Etienne Saint-Amant: The Art of Science | Arts | The show

A creative pandemic

Let’s talk about his series. The exhibition called Natural Engineering, which is presented until September 5, contains three, including one that would not have seen the light of day had it not been for the epidemic, because the exhibition was planned in the fall of 2020, before being postponed in the winter of 2021 and finally. in spring.

“I’m almost happy with the delays, because I haven’t shown them to anyone yet,” he said, referring to the four panels on the pillars, facing the interior of the room, and grouped together in the Jumper series. , On the part name used to create a short circuit in an electronic network.

“It’s a series that uses art arrays (digital image files, in fact) at very, very high resolution (we’re talking billions of pixels), which I use to make altitude maps … By playing with shadow and light, I can make the impression of relief sculpture, electronic circuits, and fragments … “

Too technical as an explanation? Then it moved on to the Scene series, installed around the perimeter of the room and reminiscent of the steamy landscapes of English painter JMW Turner. It’s definitely one of the most understandable things about the exhibition, because Etienne Saint-Amant has included images of nature in many of them. Even if he started it nearly twenty years ago, the series presented in MBAS have never been seen before.

Initially, it was designed in a purely mathematical way. Still, actually. Except that the part is now improved by an image that is being entered into mathematics. For me, it’s another step in that direction to try to mathematically recreate nature, for example making a realistic tree. It’s quite challenging, but it’s not without meaning, because for me, mathematics describes nature. And it turns out Turner is one of my favorite illustrators. I studied it a lot and tried to compose light with mathematics as it did with its pigments. “

More geometric, the community series business has a futuristic feel alongside the aesthetics of video games or science fiction movies like Blade Runner.

“I created it from new tools. Basically, I rewrote the mathematics so that it translates into three dimensions. Thus, the composition is more and more immersive.”

A recent addition to the world of Étienne Saint-Amant: the animation. The landscape architecture includes a small room immersed in the shade where the realization of some works is rendered. The show will be called to develop during the four months of the show.

“Creating animation has been a long-term dream, to live the experience of moving math, a real messy simulation experience. That’s what makes me falter. Someone needed a supercomputer from the University of Sherbrooke. I counted the others at home … over the course of several days.”