Christian Lavigne

"A singular spirit have led me from vague love art and science to hards jobs of plastic creativity.

In an universal and humanistic perspective, so regrettable in our  modern society of partitions and profits, my tightrope mind came and went between mathematics and poetry, mythology and science.

The main word explaining my work and research is "métissage". I haven't found a good English translation of this concept.

Ever curious about ancient or exotic knowledge, I have grown  captivated by the deep similarity between painting, writing and drawing.

GRAPHENE (1984-Christian Lavigne): From Greek GRAPHOS (= which concerns a painter or a writer): geometrical and symbolical figure, building up a graphic vocabulary, in the Kandinsky sense.

GRAPHENE, gesture of an abstract drawer, rough sketch perfected by setting in equation; or GRAPHENE, pattern choosed on a monitor during exploration of parametrical equations.

So, in my aesthetic world, I don't want to decide between painting, decor, jewelery, fresco, furniture, entertainment...if poetry sustains them.

For a poet of shapes, new technologies give perfect tools to materialize the "creative verb". It is the first time in human history that writing  and describing an object turn it from virtuality to reality:
Ex Machina, Per Vox!

ROBOSCULPTURE (1988-Christian Lavigne):Set of computer science and numerical commanded machining, allowing automatic and complexe manufactoring of sculptures.

TELESCULPTURE (beginning of 1994-Christian Lavigne et Alexandre Vitkine):Robosculpture using Networks (Internet, ISDN,...) to create some piece at one place, and making it at a other place, with data transfer and by rapid prototyping.

A new means of expression, a new translation of imagination is coming of age, that it's indicating a rediscovery of "body", of sensual and sensible matter."

Born in 1959, Christian Lavigne destined himself to become a scientist, often studying mathematics. Writing poetry became his main activity. He contributed to several magazines, and a poetry cabaret, directed a free radio show, founded "L'Art Vu", a poetry and art magazine. Uniting writing and design via mathematics he discovered the concept of "graphenes", graphic words inspired by a secret geometry, what Kandinsky called "The vocabulary of shapes".

Christian Lavigne designed some abstract indian ink drawings whose underlying principles he applied to a wide array of other aesthetic projects such as industrial design, research on symbols, jewelry, stage sets, body painting and sculpture. He developped a coherent basically poetical aesthetic universe, more and more based on mythologies, in a resolutely avant-garde manner: Research in the fields of transparence and fluorescence of modern materials, computer technology (he created a computer sculpture software) and the use of high-tech machines (laser cutting, water jet cutting, 3D NC machining). He created the word "ROBOSCULPTURE" for computer sculpture materialized with rapid-prototyping devices.

Christian Lavigne designed and produced some public and industrial projects: The altuglas frescoes of the Bourse de Paris post office (1985); "Planete bleue, or noir", a bas-relief for the Union Nationale des Industries des Matieres Plastiques (1986); the fluo metacrylate triptych entitled "Hommage aux peuples de la mer" for the post office in Colombes (1989); the alchemist's workshop "Premier laboratoire" for Planète Magique (1989); and a light and water sculpture"Illo tempore, aqua nubit lux" for Laser Industrie (1990). He realized a suite of mosaics for Verdun: "Le Palais des 4 Orients" (1992).

Interested in Art & Communication, Christian Lavigne, as a friend of Derrick de Kerckhove, Director of the Mc Luhan Program in Toronto, contributed to organization of "Les Transinteractifs", artistic experience by satellite between France and Canada (1988).

In 1991, he founded an artistic and intellectual association: "Rythmes du Monde", and presided over the "Premier festival des cultures noires de la francophonie" (First festival of black culture in the French
speaking world) in Verdun. In 1993, he founded with Alexandre Vitkine the international artistic group "Ars Mathematica", for promotion of new technologies in sculpture, and realized in Ecole Polytechnique "The First Exhibition of Numerical Sculpture" (Paris, 1993).

In 1994, he created the first artistic stereolithography in France: "Chant Cosmique", with the help of Ecole Centrale de Paris.

With Alexandre Vitkine (Ars Mathematica, France), Tim Duffield and Rob Fisher (Computer and Sculpture Forum, USA) Christian Lavigne have organized INTESCULPT 95, a simultaneous and interactive exhibition between Paris (Galerie Graphes) and Philadelphia (Silicon Gallery), in October, 1995. A successful exhibition with videoconferencing, robosculpture and telesculpture.

Christian Lavigne is now considered as a main ambassador of European computer sculpture: robosculpture and telesculpture. He is frequently speaker invited in intenational conferences: AFRISTECH (Dakar 95), ISC (USA 96), ISEA (Netherlands 96)...He have presented the CIRES project (school and research center in sculpture) in Martinique (West Indies), with a transcontinental demonstration of telesculpture, at the end of 1996.

In Spring 1997, the artist organized a meeting with on-line discussions about Internet, culture, and French speaking world. This event was specially interesting because some African webmasters, from Mali, contributed in it. INTERSCULPT biennale took place in October, as usual, and was increased of a remarquable conference in French Senate, with famous speakers, about "New Technologies For Real Objects". Christian Lavigne was the instigator and presenter of the conference.

At the begining of 1998, with French, Canadian and African webmasters, he created TOILE METISSE, a NGO for promoting artists of French-speaking world on the Internet. In May, he was invited to give a lecture in College of Art at U. of Cincinnati, and then in Chicago's International Sculpture Conference. During this year, Christian Lavigne have published considerable articles on digital sculpture: the aesthetic uses of CAD/CAM, Rapid-prototyping and CNC machines, 3D digitizing...He is currently, in 1999, preparing INTERSCULPT'99, both for the general organization and for some new personnal artworks.