Like a sea of floating digital starfish that can morph into rickety ancient pillars, or a pixelated pond filled with lily pads, [Miguel Chevalier](http://www.miguel-chevalier.com/en/)['s](http://www.miguel-chevalier.com/en) traveling [_Digital Arabesques 2015_](https://vimeo.com/126355467) installation graced the final leg of its four-part Moroccan tour last week at the [French Institute of Essaouira](http://if-maroc.org/essaouira/). Today, a new video by Chevalier's longtime collaborator [Claude Mossessian](http://www.claudemossessian.com/) highlights the 21st century take on the Middle Eastern lattices, zelliges, and mosaics that drew the generative artist to the region with _Digital Arabesques 2014_ last year. Since the first installment in Sharjah, UAE, _Digital Arabesques_ has brought a unique "magic carpet" that uses infrared sensors to follow visitors' pathways with blossoming geometric shapes through the cities of [Fes](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/miguel-chevalier-wraps-morocco-in-virtual-mosaics), [Agadir](https://vimeo.com/121764268), and [Tétouan](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/projection-mapped-magic-carpets-continue-their-moroccan-takeover).

"When the viewers interact with the piece they create disturbances under their feet in the trajectories of these mobile, interlaced patterns and new surprising compositions emerge," the [video's description](https://vimeo.com/126355467) explains. "These moving patterns create a wave that forms and deforms to infinity to reveal a colorful living universe that is constantly renewed."

_Digital Arabesques_ will be on display at the French Institute of Essaouira, Morocco through May 3, 2015. See Mossessian's footage of Chevalier's installation, captured in collaboration with Voxels Productions, in the video and images below.

A film by Claude Mossessian © Claude Mossessian

Digital Arabesques 2015, Miguel CHEVALIER

Generative and interactive virtual-reality installation
Cultural Season France-Morocco 2015 

Organized by French Institute of Essaouira Morocco
- Derb Lâalouj, Essaouira (Morocco) 
French institute of Essaouira 

Opening on 22 April 2015 From 23 April to 3 May 2015

Software: Cyrille Henry and Antoine Villeret
Technical production : Voxels Productions
Music : Michel Redolfi

Miguel Chevalier takes inspiration from the aesthetics of Moroccan culture to create “Digital Arabesques 2014”, a generative and interactive virtual-reality installation shown in association with four French Institutes in four different cities in Morocco: Fes, Agadir, Tétouan et Essaouira.

“Digital Arabesques 2015” revisits the Moroccan artistic tradition via the medium of digital art as it spreads out across the floor like a huge light carpet in Derb Lâalouj, Essaouira (Morocco). 

The piece features evolving multicolored digital scenes composed of ornamental patterns in reference to the art of zelliges, arabesques and mosaics, as well as the world of “Mashrabiya” (latticework). “Digital Arabesques” shows sophisticated geometrical patterns based on overlapping lines driven by mathematical logic. These moving patterns create a wave that forms and deforms to infinity to reveal a colorful living universe that is constantly renewed. This artwork is interactive through the use of infrared sensors. When the viewers interact with the piece they create disturbances under their feet in the trajectories of these mobile, interlaced patterns and new surprising compositions emerge. The result is an unprecedented interactive and visually immersive experience.
This creative work harks back to the idea of the trompe l’oeil technique in art, disturbing the perceptions of visitors while creating the sensation of a shifting floor or wall that loses its shape and moves. The reference here is to the great Kinetic Art and Op Art artists such as Victor Vasarely, who conducted the research into movement and optical illusion which predated the digital art of today.

In the art of zelliges, Miguel Chevalier discovered a decorative manifestation similar to his own language as well as a connection with digital algorithmic art in its characteristic use of the geometry of forms and mathematical laws. Miguel Chevalier enhances these features by the use of computer software to enrich the designs in the realization of his piece. In this way, Islamic art finds a natural connection with algorithmic and digital art.

In the same way that the zelliges of Morocco develop from floor to ceiling, "Digital Arabesques" covers the floor or the wall with vivid patterns reminiscent of this colourful land where the sun is omnipresent. Miguel Chevalier’s artwork transports the viewer to a world of kaleidoscopic constellations and plunges us into the magical universe of “One Thousand and One Nights” and flying carpets.

Miguel CHEVALIER "Digital Arabesques 2015" Essaouira

[Miguel CHEVALIER "Digital Arabesques 2015" Essaouira](https://vimeo.com/126351038) from [Claude Mossessian](https://vimeo.com/claudemossessian) on [Vimeo](https://vimeo.com).

_Digital Arabesques 2015_ is organized by the French Institute of Essaouira, Morocco, as part of Cultural Season France-Morocco 2015. See more of Miguel Chevalier's work [on his website](http://www.miguel-chevalier.com/en), and in our previous coverage below.

_[Miguel Chevalier Wraps Morocco in Virtual Mosaics](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/miguel-chevalier-wraps-morocco-in-virtual-mosaics)_

_[Projected Arabesque Textiles Adorn a Middle Eastern Waterfront](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/projected-arabesque-textiles-adorn-a-middle-eastern-waterfront)_

_[Miguel Chevalier 3D Prints the Enormous Head of a Roman God](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/miguel-chevalier-3d-prints-the-enormous-head-of-a-roman-god)_

_[Projection-Mapped Magic Carpets Continue Their Moroccan Takeover](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/projection-mapped-magic-carpets-continue-their-moroccan-takeover)_

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