Art And Geolocation: Art Collective Circulates Invisible Objects

New geolocation tools are being used in an attempt to bridge the real world with that of virtual reality. Through Les Trucs project, which was specially conceived for the Jeu de Paume gallery in France, the Microtruc artist collective makes use of these tools as artistic medium, and in turn presents a rather unusual exhibition.

The protocol: Every week, each member of the Microtruc collective (Jérôme Alexandre, Caroline Delieutraz, Julien Levesque, and Albertine Meunier) is required to entrust a “thing” to someone. This person must in turn pass it on to someone else within the next 24 hours. Additionally, they’ll receive instructions to send an email detailing information about the “thing” as well the circumstances under which they received it. The messages, as well as the real-time location of all exchanges, are then published online, but the “things” will never be seen by anyone other than those who have handled them.

By mapping the journey and the time scale of the exchanges of these objects online, the collective intends to “confront ideas held around the possibilities for change, the scope of, and thus our understanding and interpretations of, our networks and territory.”

Les Trucs will be exhibited on the Jeau de Paume gallery’s website through March 9th.