When waste inspires: Milieux associés

Have you ever wondered what happens to your garbage bags on the sidewalk? What if that journey were examined from an artistic point of view? Milieux associés, by artist Gisèle Trudel and electronic composer Stéphane Claude, explores the impure side of nature at Centre Phi until May 22.

Milieux associés is a permutational and performative installation linking art, technology and residual matter. Composed of video, a fluttering membrane, proximity and motion sensors, digital drawing, tactile and immersive sounds, it also spills into the street at night as a projection on Centre Phi’s windows, visible from Rue Saint-Paul. The work explores the relationship between humans and hidden, neglected materialities that are still capable of transformation.

The duo questioned improper nature and decided to follow the process of industrial waste through a documentary approach. Stéphane Claude explains that they wanted to immerse themselves in the experience and absorb the place. They visited a landfill, observed how the process works, shook hands with engineers and exchanged with them. That lived experience is transmitted through the piece. Gisèle Trudel adds that an artist is not someone isolated in a studio; they are concerned with social

new sensations connected to reality, exploring an aesthetic that is not simply beauty.

The public is invited to a sensory experience that can be tested standing, sitting or lying down. A dark room, elevated theatre and bleachers encourage visitors to discover visual and audio phenomena. Live performancestransform Centre Phi into a process-based laboratorywhere drawings, sound programs and tactile elements come together. Integrated into the Biennale internationale de l’art numérique de Montréal, Milieux associés resonates with the theme Physical/ité by bringing materiality, sensoriality and the social and collective human body to the fore.

Gisèle Trudel and Stéphane Claude founded the artistic research unitÆlab nearly 20 years ago. From the beginning, their work has combined art, science and technology, the very foundations of Printemps numérique. Trudel notes that Montréal is in a remarkable moment of transformation, with a new professional network emerging and people supporting one another. Printemps numérique gives

visibility beyond the art world

efforts together to offer something new to the public. The installation is free at Centre Phi until May 22, with performances Thursday to Saturday and a nighttime loop projection visible from the street.