XYZT: A Journey in 4 Dimensions
October 14, 2017 Through April 22, 2018
Save the Date: Press Preview |Thursday, October 12 @ 5-7 pm
SALEM, MA – The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents an immersive exhibition designed by internationally acclaimed French digital artists, Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne. XYZT: A Journey in 4 Dimensions, on view at PEM from October 14, 2017 through April 22, 2018, invites exploration and interactivity through 10 digital installations that are inspired by nature, activated by gesture and movement and rooted in math and physics models.
Each letter in "XYZT" identifies the movement of a point in space - horizontal (X), vertical (Y), depth (Z) and time (T). The exhibition experience melds personal exploration with scientific reasoning, as each installation is accompanied by a video label on the nature of the underlying physical behavior, complete with excerpts from related dance performances.
In a darkened gallery, guests stroll through a digital landscape where letters blow off a tree like leaves, blades of grass move in response to footsteps and beach sands react to the lightest touch. In one installation, shifting clouds of light mold to the visitor’s silhouette based on the same algorithm that describes the flocking behavior observed in starlings. “We want our images to be danced on, played with and to react to the body,” says Bardainne. “We make immersive and interactive artwork, but we want you to forget that these are images.”
“XYZT brings the virtual and the organic together in playful and imaginative ways while expanding our understanding of our place in the natural world,” says Jane Winchell, PEM’s Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of the Art & Nature Center. “What brings this exhibition to life are the people who interact with it through their own movement. People often focus on how we react to the environment and XYZT makes us consider: What do we create? What is our effect on the environment? What do we bring to a moment that shapes and transforms it?”
PRESS PREVIEW
Thursday, October 12 | 5 Pm Cocktail Reception| 5:30 pm Remarks & Exhibition Tour | 6:30 Special Dance Performance Inspired by the Exhibition
Please join us for a cocktail reception and exhibition preview of XYZT: A Journey in 4 Dimensions with artists Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne plus curator Jane Winchell, PEM’s Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of the Art & Nature Center.
OPENING DAY FESTIVAL
Saturday, October 14 | 10 Am - 5 pm
All activities are included with museum admission and are made possible by the Lowell Institute.
Dance Performance: Hakanï by Adrien M & Claire B Company | 11 am, 1:30 pm & 3:30 pm
Enter a dream world created by the digital performing arts company Adrien M & Claire B. A sole dancer in an immersive cube explores what’s at the brink of imagination and reality as she interacts with the virtual images she encounters in the space. Live animations are based on physical movement modeling and choreographed to an original score played live. The performance will take place in Morse Auditorium last approximately 15 minutes plus extended audience participation time. Recommended for ages 5 to adult. Please note: no admission will be allowed after the performance begins.
Drop-In Art Making: Diy Hologram Projectors | 10 am - 4 pm | Atrium
Create a simple hologram projector inspired by Pepper’s Ghost, an illusion featured in the XYZT exhibition. Transform your own 2-D drawing into a 3-D optical illusion.
EXHIBITION CREDIT
XYZT: A Journey in 4 Dimensions was originally created by Adrien M & Claire B and titled XYZT—Abstract Landscapes in 2011 and 2015. This exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the MCUFEU – Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States. The East India Marine Associates and members of the Art & Nature Committee of the Peabody Essex Museum provided additional support.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Adrien M & Claire B Company creates digital and living art forms, ranging from stage performance to installations. It is co-directed by Claire Bardainne and Adrien Mondot, whose approach puts the human experience at the centre of technological issues, with a strong visual focus on the body and unique bespoke technologies created in-house. They strive to create living digital art: mobile, handcrafted, short-lived, and responsive. Together, they aspire to create an art of movement to set the human body in resonance with graphic and digital arts. The result is a poetic visual language blending imaginary, real and virtual dimensions while bearing unlimited opportunities for artistic exploration. Today, the company has 30 associates, 4 performances and an exhibit touring internationally. Its Lyon headquarters also house a research and creation studio.
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Over the last 20 years, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) has distinguished itself as one of the fastest-growing art museums in North America. Founded in 1799, it is also the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. At its heart is a mission to enrich and transform people's lives by broadening their perspectives, attitudes and knowledge of themselves and the wider world. PEM celebrates outstanding artistic and cultural creativity through exhibitions, programming and special events that emphasize cross-cultural connections, integrate past and present and underscore the vital importance of creative expression. The museum's collection is among the finest of its kind boasting superlative works from around the globe and across time -- including American art and architecture, Asian export art, photography, maritime art and history, Native American, Oceanic and African art. PEM's campus affords a varied and unique visitor experience with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities and performance spaces. Twenty-four noted historic structures grace PEM’s campus, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese house that is the only such example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States, and the Phillips Library, which holds one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm. Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. ADMISSION: Adults $20; seniors $18; students $12. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $6 (plus museum admission). Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang. INFO: Call 8667451876 or visit pem.org
Media Relations Contacts:
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Communications | whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 978-542-1828
Melissa Woods | Communications Specialist | melissa_woods@pem.org | 978.542.1609