Joseph Arzoumanov-Dhedin – Villa Albertine

Craft & Design
New Media

Boston

“Within the intensity of splendor, shimmers, scrupulousness, and shape, I create treasures that I dream of discovering.”

Who?

Ever since I was very little, I have been collecting, assembling, and creating worlds out of my imagination as places where I can have fun. My violin playing has helped me a lot in expressing these highly personal worlds. Spending part of my childhood in Casablanca, Morocco, was an incredibly rich experience for me to discover another culture. The embroidery masterclasses that I took in Uzbekistan and Armenia further confirmed this pleasure in exploration.

I am fascinated and intrigued by emerging technologies, which I seek to understand and interrogate in my work. I explore the domain of jewelry, creating complex structures using 3D modeling and printing. Then, I coat the resulting forms in embroidery and gold leaf. My goal is to use new technology to attune the younger generations to traditional crafts, showing them just how wonderful these practices can be.

I want to create ultra-fine, detailed, precious cities. I want to leave behind my own traces that are, in part, the visible and invisible vestiges bequeathed to me by my family. I want to create statuettes steeped in symbols and emotions. When looking at my work, the beholder is confronted with the relics of an imaginary world. Within the intensity of splendor, shimmers, scrupulousness, and shape, I create treasures that I dream of discovering.

Born in 2002, Joseph Arzoumanov-Dhedin is a French artist whose work brings crafts such as gold embroidery and jewelry up against emerging technologies. He recently placed second in the “Youngest Talented Gold Embroiderer” category of the 2022 International Festival of Gold Embroidery and Jewelry. His work has been exhibited internationally, namely at the House of Artisans in Abu Dhabi; the Zar Festival in Bukhara, Uzbekistan; and the Château de Malmaison and Petit Palais in the Paris region.

What?

My project addresses themes related to emerging technologies, particularly 3D printing, as well as the place of crafts and specifically embroidery in the world of tomorrow. I want to spark an interest in craftsmanship by proving that it is possible to create the future using time-honored techniques. I want to show that the artistic professions are outstanding means of expression that can be ceaselessly reinvented. I hope to develop innovative techniques to serve sophisticated creations that can deliver a narrative.

By gaining access to the MIT Media Lab or other research laboratories in the field of technology and art, I will be able to meet with individuals and exchange ideas on my prospective subjects. I intend to meet with various players from the artistic, scientific, and intellectual world in Boston, hoping to discuss the very current issues of the place of new technology in tomorrow’s world and the preservation of age-old techniques.

As part of my research, I will use these encounters to develop ideas for installations and potential hybridization between AI and methods like embroidery, for instance. I hope to speak to engineers, researchers, and artists about interesting and innovative technological solutions that could inform my concept, such as motion and object recognition, VR, and AI. Working alongside local individuals, I intend to design technical concepts and models for a creation that I hope to build upon returning to Paris.

Where?

I would like to carry out this work in the United States, since it is a place of innovation in new technology and digital art, and I think it is important for artists to stay informed of current trends and experiment with them.

For my research, I have chosen the city of Boston for its extremely eclectic cultural heritage. I intend to visit the city’s various museums and art galleries in an aim to immerse myself in its cultural energy and contemporary art scene. I believe that I will be able to discover new perspectives on the hybridization of textile techniques combined with new technology.

Boston is also one of the top research hubs for cutting-edge technology, with numerous renowned universities and institutes, such as the MIT Media Lab. In particular, it incubates research projects relating to new technologies for the visual arts, particularly with regard to AI, VR, and human-machine interaction, subjects that are core to my research. The city is also home to many artists and designers working with new technologies, which could lead to exciting collaborations and exchanges with other professionals in the crafting, tech, and digital arts communities.

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