5 minute read
Flow & Motion
FLOW & MOTION
Hailing from Pau in SouthWest France, Alice Labourel wasn’t always set on producing digital simulation art. She started out in Architecture, graduating from Ecole Speciale d´Architecture in Paris, “The approach to architecture was much more creative, ambitious, speculative and original than other traditional schools. All the things I had learnt between 2007 and 2013 [such as VR and 3D printing], now everybody knows what it is. But then, it was innovative.”
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Studying architecture offered a creative discipline that allowed Alice to evolve as an artist, “It was an amazing opportunity to learn how to develop my creativity and sharpen my eye to project myself and other people into new worlds or new possibilities.” The final year of her degree was led by Peter Cook, the founder of
An interview with Alice Labourel Archigram, “The Beatles of Architecture,” Alice jokes.
After graduation, Alice began her architectural career in London, working for Will Alsop, “He mixed Art and Architecture in his work which, for me, was really fascinating.” Although Alice enjoyed the projects she was involved in, working as an architect in London was quite challenging. “People talk about work all the time and what I discovered about here [in Barcelona], the first question you ask is not, ‘what do you do?’ Here, you’re not your job.”
It was while Alice was in London where she had her breakup with Architecture. “During studies, you’re being trained like it’s not work but passion. You give yourself to it. You think architecture, eat architecture, live architecture.” Alice and Architecture needed some time apart. “It was too much for me, personally.” But Architecture runs through her veins. It’s what she had built her foundations on and it still has so much influence on her current artwork.
Relocating to Barcelona in 2015 was the turning point in Alice’s career. She went back to studies but this time focusing on 3D animation. Alice then developed new projects as part of an artist residency with JIWAR Creació i Societat before starting a career in the animation and film industry.
Alas, came COVID-19 and, like most of us, Alice was faced with a shortage of clients.
It was then that she came to the realisation, she wanted to be an artist in her own right. Although she wouldn’t call herself that, “I still struggle to say that I’m an artist.” Alice modestly states. “I am just a person who is very passionate in the arts and who loves producing visuals and interesting concepts. I am also eager to explore new tools of production.”
Alice’s work is very much defined within two different styles: the Architectural Stories and the Digital Abstraction. “Architectural stories are close to the way I did my diploma - first I try to define what is the intention, theme or story mixing the use of a Rotring Pen and 3D modelling techniques to design abstract or speculative architectures via storytelling. The outcome is a mixed-media product.”
“The Digital Abstractions are more something that comes out as it is. I am working on a full CGI composition, with VFX and simulations. I only use 3D software and create abstract shapes in movement. It’s more abstract than the architectural stories with more food-for-thought.”
Alice connects more to the Architectural Stories - there is more time and conscious effort involved. “People relate to it and understand it more than the abstraction.” But the abstract work has a flow and it is intriguing to see people’s reaction to this type of art. It’s what leads her work. “Sometimes it works best when people can relate. Project themselves onto my work and say, ‘I see a bird flying or I see someone dancing’. I quite like that because it makes people reveal a part of themselves. It triggers people’s imagination and let them dream. This is something I want to develop in my future projects.”
Since focusing more on her personal projects, Alice has been faced with this uncomfortable relationship between artist and audience. Particularly during a time where we are limited to the internet and social media to connect to others. “Working on a personal project, I’m confronted with the questions: ‘is it something I’m interested in?’ ‘Do I do this for me? Do I do it because it’s from me, so it doesn’t matter if the background is this way, it doesn’t matter if the model is not perfect?’ But then you think, somehow, if I publish it, if I put it on Instagram or on my website, do I have to do something that people would want to buy?”
Iris
had to improve her digital skills. Laughing, Alice points out, “it’s really not sexy.” For so many years, Alice has used the computer mainly as a tool for communication (for example, 3D renders for a client’s project) and not as an artistic, conceptual skill.
When she began creating Alexander during quarantine, Alice wished to experiment with a number of different techniques: “I started to paint like a child - paint something and then take the paper and scrunch it up - which I quite liked because you never get your hands dirty in technology. I like being messy, it is part of my creative process, but when it comes to the production phase and relations to clients, I am much more focused and organized.” evident in Alexander. “I hate to sit still and I think you can feel that in my work.”
The creation of Alexander involves 3D simulations, pausing the animation to catch a moment. However, Alice’s approach to Iris was rather different.
Iris is an incorporation of fashion, the human body and technology. “It was really interesting to go back to the scale of the human body, which was something I really loved exploring in Architecture. I like how a body moves through space, how a body can perceive its environment, how the surroundings can affect its behaviour, how it affects psychology and emotions. I am really intrigued by the Poetics of Space of Gaston Bachelard and the work of Juhani Palasmaa.” is a haptic connection between the shell of the body and the shell of a building. If you’re in a space which is small and closed and dark, your body’s going to respond to it and physically feel either safe or restricted. But once you’re in the open air, you feel that your skin is behaving differently, your way you breathe is different...”
“I really love this approach. Wearing a dress that restricts your movement, or a dress in which, somehow could be an extension of your body.” Similar to the relationship between architecture and the human body.
View the full series of Iris and Alexander on Alice’s website: www.alicelabourel.com Find her on Instagram @alicelabourel
Alexander
