Mat Chivers - Artiste
British visual artist Mat Chivers was born in Bristol, UK in 1973 and studied sculpture at The Nottingham Trent University, UK and Escuela de Belles Arte, Barcelona, Spain from 1993-96. An extended period of travel followed, where he trained in sustainable farming and building practices in Europe, culminating in a solo journey overland to India where he spent time living in the Himalayas. He returned to the UK in 1999 and established a studio in the south west of England. He lives between Totnes, UK and Montréal, Canada. Through his work he looks at some of the relationships between human and more-than-human consciousness, ecology, evolutionary processes and ethics by bringing traditional analogue approaches to making into counterpoint with cutting edge technologies. Collaborations with researchers and organisations in the fields of science and technology are at the core of his practice in sculpture, drawing, film and performance. Key solo exhibitions include: Migrations at Arsenal Art Contemporain Montréal, Canada and Musée d’art de Joliette, Canada; Harmonic Distortion at PM/AM, London, UK and Altered States at Hallmark House, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jean-François Bélisle - Executive Director and Chief Curator
Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Musée d'art de Joliette since April 2016, Jean-François Bélisle is known for his sharp artistic vision, unwavering charisma, political activism and philanthropic innovation. He has made the MAJ more accessible than ever to the marginalized, migrant and First Nation communities, establishing a real dialogue with them and actualizing the principle of inclusiveness. Dedicated to the advancement of financial recognition for museum institutions on a provincial and national level, he sits on numerous boards and committees for local and regional development, including the boards of Tourisme Lanaudière, the Canadian Art Museum Directors' Organization (CAMDO), the Greater Joliette Chamber of Commerce, and the annual Parlez-moi d'amour event organized by Les Impatients, as well as the City of Joliette's Cultural Revival and Branding committees. Jean-François Bélisle holds a B.A. and an M.A. in art history from Concordia University [Montreal, Canada]. His Master's thesis focused on the international reception of the exhibitions shown in the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale between 1986 and 2005.
Conference : Migrations: Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Going? & How Much Choice Do We Have?
Saturday 7 may 2022, 12h15 - 13h — Amphi rouge
In this presentation British artist Mat Chivers and Jean-François Belisle, director and chief curator at Musee d'Art de Joliette, Quebec will give an overview of Migrations - a sculptural project developed for the Musee d'Art de Joliette in collaboration with Element AI. 1,480 human hand imprints were digitally scanned and the 3D data was used to train an Artificial Intelligence built specifically for the project to understand what forms are created when we grasp a piece of clay. The AI then output its own imprint based on this learning, creating a file that was used to program a robot to cut the shape of the AI imagined hand imprint into stone. The resulting sculptural form is a composite object made from pieces of a type of stone known as impactite which was created when a meteorite struck Québec 350 million years ago. A conversation will follow that expands on some of the themes explored in the sculpture including the role of a haptic relationship with the world in human evolutionary process, the migration of consciousness across material boundaries and agency and authorship in the contemporary moment.