Dr. Philomène Longpré is an artist whose research encompasses performance, robotic art, and interactive video. Since 1999, she is dedicated to the development of responsive art systems that translate body language while exploring the interaction between the physical and virtual worlds. She holds an M.F.A. in Art and Technology Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and she pursued transdisciplinary research at the DXARTS Center of the University of Washington. In 2013, she completed a Ph.D. degree from Concordia University in the study and practice of the arts. Her dissertation “Video Screen as Matrix of Sensations: A Multisensory Approach to the Artistic Development of Responsive Video Membranes” investigates multisensory manifestations in interactive video performance installations and proposes a transdisciplinary inquiry into the artistic development of responsive video membranes.
Her research involved ethnographic investigations of how video displays materiality, spatiality, and interactivity as key factors in altering perception, and how these factors augment sensory, affective, and cognitive responses to a moving image. An essential aspect of her artistic approach involves a unique collaboration among the fields of fine arts, anthropology of the senses, computer science, and mechanical engineering.
Longpre’s works have been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world. Recent exhibitions include Cereus Queen of the Night at the PHI Center during Elektra Festival, Formica at the C-2 Mtl and at the BIAN International Digital Arts Biennial in Canada ; Illusio, at the EXIT and VIA Festivals in France; Telematic Exchange, at the Looptopia Festival and at Collider Festival in United States; Octopus, at FILE Electronic Art Festival in Brazil and AIR Hong Kong Arts Centre in Hong Kong ; and Passage, at BUDI in South Korea, Thaïland New Media Art Festival and at the Festival Di Cupramontana in Italy.
Moreover, her art systems has won support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture. She has also been sponsored in part by companies such as MicroVision Inc., Keen Projection Media Ltd., and NEC Display Solutions. In addition, she received the 2008 Award for Innovation in New Media Arts, by OCTAS; the 2005 Judith Hamel Trophy in New Media Arts; and the 2004 Prize of Excellence from the Hexagram Institute.
In 2017, she unveiled her first book untitled TRANSCENDARE, a bilingual monograph curated by Christine Redfern. Through selected full-colour images and insightful texts by leading international writers Kate Mondloch, Florence de Mèredieu, David Howes, Alison Syme, Isa Tousignant, Christine Redfern and from Philomène Longpré herself, this book gives a unique opportunity to explore Longpré’s astounding contribution to contemporary art.
Longpré taught Robotic Arts, Mechatronics, Wired (an introduction to media arts and innovative digital imaging), and Contemporary Practice in Art and Technology in the Department of Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Furthermore, she give courses about Interactive Art Systems at the Hong Kong Art School and Experimental Cinema, (theory and practice on experimental film and video performance) at DXARTS Center, University of Washington. Currently, she is leading collaborative research in art and technology at her robotic art lab in Montreal and create a new interactive installation for the Grand Théâtre de Québec.
MFA, IMCA 611 Intermedia (Video, Performance and Electronic Arts) II
MFA, IMCA 613 Intermedia (Video, Performance and Electronic Arts) IV
MFA, IMCA 671, Independent Study I (studio)
BFA, IMCA 331 Intermedia and Interventionist Performance Practices
BFA, IMCA 230 Introduction to Performance Art
BFA, IMCA 471 Independent Study, IMCA (Studio)
TRANSCENDARE is a bilingual monograph curated by Christine Redfern that delves indepth into the extraordinary universe of the artist Philomène Longpré. A world of heightened sensations, where captivating creatures projected onto responsive video membranes live in darkened spaces awaiting the presence of the visitors. The power of Longpré’s art comes from her ability to blur the boundaries between the virtual and the real, as well as the visceral reactions she provokes. Through selected full-colour images and insightful texts by leading international writers Kate Mondloch, Florence de Mèredieu, David Howes, Alison Syme, Isa Tousignant, Christine Redfern and from Philomène Longpré herself, this book gives a unique opportunity to explore Longpré’s genius and her astounding contribution to contemporary art.
Limited Edition, 258 pages, 9 x 7.5 x 0.75 inches. 108 color illustrations.
Curator/Editor: Christine Redfern
Author(s): Alison Syme, Christine Redfern, David Howes, Florence de Mèredieu, Isa Tousignant, Kate Mondloch, Philomène Longpré
Graphic Designer: Annick Burion
Publisher: ELLEPHANT
ISBN: 978-2-9816196
Translators: Colette Tougas, Isabelle Glasberg, Josette Lanteigne, Nadine Lennox
Printer: Quadriscan, Montreal
Dépôt légal: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, 2016, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2016
http://philox.net/press/
