Creating Phygital Matter
Each of my artworks incorporates phygital matter, a substance I carefully craft. This material, which is physical information, is created through systems I designed to collect and utilize information in my work. These are poetic clicks, made available to the public, that form the basis of this matter.
Each click enriches the phygital matter within the system, capturing a moment and information on an electronic chip.
The ‘phygital matter’ I conceptualized in 2012 is the cornerstone of my work. It is an innovative material that merges the physical and digital worlds to create a new dimension. In my artistic vision, information is considered a form of physical matter. This essence, this phygital matter, becomes the material I use.”
Néo Valen
Everyone Can Learn to Create Phygital Matter
Néo Valen has developed systems he describes as poetic, aimed at collecting information, the core material of phygital matter. To this end, he offers “poetic clicks” accessible on his website. These poetic clicks respond to various requests, such as addressing sleep disorders, health issues, or similar needs.
What Becomes of the Created Phygital Matter?
“From clicks imbued with poetry, I craft phygital matter.”
Each click triggers an action, whose essence is captured on an electronic chip. This material is then used by the artist to be integrated into paintings, sculptures, or even medicinal forms like capsules or suppositories. Thus, one can acquire a sleep capsule containing the phygital essence of sleep.
Who is Néo Valen?
Néo Valen, a pioneering artist in the field of phygital art. He conceptualized phygital matter in the early 2000s. For Néo Valen, phygital art is not merely a fusion of physical and digital realms but a profound reinterpretation of how these dimensions can coexist and interact.
For Néo Valen, phygital art is a means to explore and question our relationship with technology and reality. He views digital information not as separate from the physical world but as an extension of it. In his work, he uses what he calls “phygital matter” to create artworks that deliberately blur the lines between the tangible and intangible, the real and the virtual.
Néo Valen leverages technology not only as a tool but as an artistic medium in its own right. His phygital artworks take various forms, from interactive installations to digital sculptures, and aim to provoke reflection on how digital technologies shape our perception of the world, our communication, and our identity.
“The Man Who Flees” is a work created in acrylic on canvas. At its core lies an electronic chip. Connected via radiofrequency to a smart contract on the blockchain, this chip holds critical information about “The Man Who Flees”: his date of death.
Néo Valen
