Futurs Spéculaires

05/25/2023

Arsenal art contemporain Montréal is proud to present Futurs Spéculaires, Sabrina Ratté's first institutional monographic exhibition in Montreal. This exhibition brings together recent works exploring questions relating to the relationship between nature and technology, the multiple perspectives that define reality, utopia and dystopia, and the existence that seems to find its bearings in an increasingly virtual context. The artist approaches these questions through aesthetic, poetic and philosophical means, giving pride of place to reverie, intuition, reflection and feeling. While specularity refers to the physical properties of light reflected in a mirror, it also involves reversing temporality. By selecting and transforming analog signals from the real world and integrating them into her videos, Sabrina Ratté takes light from the past to construct hypothetical futures, which are reflected in the present through her installations. In these materialized utopias, imbued with reverie and inviting contemplation, the boundary between the real and virtual worlds is constantly called into question by demonstration devices in which light, iridescence and the play of reflections become the link between these two realities. Sabrina Ratté sees the digital image as an abstract, malleable material that enables her to paint with light and sculpt electronic signals. This formal approach enables the emergence of ecosystems that unfold in interactive installations, sculptures, video series and digital prints, reflecting the diversity of her practices. Oscillating between the real and the imaginary, the works on display invite reverie and reveal a hypothetical future where humans have been annihilated. This journey through subliminal landscapes guides us towards a virtual future imbued with a futuristic aura. Through each screen, like paintings that evolve out of time, the observer is called upon to tilt beyond the mirror and migrate towards contemplation. Is humanity not the fragmented reflection of a larger reality?