Miguel Chevalier - Tapis Magiques

Made by Katherine Martinez

Describe Tapis Magiques (Magic Carpets), Miguel Chevalier's 2014 installation in Morocco.

Created: November 30th, 2015

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Chevalier's work offers a new take on traditional Islamic carpets and tile art through the use of bright, reactive light panels. As a viewer walks across the hallway, the floor panels respond to their movement.

Equal parts psychedelic and glitch art-esque, the work invites people to move and play with the patterns on the floor. The patterns are flowing at some times and pixely at others, and the changes in color are subtle enough to avoid disorienting the viewers, though arguably they are so subtle that at times it's difficult to discern whether the changes are due to the motion of viewers or simply random noise. 

This work was installed in a church no longer used for religious purposes - in this light, it takes on a new meaning as a repurposment of not only Islamic carpets and tile, but also the entire space it exists in. A creative fusion of new and old makes this work particularly notable to me. 

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Miguel CHEVALIER Tapis magiques 2014 Casablanca (Version courte, short version)
Claude Mossessian - https://vimeo.com/91624877
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I'm reminded of the interactive light room at Top of the Rock (top level of the Rockefeller Building in NYC), which offered a much more primitive approach to tracking people and light engagement.

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Interactive room - Top of the Rock
Maria Klokner - https://vimeo.com/70002359
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While both the real-time response to people and vivid pattern and color offer potential for my project, I think implementing real-time response would be logistically easier to create than a large light display, so I'll hang on to that idea as I move forward with my project.

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Describe Tapis Magiques (Magic Carpets), Miguel Chevalier's 2014 installation in Morocco.