if the French guide looked at the visual arts! Michelin would also stick well to BIAN 6, which addresses the theme of mobility, particularly the automobile. It takes at least two hours to discover the works, each as attractive as the other. We have selected ten that are particularly interesting. Among the others (already interviewed), note creations by Michel de Broin and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.

Slow Motion Car Crashby Jonathan Schipper (USA)

Already exhibited in China, Europe and the United States, this work will evolve during the two months of the biennale. Californian Jonathan Schipper collided two cars, a 1987 electric Mercedes and a more recent Cadillac, placed on rails and moving towards each other at a speed of 1 mm/hour. A work on the passion of North Americans for the automobile. “These cars are a bit of an extension of our bodies,” he says. A bit of what we want to be and what people think we are. the crash, it’s a bit like ours, our own death. The disorganization of something organized. »

Exo-Performanceby Tianzhuo Chen (China)

The three-channel installation broadcasts beautiful science-fiction-like digital sculptures made from the movements of actors recorded using software sensors. A work that lasts five minutes.

Postcolonial Dilemma #Track4 (Remix mix)from Kongo Astronauts (Congo)

In this work from Africa, we talk about colonialism and the desire for space exploration. With an astronaut covered with electrical circuits in reference to tantalum, this highly sought-after metal, very present in Congo, but from which the country benefits very little, according to the Kongo Astronauts duo.

Resonancesby Louis-Philippe Rondeau (Quebec)

Here is a playful and interactive piece that will appeal to young people. A metaphor on the passage of time, with our captured gestures that print on the screen and are superimposed on previous gestures. A Quebec work that will be shown in Singapore next year.

Copacabana Machine Sexby Bill Vorn (Quebec)

Spectacular work by Bill Vorn with robots that move in a light and sound atmosphere. As if robots animated the scene of a cabaret. An evocation of human behavior.

Cloud Face-Real Timeby Shinseungback Kimyonghun (South Korea)

Interesting concept. A camera takes continuous pictures of clouds in Seoul. When the cloud looks like a face, according to software, the image appears on a screen in Montreal a few hours later. Every day the images are different. Cute and poetic.

Tomorrow’s Borrowed-Sceneryby Paul Duncombe (France)

In a corner of the room, three car wrecks are stacked. This is a work by Paul Duncombe of which he has already made two versions in Beijing and Paris. It is inspired by work done in Japan after the 2011 tsunami. He had been hit by the piles of cars in the villages. The work includes a digital part that allows you to control the growth of plants in the car to illustrate the recolonization of nature.

Lightning Rideby Emilie Brout and Maxime Marion (France)

Projected on a huge screen, the work stems from images of rituals for the use of the Taser weapon. Digitized, the assembly gives a painting effect. Quite impressive and aesthetically spectacular.

Breathing Patternsby Salome Chatriot (France)

The diptych shows, in 3D, the artist’s breathing moments during the pandemic. On the left, an irregular and intense breath, and on the right, rather quiet. A beautiful aesthetic effect.

Still life 7by Johann Baron Lanteigne (Quebec)

The digital artist based in Quebec exhibits a work where screens retransmit images of a nature that “takes back control”. Hanging screen features visible electronics, a tribute to Boris Vian and his interest in the back of a TV in his song I’m a snob.

Virtual museum

The ELEKTRA team, creator of the biennial, has created a virtual museum, a preview of which can be seen in the room. The museum has two “pavilions” and regular programming. We can take the time to look at each work. All with stunning visual quality. Hat !