Justine Emard's works oscillate between the poles of technology and spirituality, which at first glance appear to be in opposition, exploring new relationships between human and machine and their sensual potential. Artificial creatures populate ancient myths, appear in the laboratories of alchemists, appear today in virtual (image) worlds and live alongside us as humanoids.

Coexistences | Video works at esc medien kunst labor

"We must remain open to what we don't know, what we don't understand." 

Inspired by Shintoism, Justine Emard has been collaborating with Japanese scientists since 2016. The resulting video works Co(AI)xistence (2017), Soul Shift (2018), and Symbiotic Rituals (2019) signify a body of work that is at once technological, poetic, and visual. Alter, an android robot developed by Ishiguro Lab (Osaka University) and Ikegami Lab (Tokyo University), is controlled by an Artificial Intelligence and brought to life through communication. Equipped with different intelligences, humans and robots interact through signs and signals of their respective expressions, both physical and verbal. Through their shared experience, they seek to define new perspectives of living together in the world.

Further Information: Coexistences

Justine Emard on her artistic practice:

I always wanted to create images and forms. I was comfortable in the literary fields, but I was also drawn to science and life. I discovered computers and the internet, which were at the beginning of a revolution in our understanding of the world. Scientists are constantly redefining what the world is, providing tools to measure and understand things. And that is also what artists do, create protocols, conduct experiments to bring out and expose latent poetry.

I think one of the tasks of artists is to take a unique look at their own environment and propose an interpretation. I like collecting information, data, testimonies, experiences and putting them to the test in a different form. This notion of translation runs through my artistic practice and also addresses the question of language, the way of looking at the other and understanding the world. It is a way to the other and to what we do not know. I like to search for the most appropriate medium to convey my thoughts and invent new languages.

My practice is in constant evolution. I do not have a predefined medium, but I create stylistic devices that allow me to explore both the world of today and the perspectives of the future.

My work operates at the intersection of robotics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence and organic life. By combining these fields of research, I create connections between our humanity and technology. I am always inspired by the present and the latest developments in the world, collaborating with scientific laboratories in Japan, France and Canada.

Everything always starts with my interest in a field of research, a work, a subject. I can approach these questions not scientifically but plastically, which gives me great freedom.