Short Bio
Philomène Longpré is a media artist whose research encompasses robotic art, interactive video, and performance. Since 1999, her works have been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world including: PHI Center during Elektra International Digital Arts Festival and 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, Primo Piano LivinGallery, Italy.
Longpré’s work 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.
Longpré has developed a series of video systems that translate body language while exploring the interaction between the physical and virtual world. These environments juxtapose virtual characters, robotic sculptures, video membranes, abstract sounds, and digital interfaces, to elicit multi-sensory experiences. The initial systems—Plato’s Cave (2000), Cycle (2001), Passage (2002), and Silence Not Present (2002)—feature characters who interpret changes in their environments. In her most recent pieces—including Octopus (2003), Formica (v1, 2003; v2, 2007), Vita (2005), Illusio (2006), Underlayers (2007), Xol (2008), Cereus – Queen of the Night (2009–2013), and Xia (2011)—virtual characters redefine themselves by virtue of their interactions with visitors.
Video documentary
PASSAGE
INTERACTIVE ART
interactive art
ILLUSIO at EXIT par A.Vandierendonck
CEREUS
XIA