Exploring emotion’s through technology.
Juliette Tuyttens is a Belgian mixed media and installation artist studying at Luca Brussel/University of Edinburgh.
The primary focus of my practice is the exploration of feelings through technological means, constituting a process of digitalisation of our internal emotional states.
‘‘Home’’
Visualising the erroneous notion of perfection or the idyllic place. Rather than resolving the root problems, they are glossed over and obscured. My personal encounter with false excellence was with a family member who was deeply attached to the concept of constantly striving to create this prestigious ideal of family. Following the disclosure of my identity at the age of 15, expressing who I had always been, I no longer fit into the vision of the ideal and was no longer wanted. In the subsequent years, this individual opted to conceal me from the outside world. This sense of non-existence. The only evidence of my presence was as a picture of someone who didn’t even look like me, a child who no longer bore my name. The result was a superficial resemblance and repressed memories of unwanted things. The individual who sought to establish a paradigm of familial perfection ultimately succeeded in its destruction, irreparably.
Faulty 3D scans of the subject’s dwelling were produces, which is almost an artificial search of perfection. It is an ongoing cycle of analysing the quest for the ideal.
Leuven ‘‘The Eternal Door’’ 2022
The scattered remnants of the house are disordered and almost disturbingly smooth. In its pursuit, the work gradually transitions to an abstract state, where the rooms have coalesced into a state of pure chaos. The juxtaposition of black and white geometric forms with the distorted spatial elements serves to underscore the inherent tension between order and disorder in the artistic process.
The camera persists in its quest for a resolution, yet ultimately, the outcome is a void, a state of nihilism that reverts to its original state, perpetuating a cyclical process. The creation of sincerity necessitates the confrontation of its fundamental essence.
Color
1st Years Bachelors Show Luca Brussel
This series of moving images presents a series of experiments in animating 3D models with the objective of infusing them with emotion and vitality. The focus of this work is on the study of colour and its impact on the perception of movement, with the aim of making the intangible appear tangible.This model forms part of a three-part series that focuses on the creation of hyper-realistic 3D models, in which the distinction between a real person and the model becomes increasingly indistinct.The model does not look the viewer in the eye and repeats the same head movement in each clip.
The chromatic palette and illuminative conditions undergo modulation as the movement resumes.The recurrence of the motif is not readily discernible due to the manner in which color and illuminative elements are altered, thereby effecting a transformation in the image and the associations that may be made subconsciously.
How are you?
The question, "How are you?", although commonly posed in a friendly manner or as a gesture of courtesy, is devoid of substance. The response, "I'm fine", is a commonplace exchange that fails to address the underlying concerns. This dynamic can be distressing for the individual experiencing it, as it creates an opportunity for empathy or assistance that remains unexamined.
This dynamic can perpetuate a cycle of emotional numbness, where individuals feel isolated and unacknowledged while the underlying sentiments persist.The question of whether we genuinely seek to confront and acknowledge these truths remains a salient issue.
The auditory phenomenon in question can be described as a reproduction of the formerly well-intentioned inquiry, "How are you?", which is characterised by a cacophony of voices that, while ostensibly concerned, are ultimately devoid of genuine empathy. This cacophony emanates from eight distinct directions, while images flash incessantly in every corner of the three walls.
The inquiries become increasingly vexing, and the discomfort in one's neck escalates as one attempts to follow the auditory phenomena as they traverse from one end of the room to the other. However, the objective of this auditory bombardment is not to receive an answer; rather, it is to persistently and incessantly harass the listener.
Lana
Lana, in her original iteration, was depicted as an artificial intelligence model, a figure of authority, and the epitome of an artist. She is devoid of any stuttering, her actions are purposeful, and she is not susceptible to fear. She perpetually engages in analysis and learning, yet a particular aspect of the authority portrayed in the original work piqued my curiosity.
My objective was to render her more accessible and realistic by depicting her as one of us, thereby illustrating her vulnerabilities, anger, and fear. The objective of this experiment is to demonstrate that even an idealised 3D model possesses the 'flaws' that are characteristic of human standards of beauty. This experiment is the second of a three-part study.
1st Years Bachelors Show Luca BrusselJanuary
The primary focus of my practice is the exploration of feelings through technological means, constituting a process of digitalisation of our internal emotional states. In the preceding four months, I have been honing in on the concept of habitual routine, encompassing the archiving of my own activities, dietary intake and physical movement. Identifying the minor sources of pleasure within my daily pattern’s and the tasks I undertook.
During a period of burnout last year, I witnessed a loss of structure in my approach on how to perceive the world. This feeling of disorientation led to the spontaneous acquisition of a diary, which could serve as a medium for the articulation of personal pleasures, patterns and sentiments. This sense of romanticizing a ‘flawed’ world I held a negative disposition towards. Joy manifested itself in numerous forms, primarily in the habitual actions undertaken daily, albeit unconsciously.
Food became rather prevalent; The act of making, tasting of flavour’s, the presentation and where I could partake in it, had always been present in my life. The aesthetics and consummation; the joy in taste. Romanticizing the activity whether it is breathing in nature on a picnic or hiding away in a warm cafe. In circumstances where an individual is unable to exercise control over external factors, one starts to obsess over the bits they can. I began to adopt an almost orthorexic belief system with regards to food. The things which brought me such delight I felt a need to control to monitor what, how much and when I was able to partake. This duality became frequent in most of the other routines. I sought for a technique to capture this vision on a visual level. 3D scanning and logging these jubilations came to mind. I could, in a sense, collect them, choose my subjects and try to shape them, in a way romanticising that object. Although, as the scans are interpreted and translated by a software called Meshroom, it would always be in a sense out of my control. Most I could do after that was redo it, or compose them in my modelling software. They are evocative of reality but deeply flawed, an interpretation of the original.
For the film ‘January’ I envisioned an assemblage of these objects which affected my routine, that aforementioned factor that induced a state of euphoria. As the camera traverses a dreamlike terrain, akin to an internal journey through the gastrointestinal tract, a soothing yet melancholic voice provides a narration in the background, elucidating and enumerating the activities and pleasures that have been documented over an indeterminate period. The only thing contrasting this cycle is this need to ‘breathe’. That sense of needing to step back.
In contemplating the voice that would provide the audio for the film, two primary options were given due consideration. Firstly, a non-connected narrator, who could interpret the routine written on paper, appropriating the experiences I had lived through by verbalising them. The second option would be my own, which would provide a contextual framework for these words. This is because I had lived them first-hand, which would endow them with an inherent emotional connotation. It is acknowledged that the clarity of the text may be diminished due to the presence of my distinctive accent; however, it is posited that it has the potential to augment the text. The decision was taken to proceed with the latter option, due to its notable recognizability, thereby facilitating a connection between the words spoken and the artist.
Categorising and becoming hyper-aware of one's routines and subconscious habits has induced a sense of strangeness. To a certain extent, the utilisation of the moving image is a passive intended to elicit a response from the viewer, instigating them to contemplate their own habits. A considerable proportion of our lives is characterised by performing these actions. That they may become inquisitive with regard to the joys and patterns that characterise their own.
With the first iteration of the film being finished, comes the thought of what is next? The kinds of pleasures and activities that inhabit my routine are seasonally linked. So much time is spent centred on food as a result of the cold of winter. This sense of needing to shelter, warm up and engage in more indoor pursuits derives from that. The project has a serial quality, and depending on which logging of time I use, the nature of the objects and the narrative in the audio would vary significantly depending on the season. Some elements would remain constant, as it is a habitual routine, although I imagine there is potential in developing another film or audio piece around this concept. Explore how further months of archiving habits might affect the work. Would this duality remain? What new states of feeling could I uncover?
Exhibitions
Belgium Playdate - Feb 2022
Inflation Station - Jun 2022
Village People - Aug 2022
The Eternal Door - Dec 2022
How are we? - Jul 2023
In Dice a Workplace - Mar 2024
Veiled - Apr 2024
Cohort Drop In - Oct 2024
Liquid - Nov 2024
Threads - Mar 2025