The mechanical arm creates doubt between precipitation and contemplation.
Crédits photos : Antoine Birot
A native of France’s Loire region, artist Antoine Birot explores movement in his artistic performances. His new work, “Forces will move”, consists of a mechanical arm that uses inertia and mechanics to create a visual, auditory and temporal choreography. His robotic installation will be exhibited at the 7th Recto VRso festival on April 11-14, 2024.
A choreographed imbalance
“Forces will move” is a robotic installation in the form of a mechanized arm. Driven by two propellers and the force of inertia, the arm creates movements in space, letting itself be carried along by its own imbalance. When in motion, the installation also creates a world of sound and vision. Sound is generated using sensors and microphones, as well as electroacoustic processing. The sounds react to the pulsations of the mechanical arm, matching the speed or slowness of its movements.
In front of the installation, a screen projects two virtual dots from the tips of the propellers, whose visual path follows the movement of the mechanical arm, tracing a luminous trail behind them. “Although constrained in its own space, the machine generates the trace of 2 comets giving the impression of escaping into an empty and black screen,” explains Antoire Birot. Despite the constraints imposed by physical concepts and preconfigured mechanical conditions, the movements of the installation and the projection onto this screen give a sensation of freedom and immensity.
“Movement becomes language”
Originally a musician, Antoine Birot has been working since 2005 on installations based on movement with strong symbolism. He has specialized in kinetic art. In 2022, the artist imagined “Dancing is in my blood”, in which he also used mechanical arms to create a choreography reminiscent of a modern dance ballet. With his works, Antoine Birot aims to make movement a medium in its own right, and to free up the creative process. For him, “movement is a language”.
Placed in front of the screen, the spectator is torn between contemplation and precipitation, following the points of light and letting himself be transported by the musical effluvia. Observing the scene from the outside, we realise that the artist wanted to create two times: real time, that of the object (the mechanical arm in motion), and virtual time, that of the trace that appears in space (the black screen). Antoine Birot raises doubts about our perception of things. He makes movement visible, which then becomes a language through visual expression. He tells us different stories, between balance and tension. He upsets our perception of time as it passes.
With his art, and this robotic installation, Antoine Birot is trying to establish a dialogue with society, awakening our reflections. “Forces will move” will be exhibited at the Art&VR Gallery during the next edition of the Recto VRso festival, on April 11-14, 2024.
