Dreamcatcher
© CompMonks
‘Dreamcatcher’ is an immersive installation that investigates the relationship between writing and memory through the prism of dreams, seeking to expose their content to the awakened experience. Rebuilt with AI in 4 dimensions from brain and semantic data collected during active sleep sessions of the artist and their awakened recollections, oniric landscapes emerge to reveal this unknown of our lives and its role in human creative capacities. The work is exhibited as an interactive and generative installation within the open volume of a cube. Two walls and a floor are joined to form a ‘corner-screen’ that delineates itself from the surrounding space and blurs its internal limits. The inner surfaces serve as a continuous projection screen where the generated landscapes of the dreams are displayed and synchronised with a ‘shield-mask’ integrating a VR headset that visitors can wear and enter the installation to re-enact the pittoresque exploration of the dreams.
Director
CompMonks is a trained architect who graduated ‘summa cum laude‘ from France and a researcher in technology for architecture based in Switzerland. He obtained his PhD in 2022 following a fully-funded fellowship from the Architecture & Technology Doctoral Programme of Excellence from ETH Zürich, where he currently leads research on interactive and generative design with brain-computer interfaces. Before his doctoral studies, he was a lecturer in digital architecture at EPFL Lausanne. His artistic work follows a series of design objects and mixed-media installations shedding light on the power of combining humans with computers. He has been supported by prestigious institutions during research and production residencies such as ZKM Karlsruhe (‘Intelligent Museum’ residency, 2020) and Kontejner Zagreb (‘Emap’ residency, 2023). Among his most recent appearances are the collective exhibitions at Centre Pompidou Paris (‘Neurons’ 2020), the Biennale for Arts and Technology Trondheim (‘Meta Morph’ 2020) and ZKM Karlsruhe (‘Biomedia’ 2021). In 2021, his work entered the permanent collection of 20th and 21st-century digital art of ZKM Karlsruhe (‘Proteus 3.0’). In 2023, CompMonks was selected as ‘Mention’ of the prize ‘Charles Abella’ for emerging architecture from the Beaux-Arts Academy Paris for his new work series on the materialisation of dreams (‘Dreamcatcher ‘).
General Informations
Director : CompMonks
Production Company : Académie des Beaux-Arts de Paris (France)
Coproduction Company : Compmonks studio + ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
Awards : Grand Prix d’Architecture ‘Charles Abella’ de l’Académie des Beaux-Arts, Mention.
Year of creation : 2023
Minimum Age : 12
Technical Informations
Format : Interactive and generative mixed-media installation
Duration : Continuous stream
Number of participants per session : 1 participant at a time for the VR headset. Others are limited to room capacity for the central installation.
Equipment required : Must be provided less than 3m around the installation, below or above with 3x power outlet, Type E, 2 pins grounded, 220-240V, 16A and 1x Ethernet, RJ45 connector, CAT 6A minimum. To connect the computer, wifi router, video projectors and charging station, 3x power cord extender x20m 3 plug minimum must be provided. If cables are running along the floor, 2-3x cable floor galleries from outlets to installation corner and VR charging station. Power and internet must be provided 24/7. In case of specific scheduling and safety issues, they must be discussed wit the artist for adequate adaptations to the system. A stable and ethernet connection to internet should be provided for the entire duration of the event. If this is not possible, A mobile wifi router may be provided but a data SIM card with 5G 120GB minimum must be purchased and might have to be renewed for the complete duration of the event. Purchasing the card, checking the validity and capacity of the card as well as renewing it is the responsibility of the venue. In that case, 5G network must be reachable by the router from the venue. A minimum of 3 4k video projectors and DPI cables must be provided by the venue for the projection mapping. Projectors may be short throw or not depending of their placement as long as the avoid projected shadows and maximize screen areas. Last minimla specification was Optoma UHD 35STx.
Minimum space : 3x3x3
Teaser
