{"id":18773,"date":"2025-02-05T11:48:40","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T16:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hexagram.ca\/demo55-jean-philippe-cote-egobsolescence\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T16:34:07","slug":"demo55-jean-philippe-cote-egobsolescence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hexagram.ca\/en\/demo55-jean-philippe-cote-egobsolescence\/","title":{"rendered":"DEMO55 Jean-Philippe C\u00f4t\u00e9 \u2014 \u00c9gobsolescence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00c9gobsolescence is a series of interactive installations stemming from the doctoral research-creation project of Jean-Philippe C\u00f4t\u00e9<\/a> [student, UQAM]. The first two artworks of the series (Uchronie & Pan\u00e9goptique) were presented on December 5 and 6, 2024, as part of a public end-of-residency presentation in the experimentation room at Hexagram-UQAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Philippe is a PhD candidate in \u00c9tudes et Pratiques des Arts at the Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al (UQAM). Under the supervision of Louis-Claude Paquin [co-investigator, UQAM], his research explores the use and implications of technoresidual materials in the context of artistic creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Exhibition poster.<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Approach and process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Many objects become obsolete even before they become useless. In this case, the wear of time does not manifest through physical degradation, but rather through a shift in the culture to which the object belongs. It is within this interval between obsolescence and uselessness that Jean-Philippe\u2019s work is situated. \u201cThe discrepancy between the relevance of the past and the irrelevance of today creates a zone of tension that I enjoy exploring\u201d he says. Through his research and creations, he develops a certain intimacy with the machines that inspire him and, by extension, with those that have created them in the first place. These devices shape his worldview, while enhancing his understanding of them. Paradoxically, this is exactly what gives his work an exotic quality for those encountering it for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One might sense a certain effect of nostalgia in his work. This holds true if we consider nostalgia as \u201ca way to transform the past through imagination\u201d (Niemeyer, 2024) [translation by the author]. In his work, technoresidual debris becomes the starting point for a material exploration of its poetic potential. The process is not linear; rather, it is guided by material serendipity and heuristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with several previous works, \u00c9gobsolescence explores the themes of the human face and self-mediation, specifically from a sociotechnical and political perspective. This exploration unveils facets of what Zuboff refers to as ‘the surveillance economy’ (2019), invoking politically charged techniques such as biometrics and artificial intelligence. Through a mediarchaeological approach, his art exposes the progress, stagnation, and regressions of the media and technological devices that are omnipresent in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pan\u00e9goptique<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Pan\u00e9goptique (2024)\/Photo Credit: Adil Boukind.<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pan\u00e9goptique is an interactive installation that creates a dynamic fusion of the faces of two interactors, forming hybrid, imaginary beings that dwell at the intersection of familiarity and alterity. By blending texture, color, and topology, the installation generates destabilizing portraits that provoke discussion about the mediation of our self-image through technology, society, and, ultimately, about our vanity and fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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