Alcohol, substance intoxication and their effect on society is a recurring major topic through art history. From festive scene featuring merry characters to bleak portrayal highlighting substance misuses and abuses, depiction of alcohol and drug use wildly varies between different artists. For this project, I wanted to highlight the multifaceted aspects of alcohol and drugs using modern methods and technologies.
Stupéfiant is a series of three generative compositions exploring the different faces of substance intoxication and its ramifications on modern societies. It aims to abstractly depict the experiences of mind-altering substance consumptions and dress a contrasting portrait which highlights both the negative and positive aspects of alcohol and drug uses. These three compositions are based on three alcoholic beverages, each having their own narratives and tackling different aspect linked to alcohol and drug consumption. These three beverages are Rosé Wine, which represents the social and agreeable aspect of mild intoxication in social contexts, Whiskey, which pictures the darker aspect of alcohol and drug abuse and the hardship associated with withdrawal symptoms and other undesirable side-effects, and finally Absinthe, which depicts an intense and psychedelic journey. As an installation, the participants are free to choose the composition they would like to see, which will run continuously until a new composition is selected. Because of the generative nature of the piece, the audiovisual experience will be slightly different for each spectator.
I created these compositions using TouchDesigner, a node based visual programming environment for real time interactive multimedia content.