Primary Intimacy of Being

Ikse Maître, 2013

Interactive digital artwork

Materials, techniques, and processes: X-rays, nuclear imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, RGB and infrared sensors, computer, gender recognition algorithm, 75-inch screens, lacquered glass and iroko wood

Dimensions: 1000 × 2650 × 520 mm

Themes: A mirror reflects a human being - man or woman - as they are seen through X-rays, nuclear imaging, or MRI.

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Primary intimacy of being ("Première Intimité de l'Etre") is an interactive work conceived by Ikse Maître.

The work shows a 3-D image of the participants on a 75-inch screen. A Kinect captures the participants’ movements. A gender-determining algorithm chooses whether to project a masculine or feminine form on the screen. The participant can thus identify with the image projected on the screen, which reproduces her movements like a mirror.

When a participant comes sufficiently close to the projection, he or she discovers the interior of his or her body, a morphologic, metabolic, or organic image as if through X-rays, nuclear imaging, or MRI. It reveals the matter density, the consumed energy, or the water content of the human being.

The work invites us to explore our body in an unprecedented way. It creates a profound image, a peculiar and unexpected avatar of our identity. Fascinated, the participant discovers her internal organs with which she has always lived without ever seeing them. A new intimacy is established with the stranger that is our own body.

[Conception] Ikse Maître
[Real-time 3D imaging] Matthieu Courgeon
[3D Avatars] Marion Tardieu, Bruno Freyssinet and Serge Desarnaud
[Detection of movement and gender] Tom Giraud, Michèle Gouiffès and Alexandra Roatis
[Electro-acoustics] Michel Bertier

Photos and video by: Claire Lise
Video editing: Hugo Chièze
Voice over: Harry Long