Des arts-réseaux aux dérives programmées : actualité de "l'art comme expérience

In this habilitation thesis I report on over 30 years of creative research in the visual arts. I conducted and analyzed three selected experiments to cast light on the artistic process. In a body of work entitled Paris Réseau/Network I explored the possibilities of networked art using protocols and instructions. I developed this in several stages. Originally designed as a performance, it quickly developed beyond the real-time experience to take charge of its own archives. The second chapter describes the making of Partially Buried University, an interactive 3D environment, and reflects on my implication in a collective research project involving artists, scientists and industrialists. In the third experiment, the goal was to test protocols developed by other artists. As a pedestrian, I followed the paths traced by these artists, and as cartographer I represented and situated these experiences. Finally, with a view to interpreting the “field data,” in the last chapter I outline the problems that underlie all these practices. Can we take advantage of the instability of digital media to design a “robust” art that is not limited by a single presentation device? What is the role of the onlooker in the resulting artistic experience?