MIT Sea Grant Collaborates with Artist Loris GrÔaud, Nov 20-22, New York

The dark abyss of the ocean is the place on Earth that we know the least about. It is populated by photo-luminescent creatures that flicker to the rhythm of their environment’s sound frequencies to produce undersea “light-shows,” a behavior that inspired the concept behind French artist Loris GrÔaud’s ambitious new project, developed in collaboration with Performa, MIT Sea Grant College Program, and Carnegie Mellon. This ongoing project will launch on November 19, 2009 in Abu Dhabi with breathtaking fireworks designed by the internationally acclaimed pyrotechnicians, Groupe F, that will recreate the bioluminescence of deep-sea creatures, featuring the experimental hip hop group Antipop Consortium. Then, the New York premiere of the video of this elemental sky sculpture, which will be recorded in HD and 35 mm, will be presented on the MTV screen in Times Square as part of Performa 09. The blue fires, evoking fantasies of undersea exploration, will respond in a poetic and mysterious way to the frenetic lights of Times Square. website: https://performa-arts.org/blog/loris-greaud/

Loris GrÔaud is a cross-disciplinary artist whose fields of interest and activity range from architecture to quantum mechanics, from experimental film to electronic music (he has founded both a movie studio and a record label). His work, is oriented toward ideas and processes rather than finished forms, frequently involving collaborations with scientists or experts in various disciplines. GrÔaud was born in 1979 in Eaubonne, France, and currently lives and works in Paris. He has been featured in numerous exhibitions in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Milan, Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. In 2004, with architects Marc Dolger and Damien Zakovic, he created DGZ Research, a multidisciplinary production studio to support his various projects. Greaud was awarded the Ricard Prize in 2005.Commissioned by Performa. Presented in cooperation with the Times Square Alliance. Supported by Etant Donnes.