Artist in Focus: aurèce vettier
Artist in Focus is an ongoing series featuring hic et nunc (HEN) artists. Interested in being featured in the series? Please complete this form.
PT: Tell us a little about yourself, including what brought you to HEN.
AV: aurèce vettier is a French collective aimed at understanding how relevant and meaningful interactions with machines and algorithms can be achieved in order to push the boundaries of creative processes. The works of aurèce vettier are the result of a number of back and forth trips between the “real” space in which we exist—where we can draw, paint, sculpt, break, erase—and the “data” space where we can play with more dimensions than we as humans can cope with.
In this virtual space, which can involve Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms or heavy mathematical processing, we expand the possibilities, explore new forms that we can project back in reality. We are currently preparing two exhibitions in Paris that will happen in fall 2021 where we will will feature oil paintings derived from AI, sculptures and installations. We also work extensively with poetry and recently published a poetry book called Elegia Machina, using Markov chains, and taking part in the first on-chain poetry project called etherpoems. We joined hicetnunc in early march 2021, encouraged by the move of Mario Klingemann and Joanie Lemercier and very much willing to experiment with a platform based on the Tezos blockchain. Since then, we have helped other artists get on board and took part to some community initiatives such as objkt4objkt.
PT: What’s the story behind the piece you selected to share?
AV: Since 2018, we’ve trained GANs as part of our Potential Herbarium series on more than 4 million herbarium boards and generated many fascinating imaginary plant shapes. These shapes are quite anti-Darwinian, and are a seminal constituent of our visual research in the studio.
PT: Can you share an element of your creative practice?
AV: Most of our process consists of numerous trips between the real and the data spaces to achieve maximum hybridity and create a vibration, or a collaboration, with the machine. For many projects, we like to start from a reference from literature, or antique texts, but this reference is often hidden. Sometimes we are also inspired by much more recent elements such as hardcore rap songs. Sometimes it is also just a feeling. We then build or assemble the right process to create the piece—that is often physical. Without the intervention of a machine at some point it not would have been possible to create the piece, but without the curation and vision of us humans, it would maybe not have been intimate and relevant. So we try to find the right equilibrium. We also spend a lot of time doing research in our atelier, because it is key not to recreate what already exists.
PT: What’s a recent work that you collected on hic et nunc that you’re excited about and why?
AV: There are many artists we like on hicetnunc such as Sasha Stiles, James Yu, and many others. But we want to highlight the work of Marc Leschelier who is an important artist and former resident of Villa Medicis in Rome. He recently started minting on hicetnunc and his works are very unique and aligned to his physical practice. He also uses NFTs to show some studies of his bigger works. For me this is the type of hidden gem—not for long we guess—you can still find on the platform.
PT: What is something you’d like to see for the future of hic et nunc and NFTs?
AV: On hicetnunc, we appreciate the fact that artists collect each other, and this creates a community and an atmosphere not unlike Tumblr some ten years ago. It’s also beautiful to see some curators like Micol from verticalcrypto unite the space, share the news and spread energy. There is a kind of humility of everybody—and the UX of the platform reflects that—that allows for pioneers to discover and help new artists on the platform. In a way, hicetnunc represents what we love in Internet culture: openness, relevance and strong network effect.
aurèce vettier’s collections
More of aurèce vettier’s work can be found here.
You can find out more about aurèce vettier and their work by following them on twitter, instagram and/or by visiting their site. You can also read more about their approach in an Exhibition Magazine feature here.
Artist in Focus is an ongoing series featuring hic et nunc artists. Interested in being featured in the series? Please complete this form.
