The Challenge
It must be said at the outset we were familiar with Miguel and his art, having been told about him through mutual friends. Aki and Arnaud Cooren. At the time, Aki and Arnaud were collaborating with Miguel on the highly acclaimed Dans Un Nuage De Pixels (In a Cloud of Pixels), launched at the Mobilier National in Paris on 9 September 2021. Fortunate to get a sneak peek at the installation, we had also hoped to meet Miguel; but he was busy at work installing cables, computers, and projectors. But an invitation was soon extended to meet him the following day at Art Paris Art Fair, which was happening the same week, to view his work at the Lélia Mordoch Gallery.
Upon seeing several examples of his work, we immediately understood why he was held in such high regard. The work, exhibited through video displays and holograms, were unlike anything we had ever seen. These were not simple color presentations a person would find produced by just anyone working on a computer. There was a lot of thought, layers, and precision embedded in this work – which made sense, given the fact we had been told Miguel was a pioneer in the field. And so, we asked Miguel if he would allow us to do a story on him, explaining our founding goals of exploring human dignity through people moving cultural traditions forward. Miguel was very open to the idea, and we set off with an agreement to do our research and meet the next time we visited Paris.
What we did not understand at the time was the span of Miguel’s career or the range of works produced across that time. Nor, after ultimately visiting his studio and witnessing a large-scale projection, did we understand how difficult it would be to describe – translate – the experience into prose and onto paper. Even months later, we are still having trouble trying to convey what we experienced in that large space, what we also assume others experience in person through the many projects developed by Chevalier such as Digital Arabesques, Flower Power, Extra Natural, or Digital Abysses now showing on Jeju Island in South Korea.
So, we are going to suggest that, prior to reading this article, you, the reader, first watch a
video. We suggest Digital Abysses, presented on the next page. Watch it in full-screen mode, as it will give you the closest sense of what the
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