In Materia

Plexiglass, wood, water, pump, transducers, amplifier, computer, sensors

In Materia is an interactive kinetic sculpture that explores the unstable boundary between materiality and perception, between physical substance and emergent form. Water—often perceived as formless, fluid, and elusive—is temporarily disciplined, shaped, and animated into patterns that seem to defy gravity and understanding.

In its current form, the piece stands in a transparent tubular structure, within which water is continuously pumped from bottom to top in a closed loop. Two powerful acoustic transducers are mechanically coupled to the tube and set it into motion. These low-frequency, subsonic vibrations shape the water flow, while stroboscopic light creates an interference pattern that triggers the illusion of standing waves, frozen spirals, or upward flows rotating, pulsating, or holding their shape in suspension. A constantly moving system is perceived as stable, sculptural, tangible. The water seems to pause in time, hovering between flow and form.

Interaction plays a central role in the experience. Sensors allow visitors to influence the sound waves through the movement of their hands. Without touching the water directly, the participant alters the frequencies driving the transducers, reshaping the visible patterns in real time. Gestures can make the water appear to rise endlessly—reversing the perceived flow of time—but also rotate in place, fracture into complex geometries, or dissolve back into chaotic motion. The viewer becomes a silent conductor, manipulating an invisible score whose effects are made visible through matter itself.

In Materia questions our relationship to the tangible world in an age increasingly dominated by immaterial interfaces. By making sound visible, movement sculptural, and interaction intuitive, the work invites the audience to reconsider how form emerges from vibration, how perception constructs reality, and how fragile the boundary is between what is physically present and what is merely an optical or cognitive illusion.

This piece was born as a research and experimentation project on the notions of materiality and tangibility carried by Collectif Ascidiacea. It was first unveiled for Nuit Blanche Paris 2020 as part of A/Biogenesis, a two stage immersive exploration showcased at Mains d’Oeuvres.

• Production : Collectif Ascidiacea
• Original idea, conception, artistic direction : Léo Baqué
• Initial design and wood manufacturing : Margot Caperan, Barthélémy Pradines, Léo Baqué