Abstract pattern of wavy lines in navy, teal, peach, orange, and red on a black background.
A plain turquoise background with no distinguishable objects or features.

February 2022

Autolume Acedia

Duo Exhibition // Jonas Kraasch & Philippe Pasquier

ARTSCO and UBCO Creative and Critical Studies Partnership

A collage of six art-style digital images, including illustrations of a tiger, a person playing the piano, an insect, a woman sitting, and an abstract object with vibrant colors and sketch-like effects.

Autolume Acedia (2022) is a hallucinatory meditation on the ancient emotion called acedia.

Acedia describes a mixture of contemplative apathy, nervous nostalgia, and paralyzed angst. Greek monks first described this emotion two millennia ago, and it captures the paradoxical state of being simultaneously bored and anxious.

Three illuminated screens displaying abstract, colorful images in a modern indoor space with wooden and metal architectural elements.
Two people standing in front of illuminated art displays featuring colorful abstract designs, inside a building with large windows, wooden ceiling, and a ramp.

While music plays, the Autolume, a video generation system that automates live music visualization, dreams about bodies, organs, and bones, creating abstract visuals which seem to be dancing to the sounds.

Light Up Kelowna is a partnership between the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO) and UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. 

Featured Artists

Jonas Kraasch is a graduate student at Simon Fraser University’s School for Interactive Arts and Technology, where he is part of the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI. With his prior studies in Cognitive Science with a focus on Deep Learning his goal is to combine both his passions for AI and creative expression by creating both creative systems and tools to assist artists in their work. In his research he focuses on deep learning, machine learning, creative AI, data ethics and generative models, trying to bend what is possible to create with AI.

Philippe Pasquier is a media art artist, composer, and designer focused on generative practices and the computationally sublime. Philippe is a professor at Simon Fraser University’s School for Interactive Arts and Technology, where he directs the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI. Philippe leads a research-creation program around generative systems for creative tasks. As such, he is a scientist specialized in artificial intelligence, a multidisciplinary artist, an educator, and a community builder. His contributions range from theoretical research on generative systems, computer-assisted creativity, multi-agent systems, machine learning, affective computing, and evaluation methodologies. This work is applied in the creative software industry as well as through artistic practice in computer music, interactive and generative art.

Three large digital screens displaying abstract, colorful images in a modern building with wooden accents and bright lighting.
Three large screens displaying abstract images in a dark indoor setting with wooden panel ceiling and metal railings.
Two people standing inside a building, silhouetted in front of three large digital screens displaying colorful, abstract and artistic images. The building has large windows, wooden and glass architectural elements, and a modern interior design.
A collage of six abstract, colorful sketches featuring a person sitting at a table, a separate insect or shell, and various surreal patterns and textures.
Triptych of colorful, abstract portraits of human faces and figures created with textured, layered lines.
Three abstract paintings with vivid colors and textured details displayed side by side.